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Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805)

Author of William Tell

970+ Works 9,465 Members 96 Reviews 20 Favorited

About the Author

Friedrich Schiller was born in Marbach, Germany, the son of an army surgeon, a profession for which he himself was later educated. He never wanted to practice medicine, however, and found an outlet for his dissatisfaction in writing poetry and plays. Schiller's first play was to be performed was show more The Robbers (1781), a rallying cry for the freedom and idealism of youth against the tyranny and hypocrisy that Schiller saw all around him. The play was an immediate success, but Schiller, who had taken unauthorized leave from his regiment to watch the performance, was arrested and forbidden by the ruling Duke to write anything but medical books in the future. In defiance of the order, Schiller fled the duchy and, although suffering great poverty, continued to write. The remainder of Schiller's life was a struggle against poverty and, in his last years, a struggle against tuberculosis. Each of Schiller's nine plays is a masterpiece of situation, characterization, subtle psychology, and brilliant dramatic technique. Most of his plays focus on historical subjects, such as Mary Queen of Scots, Joan of Arc, or the Swiss hero William Tell. Schiller uses these period characters and settings to suit his own themes, which center on individual freedom, justice, and heroism. He often sacrifices historical accuracy in order to make a point. Schiller's place in German literature is very near the top. Among German dramatists there are none better, and perhaps only his friend German poet and playwright Goethe can be called an equal. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Credit: Andrzej Barabasz, 2004, Frankfurt, Germany

Series

Works by Friedrich Schiller

William Tell (1804) 991 copies
Mary Stuart (1800) 845 copies
The Robbers (1781) 779 copies
Intrigue and Love (1784) 675 copies
Don Carlos (1787) 402 copies
The Maid of Orleans (1801) 274 copies
The Ghost-seer (1789) 239 copies
The Robbers / Wallenstein (1780) 234 copies
Schillers Werke (1830) 219 copies
Gedichte (1873) 211 copies
The Death of Wallenstein (1799) 157 copies
Don Carlos / Mary Stuart (1787) 130 copies
The History of the Thirty Years' War (1788) — Author — 84 copies
The Bride Of Messina (1802) — Author — 71 copies
On the Naive and Sentimental in Literature (1953) — Author — 65 copies
Fiesco's Conspiracy at Genoa (1783) — Author — 62 copies
Der Briefwechsel zwischen Schiller und Goethe (1983) — Author — 55 copies
Naive and Sentimental Poetry / On the Sublime (1966) — Author — 38 copies
Mary Stuart / The Maid of Orleans (1801) — Author — 34 copies
Revolt of the Netherlands (1974) 30 copies
The Robbers / Intrigue and Love / William Tell (1983) — Author — 30 copies
Luisa Miller [sound recording] (1988) — Author — 30 copies
Don Carlos / William Tell (1990) — Author — 29 copies
Dramen und Gedichte (1955) 27 copies
Turandot (1998) — Author — 27 copies
Sämtliche Gedichte (1965) 27 copies
The Robbers / Fiesco / Intrigue and Love (1944) — Author — 26 copies
Das Lied von der Glocke (1799) 21 copies
Wallenstein's Camp (1800) 21 copies
Wallenstein / Mary Stuart (1930) 21 copies
Balladen (1952) 20 copies
The Bride of Messina / William Tell / Demetrius (1805) — Author — 17 copies
Die Räuber (2009) — Author — 17 copies
Xenien (1985) 15 copies
Demetrius (1987) — Author — 15 copies
Verhalen (1981) 14 copies
Jugenddramen (1966) 12 copies
Der Neffe Als Onkel (1889) 11 copies
Sämtliche Erzählungen (1967) 10 copies
Poesía filosófica (1998) 10 copies
Narraciones completas (2005) 9 copies
Gesammelte Werke, Band 2 (1960) 8 copies
Gedichte und Prosa (1984) 8 copies
Theoretische Schriften (1966) 8 copies
Sämtliche Dramen (2009) 8 copies
Schriften zur Philosophie und Kunst (1959) — Author — 8 copies
The Piccolomini (1800) — Author — 8 copies
Dramen 8 copies
The Robbers / Passion and Politics (1781) — Author — 7 copies
The Poems of Schiller Second period (2010) — Author — 6 copies
The Poems of Schiller First period (2010) — Author — 6 copies
Schiller's Works, Vol. II (2016) 6 copies
Gedichte und Balladen (1958) 6 copies
Scritti storici 6 copies
Hundert Gedichte (1987) 5 copies
Die Bürgschaft (1995) 5 copies
Schiller : Wilhelm Tell (1905) — Author — 5 copies
Teatro completo (1901) 5 copies
Del sublime (1972) 5 copies
Friedrich Schiller (2003) — Author — 5 copies
Teatre 4 copies
Dramen: Band 1 4 copies
Erzählungen 4 copies
Historical Dramas (1889) — Author — 4 copies
Három dráma (1955) 4 copies
Die Kraniche des Ibykus (2014) 3 copies
Die schönsten Gedichte (2003) 3 copies
Die Gedichte 3 copies
Schillers estetiska brev (1995) 3 copies
Schillers Werke - Band 2 — Author — 3 copies
Die großen Dramen (2005) 3 copies
Der Taucher (2009) 3 copies
Schillers Briefe (1997) 3 copies
Schillers sämmtliche Werke Band 1 - 3 (von 12) (1890) — Author — 3 copies
Die Rauber CD (2015) 3 copies
Balladen, Dramen (1781) 3 copies
Schiller für Kinder (2006) 3 copies
Escritos sobre estica (1991) 3 copies
Saggi estetici 3 copies
Eilėraščiai: Dramos (1989) 2 copies
Teatro (1969) 2 copies
Kallias, czyli O pięknie (2007) 2 copies
Schöne Welt, wo bist du? (2005) 2 copies
Friedrich Schiller (2010) 2 copies
Textes esthétiques (1998) 2 copies
Die Räuber - REMIXED (2015) 2 copies
Dramen 2 (1983) — Author — 2 copies
Pisma teoretyczne (2011) 2 copies
Schiller-Brevier (2000) 2 copies
Dzieła wybrane (1985) 2 copies
Der Taucher (2009) 2 copies
Ti Digte 2 copies
O tragickém umění (2005) 2 copies
Einige Gedichte (2011) 2 copies
Gedichte (2009) — Author — 2 copies
Grazia e dignita (2010) 2 copies
Alemania (1984) — Contributor — 2 copies
Felsefe ve Siir (2000) 1 copy
The Gamester 1 copy
German Essays III: Schiller — Author — 1 copy
Laura Poems (1984) 1 copy
Opere alese (2016) — Author — 1 copy
Dramen I 1 copy
Briefe 1 copy
Dramen 1 copy
Theater 1 copy
Ich liebe Edle Frauen (1988) 1 copy
Schillers Dramen (1976) 1 copy
Théâtre 1 copy
Dramen 1 1 copy
O lepom 1 copy
Nänie 1 copy
Thalia. Heft I-VI. (2015) 1 copy
Laupītāji (2000) 1 copy
Werke. Bd. 2. Gedichte (1954) 1 copy
Werke. Bd. 1. Dramen (1954) 1 copy
Selected Poems (1969) 1 copy
Schiller Bd2 1 copy
Drámák 1 copy
Briefe 1 copy
Schillers Werke Erster Band (1800) — Author — 1 copy
Schiller : Maria Stuart (1965) — Writer — 1 copy
Viliam Tell 1 copy
Gedichte (2009) 1 copy
Drámák (1980) 1 copy
Poezija 1 copy
L'Al·lucinat (1986) 1 copy
Poésies 1 copy

