What Schiller wrote. Biography of Friedrich Schiller
Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich (1759 - 1805), German poet, playwright and aesthetic philosopher.
Born November 10, 1759 in Marbach. A native of the lower ranks of the German burghers: his mother is from the family of a provincial baker-innkeeper, his father is a regimental paramedic. After studying at primary school and studies with the Protestant pastor Schiller in 1773, by order of the Duke of Württemberg, he entered the newly established military academy and began to study law, although from childhood he dreamed of becoming a priest; in 1775 the academy was transferred to Stuttgart, the course of study was extended, and Schiller, leaving jurisprudence, took up medicine. After graduating from the course in 1780, he received the post of regimental doctor in Stuttgart.
While still at the academy, Schiller moved away from the religious and sentimental exaltation of his early literary experiments, turned to drama, and in 1781 finished and published The Robbers. At the beginning of the following year, the play was staged in Mannheim; Schiller attended the premiere. For unauthorized absence from the regiment for the performance of The Robbers, he was arrested and prohibited from writing anything other than medical essays, which forced Schiller to flee the Duchy of Württemberg. The Mannheim Theater Quartermaster Daljoerg appoints Schiller as a "theater poet", having signed a contract with him to write plays for staging. Two dramas - "Fiesco's Conspiracy in Genoa" and "Treachery and Love" - were staged at the Mannheim Theater, the latter being a great success.
Tormented by the throes of unrequited love, Schiller willingly accepted the invitation of one of his enthusiastic admirers, assistant professor G. Kerner, and stayed with him for more than two years in Leipzig and Dresden.
In 1789, Mr .. he received the position of professor of world history at the University of Jena, and thanks to his marriage to Charlotte von Lengefeld found family happiness.
The Crown Prince von Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustinburg and Count E. von Schimmelmann paid him a scholarship for three years (1791-1794), then Schiller was supported by the publisher I. Fr. Cotta, who invited him in 1794 to publish the monthly magazine Ora.
Schiller was interested in philosophy, especially aesthetics. As a result, "Philosophical Letters" and a whole series of essays (1792-1796) appeared - "On the Tragic in Art", "On Grace and Dignity", "On the Sublime" and "On Naive and Sentimental Poetry". Schiller's philosophical views were strongly influenced by I. Kant.
In addition to philosophical poetry, he also creates purely lyric poems - short, song-like, expressing personal experiences. In 1796, Schiller founded another periodical - the yearbook "Almanac of the Muses", where many of his works were published.
In search of materials, Schiller turned to JV Goethe, whom he met after Goethe's return from Italy, but then the matter did not go beyond a superficial acquaintance; now the poets have become close friends. The so-called "ballad year" (1797) was marked by Schiller and Goethe with excellent ballads, incl. for Schiller - "Cup", "Glove", "Polikratov ring", which came to the Russian reader in the excellent translations of V.A. Zhukovsky.
In 1799, the Duke doubled Schiller's allowance, which, in fact, became a pension, tk. the poet was no longer engaged in teaching and moved from Jena to Weimar. In 1802, the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation, Francis II, granted Schiller the nobility.
Schiller was never in good health, he was often ill; he developed tuberculosis. Died Schiller in Weimar, May 9, 1805
Schiller, Johann Christoph Friedrich - the most popular and most famous German poet, born. 11/10/1759, d. May 9, 1805. His father, a military doctor, was distinguished by deep honesty and strict devotion to Lutheranism. The boy received his first lessons from a local pastor, then attended a Latin school, until 1773 Duke Karl of Württemberg enrolled him as a pupil in the military school he founded, which was later transformed into a military academy ("Karlsschule"). Schiller owes this institution his broad, comprehensive education. At first he thought to study theology, but then he became interested in legal sciences and medicine. The attraction to poetry awakened in him Klopstock their "Messiah", but the strongest influence on its development and direction was provided by Plutarch and J.J. Rousseau.
