Madach wrote poems, plays, and essays with drama his main genre. His play in verse, "The Tragedy of Man," written in 1859-60, and inspired by Milton, Goethe, and Byron, is Faustlike in theme. It begins and ends in heaven, and Adam and Eve are its protagonists, with Lucifer battling God for the possession of their souls. "Tragedy of Man" is still performed on the Hungarian stage as one of that country's great classics. Madach's other plays are tragedies based on Hungarian history and comedies about everyday life under Austrian oppression.