Prince Hagen

Upton Sinclair's Prince Hagen turns myth into a glittering social satire, beginning in a Canadian wilderness where the poetically inclined Gerald Isman meets the cryptic peddler Mimi and is drawn into talk of Nibelungs, gold, and hidden powers beneath the earth. A magic ring, a trance, and eerie music carry him into Nibelheim, where King Alberich rules a world of treasure, art, and oppressive splendor, and where the rebellious Prince Hagen refuses every effort to tame him. When Gerald is asked to tutor Hagen, the underworld's dark power struggle becomes a witty clash between raw defiance and civilized ambition. Hagen is soon brought into the human world, where Gerald's wealthy New York household, social pretensions, and the arrival of businessmen Plimpton and Rutherford sharpen Sinclair's attack on money and privilege. Hagen returns transformed—stronger, sharper, and determined to seize status, love, and a future of his own. His blistering denunciation of the rich exposes exploitation masked by religion and patriotism, and Mimi's news that Alberich is dead makes him heir to Nibelheim's gold. The play culminates in an extravagant society ball, where tropical excess, Wall Street anxiety, and the hunger for scandal reveal a world intoxicated by wealth and power. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.