Beginning in 1776, the first samples of his lyrics began to appear in the Schwäbisches Magazin. Wanting to be free to engage in literature and the development of the planned tragedy "The Robbers" ("Die Räuber"), Schiller decided to leave the academy, but he succeeded only after he submitted two essays: on the topics of medicine and the natural sciences. Released as a medic in the grenadier regiment, he lovingly took up his first truly brilliant work, and in 1782 The Robbers were staged on the stage of the court theater in Mannheim with tremendous, hitherto unprecedented success. Then Schiller decided to devote himself to drama and began working on the tragedy "The Fiesco Conspiracy in Genoa."
But while the talent of the young poet began to develop more and more, he suffered a misfortune in the form of the prohibition to write a "comedy" by the duke, who did not like his unauthorized absences from Mannheim. Not foreseeing the end of such a ban and unable to withstand this oppression, Schiller decided to flee to Mannheim. The escape succeeded, but disappointment awaited in Mannheim. "Fiesco" was not accepted on the stage and only a year later was published by Schwan (Mannheim, 1783).
Friedrich Schiller. Romantic rebel
In the same year, the tragedy "Treachery and Love" ("Kabale und Liebe") ended and "Don Carlos" began. In July 1783, Schiller managed to settle in with Dahlberg, director of the Mannheim Theater. The play "Cunning and Love" staged on his stage aroused general delight and raised the writer's fallen spirit. This tragedy is Schiller's best youthful work. The sad phenomena of modern life are outlined in it very vividly, with a truly poetic passion combined with a strong characteristic. However, material hardships continued to depress the poet, and an even stronger fever joined this. Barely recovered, he began to publish the magazine "Rhine Thalia" (1785), where he placed the first act of "Don Carlos". This tragedy was not completed by him as quickly as the first. Here he first began to use speech in poetry, observing the iambic pentameter everywhere.
The acquaintance and the beginning of Schiller's friendship with Madame Charlotte von Kalb, which had a great influence on his entire future life, dates back to this time. In 1789 his friends in Leipzig, Körner and Huber, persuaded him to leave Mannheim and come to them in order to develop his talent in silence, among friends. Indeed, Schiller's life in Leipzig was so good and peaceful that he expressed his sense of satisfaction and happiness in the eulogy "Ode to Joy." He graduated from "Don Carlos", sketched the story "A Criminal Because of Lost Honor" and the novel "Spiritual" (published in 1789), continued to publish his magazine "Thalia", where he placed all his works. At the same time, a desire arose in him to study history. Already in Don Carlos it was clear how far the poet had stepped forward in his development. The lofty basic idea passes through everything, rich in maxims, an essay beautiful in language, and its main character, the Marquis of Pose, is, as it were, the personification of Schiller's noble nature.
In 1787 he left his friends and went to Weimar, where Mrs. von Kalb had called him for a long time. Here, in this city of muses, he received the most cordial welcome from the great talents who surrounded Duke Charles Augustus. After settling in the village, he began to write The History of the Fall of the Netherlands, published in 1788. Unfortunately, material need forced him to work hastily, which could not but affect his work, although he studied all the sources very carefully. At the same time he wrote several poems, among others "The Gods of Greece" and "Letters about Don Carlos". Some, albeit weak, relief in material need was for him to obtain a chair of history in Jena. The poet prepared for his professorship very diligently, and the first lecture - "What is world history and for what purpose it is studied" - was a resounding success. Since 1790, Schiller published a collection of historical memoirs and wrote The History of the Thirty Years War for the Göschen calendar. In this work, the attention of the author himself was attracted by the majestic figures Wallenstein and the king Gustav Adolphus, therefore outlined by him with particular force.
Marrying Charlotte Langenfeld gave the poet the long-sought after happiness and peace of mind. His life flowed briskly and happily among his friends, but the onset of his illness (tuberculosis) immediately and forever destroyed his health. Having somehow recovered with good care and treatment, he was forced to work hard to improve his finances. The outbreak of the French Revolution found in him an ardent supporter and defender, until the execution of the king dealt a deep and sensitive blow to his sympathies for this popular movement. To improve his health and exhausted nerves, he went home to Swabia and in Tübingen established relations with the then famous book publisher Kott.
