In 1904, Kraus supported Frank Wedekind to make possible the staging in Vienna of his controversial play "Pandora's Box"; the play told the story of a sexually enticing young dancer who rises in German society through her relationships with wealthy men but later falls into poverty and prostitution. These plays' frank depiction of sexuality and violence, including lesbianism and an encounter with Jack the Ripper, pushed against the boundaries of what was considered acceptable on the stage at the time. Wedekind's works are considered among the precursors of expressionism, but in 1914, when expressionist poets like Richard Dehmel began producing war propaganda, Kraus became a fierce critic of them.