Associated Works

Phaedra (1677) — Translator, some editions — 1,958 copies
Critical Theory Since Plato (1971) — Contributor, some editions — 398 copies
Iphigenia in Aulis (0405) — Translator, some editions — 370 copies
Deutsche Gedichte (1956) — Contributor, some editions — 135 copies
Great German Short Novels and Stories (1933) — Contributor — 104 copies
The Classic Theatre Volume II Five German Plays (1959) — Contributor — 80 copies
Great German Short Novels and Stories (1933) — Contributor — 59 copies
Treasury of the Theatre: From Aeschylus to Ostrovsky (1967) — Contributor — 48 copies
English National Opera Guide : Verdi : Don Carlos (1992) — some editions — 36 copies
Five German Tragedies (1969) — Author — 30 copies
The Romantic Influence (1963) 27 copies
Fragmentos para una teoría romántica del arte (1987) — Contributor — 13 copies
Friedrich von Schiller : William Tell (2011) — Original author — 4 copies
Die edlen Wilden (1989) — Contributor — 3 copies
Am Borne deutscher Dichtung (1927) — Contributor — 1 copy
Der Briefwechsel (2005) — Contributor — 1 copy
Concert for Europe [programme] (2019) — Contributor — 1 copy
Deutsche Erzählungen (1957) — Contributor — 1 copy

Tagged

Common Knowledge

Members

Reviews

The Reclam E-book is a surprisingly useful edition for reading Wallensteins Tod. It has a number of footnotes to provide historical background and to explain things in the play. It also has some useful essays at the end talking about the play. Most useful is the list of characters with indications of how close their depiction matches the historical reality.
 
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M_Clark | 1 other review | Mar 1, 2024 |
This is a fine translation of Friedrich Schiller's The Robbers and the three plays of the Wallenstein trilogy. The book includes a nice introduction to Schiller and to the plays themselves.