In the years that followed, after an illness, a new turn in the development of Schiller was noticed - an attraction to philosophy and aesthetics. Already in the summer of 1790, he lectured on tragedy, and a year later he delved into the study of Kant's recently published work "Critique of Pure Reason", being carried away by his theory of aesthetics. The influence of the great philosopher was not slow to affect the works "The pleasure of the tragic" and "On the tragic art" (1792). The culminating point in this direction is the essay "Letters on the aesthetic education of man", in which he indicates what a huge influence beauty (beauty) has on the development and ennobling not only of an individual, but of the entire state and society. These letters were published in 1795 in the magazine "Ora". In a number of Schiller's works, published in 1800 under the title "On Naive and Sentimental Poetry," the philosopher again comes into contact with the poet. The acquired theoretical knowledge evokes judgments about outstanding works of poetry, and Schiller begins to group poets according to their different moods and positions in the world. In this era of the development of an ideal view of the vocation of the poet, he writes many reviews, among other things, about Burger's poems, pointing out their aesthetic shortcomings.
Another important event in the poet's life was his close acquaintance and inextricable friendship with Goethe. Under her influence, Schiller again turned to pure poetry. Together with Goethe, Schiller published the magazine "Ora", having managed to attract the best literary forces to this business, prepared the publication of the "Almanac of the Muses", wrote the poem "Ideal and Life", "The Power of Singing", "Dignity of a Woman", the elegy "Walk" and others. Since the end of 1795, both great poets compiled the famous collection of epigrams "Xenia", which appeared in the "Almanac of the Muses" (1797) and directed against the literary philistines of that time. The success of the epigrams was extraordinary. They provoked a lot of objections, but they only proved that the arrows fired by the poets hit the target. Now they had only to prove to the nations with their creations how seriously they understood true art. Stopping reading university lectures, engulfed in the heat of creativity, Schiller devoted himself entirely to writing and created during this period his best ballads: "The Cup", "Ring of Polycrates", "Ivik's Cranes" and others, as well as "Wallenstein", this great trilogy, indisputably the greatest and best work of the great poet (1799). The success of the trilogy has reached the level of enthusiasm. Schiller finally decided to devote himself to one drama, he even stopped publishing the "Almanac of the Muses", having published "Song of the Bell" there in the last year. He began writing Mary Stuart, which he completed in 1800. This play is the most dramatic of all Schiller's tragedies.
Having settled again in Weimar, he, together with Goethe, set about creating a new exemplary repertoire for the German theater and in 1801 released the tragedy The Maid of Orleans, and specially adapted Gozzi's tale Turandot for the Weimar theater. In 1802, the Duke of Weimar granted the poet a dignity of nobility. A year later, he published the tragedy Bride of Messina, where he first attempted to introduce the ancient chorus into modern drama. The next major creation of Schiller was "Wilhelm Tell", for which he zealously studied the history and geography of Switzerland (1804). It was already like a poet's swan song. His illness progressed rapidly. He still found the strength to write, at the request of Goethe, to greet the Weimar crown princess, the play "The Glorification of the Arts", but this was given to him with great difficulty. In the spring of 1805, the poet died quietly, surrounded by friends.
For a more complete characterization of the great Schiller, it should be noted that, together with a strong talent for realistic narration, a feature of subjective reflection and abstract expression of ideas always coexisted in him. The insistent idea that poetry should serve as a moral example was, in essence, alien to him, but with Schiller's characteristic pathos, ideal dreams of the welfare of humanity constantly prevailed in him, and therefore his works easily grew beyond the bounds of pure aesthetics, and the poet became a philosopher ... That which for others came out only as abstraction and pure didactics - under the pen of Schiller became poetry. The sublimity and nobility of the poet's nature were combined with that special charm that always distinguishes idealists. Schiller justly remains the favorite poet of youth.
Johann Friedrich Schiller lived a rather short life, but in the 45 years that were released to him, he managed to do so much for world literature and culture, which was not enough for others even a millennium. How did the fate of this brilliant man develop and what did he have to overcome on the way to recognition?
Origin
Schiller's ancestors lived and worked in the Duchy of Württemberg for almost 200 years. As a rule, they were hard-working people, but not particularly outstanding, so over the years they remained artisans or peasants. However, the father of the future writer Johann Kaspar Schiller was lucky enough to go along the military line - to become an officer and get into the service of the Duke of Württemberg himself. As his wife, he chose Elizabeth-Dorothea Codweiss, the daughter of a local innkeeper.
