Woyzeck

George Buchner's unfinished play about the poor soldier Woyzeck, subject of a medical experiment and tormented by hallucinations from a diet of only peas; his girlfriend, Marie, by whom he's fathered a child; Marie's overpowering desire for the alluring Drum-Major; and the murderous outcome of this oppressive admixture of circumstances is without a doubt one of the bleakest works of world literature. It is also considered by many to mark the beginning of modern drama.