The Robbers was Schiller's first tragedy and was written when he was very young. The influence of Shakespeare is very obvious with hints of Macbeth, Othello and Hamlet. There are even lines in the piece that echo lines from Macbeth almost exactly. The play itself is good and contains in the character of Franz a first-class villain who uses deceit as well as Iago. Unfortunately, the final scenes are a bit over the top and diminish the overall play.

The Wallenstein trilogy depicts the final days of Wallenstein who led the Catholic forces fighting in the Thirty Years War. The Emperor has lost faith in Wallenstein and finds out that he had been talking about joining forces with their Swedish enemies. This leads the Emperor to issue orders to depose Wallenstein and have him brought to justice dead of alive.

The first play in the trilogy, Wallenstein's Camp, is very short and depicts a number of scenes with Wallenstein's camp followers. It serves as a good preview of the rest of the trilogy since it shows the personal loyalty the soldiers feel towards Wallenstein as a result of his leadership and his ability to get them paid or otherwise rewarded for their soldering. Scenes also include some local peasants who complain about how Wallenstein's army has taken so much from them that they have been left hungry and destitute.

The second play in the trilogy, The Piccolomini, focuses on a father and son who are military leaders in Wallenstein's army. The son has just fallen in love with Wallenstein's daughter which means that many scenes are devoted to the pining away of the two lovers. The main purpose of this five act play is to set the scene for how the characters are torn between their admiration and loyalty to Wallenstein versus the loyalty that they have sworn to the Emperor in Vienna. A few characters are actively working to get Wallenstein to use his army to rebel against the Emperor. Their are also hints that Wallenstein wants to form an alliance with the Swedes, who lead the Protestant troops, in order to bring the war to an end after it has created so much destruction in the first 16 years.

The final play in the trilogy, Wallenstein's Death, is also five acts and really depends upon the stage-setting from the first two plays in the trilogy. It jumps immediately into the negotiations with the Swedes and the efforts of two military leaders to convince Wallenstein to finally rebel against the Emperor. Unlike in the previous two plays, Wallenstein plays the major role in this play. Numerous scenes focus on the tortured process, including his consultancy of astrologers, for Wallenstein to finally decide to rebel. Well into the play, Wallenstein's hand is forced when messages between Wallenstein and the Swedes fall into the hands of the Emperor who sends notes giving the authority for the army to PIccollomini with orders to arrest Wallenstein. Unfortunately for Wallenstein, he finds that once he has revealed his intention is to rebel against the Emperor, the majority of his army chooses to remain loyal to the Emperor.

These works are classics in German literature and also provide a useful dip into the Thirty Years War. The play is, of course, literary but generally follows the historical facts. It does, however, provide the motivations of Wallenstein that are not historically known.
… (more)
 
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M_Clark | Feb 25, 2024 |
 
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luvucenanzo06 | Sep 8, 2023 |
Astonishing characters speak in griping poetic prose. I long to see the text brought to life on stage.
 
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rebwaring | 6 other reviews | Aug 14, 2023 |

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Associated Authors

Rainer Madsen Herausgeber
Hendrik Madsen Herausgeber
Franz Kafka Contributor
Heinrich Böll Contributor
G. Lachenmaier Introduction
Franz Keim Author
Dorothy Sayers Contributor
Leo Tolstoy Contributor
Karl Goedeke Introduction, Editor, Composer
Herbert G. Göpfert Composer, Contributor
Sarah Walker Mezzo-soprano
Wolfgang Seeliger Chorus master
Gerhard Storz Contributor
Jean Racine Contributor, Author
Erwin Ackerknecht Introduction
Carlo Gozzi Contributor
H.J. Heller Contributor
Euripides Author
Friedrich Düsel Introduction
Joachim Müller Introduction
G. Ras Editor
F. J. Lamport Translator
A. Funke Editor, Introduction
Bodo Plachta Editor, Herausgeber
J.J.L. ten Kate Translator
Francis Lamport Translator
Barbara Piatti Afterword
Stephen Spender Translator
L. L. Zamenhof Translator
David Bryer Translator
Andrew Brown Translator
Giovanni Berchet Translator
Hermann Missenharter Editor, Introduction
Golo Mann Afterword
Daniel Chodowiecki Illustrator
Walter Hinderer Translator
Wolf D. Zimmermann Cover designer
Michael Görden Introduction
Julio Izquierdo Translator
Lucas Casas Translator
Werner Rebhuhn Cover designer
James Illman Cover designer

Statistics

Works
970
Also by
42
Members
9,465
Popularity
#2,539
Rating
½ 3.6
Reviews
96
ISBNs
1,244
Languages
31
Favorited
20

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