Despite the good military career heads, the Schiller family always lived very modestly, so their only son Johann Christoph Friedrich Schiller, born in early November 1759, had to rely only on his talents if he wanted to achieve something in life.
Friedrich Schiller: A Brief Biography of the Early Years
When the boy was 4 years old, because of his father's work, the family moved to Lorkh. Here they lived well, but the quality of primary education in this town left much to be desired, so Friedrich Schiller was sent to study not to school, but to the pastor of the local church, Moser.
It was under the guidance of this good-natured priest that young Frederick not only mastered literacy, but also began to study Latin. Due to the new move to Ludwigsburg, Friedrich Schiller was forced to stop studying with Moser and go to a regular Latin school.
Thanks to a thorough study of the language of the proud Romans, he was able to read the works of the classics in the original (Ovid, Virgil, Horace and others), whose ideas influenced his work in the future.
From lawyer to doctor
Initially, the Schillers hoped that Frederick would become a priest, so his passion for Latin was welcomed. But the success in the study of this subject and the excellent grades of the young man attracted the attention of the Duke of Württemberg, who ordered the talented boy to study at the law faculty of the Hohe Karlsschule military academy.
Schiller’s career as a lawyer did not attract Schiller, so he stopped trying, and his grades gradually became the lowest in the class.
After 2 years, the guy managed to get a transfer to the medical faculty, which was closer to him. Here Friedrich Schiller found himself among students and teachers with progressive thinking. Among them was the famous German philosopher Jacob Friedrich Abel. It was he who not only revealed the talent of young Schiller, but also helped him to form. During these years, the young man decides to become a poet and begins to create his own poetic works, which were highly appreciated by those around him. He also tries his hand at writing dramas: from under his pen comes the tragedy of fraternal enmity - "Cosmus von Medici."
In 1779, student Schiller Friedrich wrote a very interesting dissertation: "The Philosophy of Physiology", but, at the behest of the Duke, it was not accepted, and the author himself was left in the academy for another year.
In 1780, Schiller finally finishes his studies, however, due to the hostile attitude of the duke, he was denied an officer's rank, which, however, did not prevent the graduate from getting a job as a doctor in the local regiment.
"The Robbers": the history of the first publication and production
During the year of retraining at the academy, Friedrich had a lot of free time, which he used to start work on his own play, The Robbers. It took another year to bring it to mind. It was only when the playwright finished the work that he faced the fact that local publishers, although they praised The Robbers, did not risk publishing it.
Believing in his talent, Friedrich Schiller borrowed money from a friend and published his play. It was well received by the readers, but for the best effect it was necessary to stage it.
One of the readers - Baron von Dahlberg - agreed to stage Schiller's work at the Mannheim Theater, of which he was director. At the same time, the nobleman demanded to make changes. Reluctantly, the young playwright agreed, but after the premiere of The Robbers (in January 1782) its author became known throughout the duchy.
But for unauthorized leaving the service (which he committed to get to the premiere), he was not only sent to the guardhouse for 2 weeks, but also, by order of the duke, was forbidden to write any fiction.
On free bread
After the ban, Friedrich Schiller faced a difficult choice: should he write works or serve as a doctor? Realizing that, because of the Duke's hostility, he would not be able to succeed in the poetic field at home, Schiller persuaded his composer friend Streicher to flee. And after a few months they secretly left their homes and moved to the Palatinate Margrave. Here the playwright settled in the small village of Oggersheim under an assumed name - Schmidt.
The writer's savings did not last long, and he sold his drama "The Fiesco Conspiracy in Genoa" to the publisher practically for a song. However, the fee quickly ended.
To survive, Frederick was forced to ask for help from a noble acquaintance - Henrietta von Walzogen, who allowed him to settle in one of her estates in Bauerbach under the assumed name of Dr. Ritter.
Having received a roof over his head, the playwright began to create. He worked on the tragedy "Louise Miller", and also decided to create a large-scale historical drama. Choosing between the fate of the Spanish Infanta and Queen Mary of Scots, the author leans towards the first option and writes the play Don Carlos.
Meanwhile, Baron von Dahlberg, having learned that the Duke is no longer looking for the fugitive poet, invites Schiller to stage his new plays Fiesco's Conspiracy in Genoa and Louise Miller in his theater.
However, "The Fiesco Conspiracy in Genoa" was unexpectedly received by the audience coldly and considered too moralizing. Taking this feature into account, Friedrich Schiller revised Louise Miller. The ideas that he wanted to convey to the viewer through this work had to be made more understandable, and also to dilute the moralizing dialogues of the characters, so that the new performance did not repeat the fate of the previous one. In addition, with the light hand of the performer of one of the main roles - August Iffland, the title of the play was changed to "Treachery and Love".
This production surpassed even The Robbers with its success and turned its creator into one of the most famous playwrights in Germany. This helped the fugitive writer gain official status in the Margrave of the Palatinate.
Schiller-publisher
Having become a famous playwright throughout the country, Schiller began to publish his own magazine "Rhine Thalia", in which he published his works on the theory of theater, setting out his ideas in them. However, this venture did not bring him special earnings. Trying to find the means to live, the writer asked the Duke of Weimar for help, but the position of adviser granted to him did not particularly improve his financial situation.
Trying to escape from the clutches of poverty, the poet accepted an offer from a society of admirers of his work to move to Leipzig. In the new place, he became friends with the writer Christian Gottfried Kerner, with whom they maintained a close relationship until the end of their days.
In the same period, Friedrich Schiller finally finishes his play Don Carlos.
The books written by him during this period are at a higher level than early works writer and testify to the formation of their own style and aesthetics. So, after "Don Carlos", he undertakes to write his the only novel- "Spiritual Seer". Frederick also does not abandon poetry - he composes his most famous poetic work - "Ode to Joy", which Beethoven would later set to music.
Having suspended the release of the Rhine Thalia due to lack of funds, the writer gets a job on the editorial board of the German Mercury magazine. Gradually, he again gets the opportunity to publish his own periodical - "Talia". There he published not only his theoretical and philosophical works, but also his novel.
Attempts to find work lead to the fact that the writer moves to Weimar, where for the first time he finds himself in the company of the most famous writers of his time. Under their influence, he decides to leave the writing of works of art for a while and fill in the gaps in his education.
Schiller-teacher
Focusing on self-education, Schiller broadened his own horizons and took up writing a historical work. In 1788 he published the first volume of The History of the Fall of the Netherlands. In it, Friedrich Schiller briefly but very thoroughly spoke about the division that had taken place, thereby earning the fame of a scientist-historian. This work helped its author secure a teaching position in history and philosophy at the University of Jena.
A record number of students enrolled in the course of the renowned writer - 800 people. And after the first lecture, the audience gave him a grandiose ovation.
The following year, Schiller took on a course of lectures on tragic poetry, and also gave individual lessons on world history. In addition, he began writing The History of the Thirty Years War. Frederick also resumed publication of the Rhine Thalia, where he published his own translation of Virgil's Aeneid.
It would seem that life has improved, but like a thunder on a clear day, the doctors' diagnosis sounded - pulmonary tuberculosis. Because of him, in the third year of work, Schiller was forced to leave teaching. Fortunately, the sick playwright was given an annual financial subsidy of 1,000 thalers, which he was paid over 2 years. After their expiration, the writer was invited to the post of publisher in the magazine "Ora".
Personal life
As mentioned above, Friedrich Schiller had no brothers, but he had 3 sisters. Due to his frequent travels and conflicts with the Duke, the playwright did not particularly maintain relations with them. Only the fatal illness of his father forced his prodigal son to return to his homeland for a while, where he had not been for 11 years.
As for women, the writer, as a romantic nature, was a rather amorous man and several times intended to marry, but in most cases he was rejected because of poverty.
The first famous beloved of the poet was Charlotte - the daughter of his patroness Henrietta von Walzogen. Despite her admiration for Schiller's talent, her mother refused the playwright when he wooed her daughter.
The second Charlotte in the fate of the writer was the widow of von Kalb, who was madly in love with him, but did not find an answer to her feelings in him.
Schiller also looked after the young daughter of the bookseller Schwan - Margarita. He intended to marry her. But the girl did not take her fan seriously and only teased him. When a direct declaration of love and an offer to marry followed, she refused.
The third woman in the fate of the poet named Charlotte reciprocated his feelings. And as soon as he got a job as a teacher and began to receive a stable income, the lovers were able to get married. From this union, four children were born. Despite the fact that Schiller praised his wife's intelligence in every possible way, those around her noted her as an economic and business woman, but very narrow-minded.
Creative tandem of Goethe and Schiller
After the start of the French Revolution, all holy Europe was divided into its admirers and opponents. Schiller (awarded the title of honorary citizen of the French Republic for his work), treated her ambiguously, but he understood that changing the ossified foundations in the country would only benefit her. But many cultural figures did not agree with him. To interest the readers of the Ora magazine, the writer invited Goethe to engage in polemics about the French Revolution on the pages of the publication. He agreed, and this marked the beginning of a great friendship between two geniuses.
Having common views and inheriting the ideals of antiquity in their work, the writers tried to create qualitatively new literature, free from clericalism, but at the same time capable of instilling high morality in its readers. Both geniuses published their theoretical literary works, as well as poems on the pages of "Ora", which often aroused public outrage, which, however, benefited the magazine's sales.
This creative tandem jointly created a collection of caustic epigrams that, despite their belligerence, were incredibly popular.
At the end of the 18th century. Goethe and Schiller together open a theater in Weimar, which, thanks to their efforts, has become one of the best in the country. It was the first to stage such famous plays by Friedrich Schiller as "Mary Stuart", "The Messina Bride" and "Wilhelm Tell". Today, a monument to its glorious founders stands next to this theater.
Friedrich Schiller: biography of recent years and the death of the poet
3 years before his death, the writer was unexpectedly granted a title of nobility. He himself was rather skeptical about this mercy, but he accepted it so that his wife and children after his death would be provided for.
Meanwhile, the health of the great playwright was getting worse every year. Tuberculosis progressed, and Schiller slowly faded away. And in May 1805, at the age of 45, he died without completing his last play, Demetrius.
The mystery of the grave of the writer
Despite all attempts, Friedrich Schiller was never able to get rich. Therefore, after his death, he was buried in the Kassengeveölbe crypt, organized for the nobles who did not have their own family tomb.
After 20 years, they wanted to bury the remains of the great writer separately, but finding them among many others turned out to be problematic. Then a skeleton was chosen at random and declared to be Schiller's body. He was buried in the prince's tomb in the new cemetery, next to the grave of his close friend Goethe.
However, in future years, historians and literary critics had doubts about the authenticity of the playwright's body. And in 2008, an exhumation was carried out, which revealed an amazing fact: the remains of the poet belonged to a completely different person, more precisely, to three. Today it is impossible to find the real body of Friedrich Schiller, so his grave is empty.
During his short but very productive life, the writer created 10 plays, two historical monographs, many philosophical works and beautiful poems. However, despite his lifetime recognition, Schiller was never able to get rich and spent the lion's share of his time trying to make money, which depressed him and undermined his health. But on the other hand, his work brought German literature (and drama in particular) to a new level.
Although more than 250 years have passed, and not only the political situation in the world has changed, but also the thinking of people, to this day most of the writer's works remain relevant and many readers around the world find them very interesting - is this not the best praise for the genius of Friedrich Schiller?
The aesthetic views of the early Schiller, who was primarily interested in the problems of theater and drama, were reflected in such of his literary-critical works as "On the modern German theater" (Ober gegenwartige deutsche theater, 1782), "Theater considered as a moral institution" ( Die Schaubuhne als eine moralische Anstalt berachtet, 1785). Both are imbued with the ideas and sentiments of purmery shared by the early Schiller. Their author is a supporter of the topical martial art directed against the vices of the feudal world. For the successful implementation of this goal, the critic demanded from the playwrights simplicity, naturalness, and truth. He was opposed to classicism, which was implanted in Germany following the example of France. “In Paris,” he wrote, “they love smooth, pretty dolls, in which artificiality has corroded all bold naturalness.”
The author opposes any rules and conventions, insisting on complete freedom artistic creation, its national identity. The writer was a resolute opponent of an empty entertaining drama oriented towards the feudal nobility, towards the "idle-lovers." He viewed the theater as a school for the people, and not a place for the antics of "depraved voluptuous".
Schiller is a supporter of the theater, which educates people in the spirit of the ideals of the Enlightenment. He calls theater a channel through which the light of truth streams. The theater, according to the author, castigates social vices. "Thousands of vices left unpunished are punished by the theater, thousands of virtues, about which justice is silent, are glorified on the stage." Khrapovitskaya T.N., Korovin A.V. History of foreign literature. - M., 2001
Both articles of the young writer testify to the significant impact on him of Lessing, the author of the Hamburg Drama.
While under arrest, Schiller begins work on the tragedy "Treachery and Love", which became his best work of the "Storm and Onslaught" period. The author observed prototypes of his characters in the Duchy of Württemberg, where the poet's youth passed, and knew about the outrageous facts of ducal despotism. Karl Eugene did not consider it shameful to trade his subjects, selling them as cannon fodder to foreign armies. He also kept Schubart in prison for ten years. The young playwright felt the tyranny of the duke on himself. From the pages of Schiller's tragedy, a passionate hatred for the world of feudal tyranny breathed. It was not for nothing that Engels called it "the first German politically tendentious drama" "Treachery and Love" became the pinnacle of realism in the drama "Storm and Onslaught". In it, for the first time, German life is depicted with such depth and reliability. Compared to The Robbers, Schiller's artistic skill and dramatic technique has grown. The author created more complex characters, overcoming the one-sidedness and straightforwardness of Franz Moor and other characters in the first drama. More complex Mental experiences are characteristic not only of the musician Miller, Louise, but also of other characters. Even President Walter is shown not only as a court careerist and intriguer, but also to a certain extent loving father shocked by the death of his son, from whom he begs for forgiveness. Lady Milford is not only a morally depraved woman, she is not devoid of a certain kindness and pride.
The plays "Robbers" and "Treachery and Love" made Schiller a famous playwright not only in Germany. They were soon translated into other European languages. At the end of the 18th century. the plays gained popularity in revolutionary France.
The tragedy "Cunning and Love" ends the early, Stürmer period in Schiller's work. The tragedy "Don Carlos" (Don Carlos, 1787), which he started back in 1783, during the period of "Storm and Onslaught", became a transitional one in his work. As he worked on the play, the poet's views changed, he departed from the Stürmer ideals, and the original idea underwent significant changes. However, Carlos's continuity with the early dramas is easy to sense.
Don Carlos is written on the basis of Spanish history of the 16th century. The reign of Philip II, when the tragedy takes place, was characterized by an intensification of the feudal-Catholic reaction in Spain, where the Inquisition acquired decisive importance.
The bearer of the author's views, the new hero of Schiller, becomes the Marquis of Pose, who, according to the original version, was assigned minor role... Pose is a champion of freedom and justice. He arrives in Spain to help the freedom-loving Dutch people who are trying to get rid of the tyranny of Philip II. He persuades the heir to the Spanish throne Don Carlos, in whose soul he once sowed "the seeds of humanity and heroic valor", to go to help the Netherlands. Carlos agrees with the proposal of a friend of his youth and begs his father to send him to the Netherlands. But Philip decides otherwise: he does not trust his son and entrusts this mission to the cruel Duke of Alba, who must mercilessly suppress the rebellion.
Schiller's departure from the Stürmer ideals was accompanied by a revision of aesthetic principles. Schiller is losing interest in the world of burgher, philistine heroes, who now seem to him flat and wretched. He is beginning to be attracted by tall, bright personalities like Don Carlos, Pose, on whom he pinned his hopes as possible saviors of the country, liberators of the people. History of German Literature. In 5 volumes.Moscow, 1966.Vol. 3.
The style of the drama is also changing. He abandons the prose that was used to write the original version of Don Carlos. The prose of the early dramas, with their colloquial vernacular vocabulary interspersed with vulgarisms and dialectisms, is being replaced by iambic pentameter.
After Don Carlos, Schiller departed from drama for almost 10 years. In the mid-80s, he also wrote few poems. Among them, the remarkable ode To Joy (An die Freude, 1785) stands out, which is a passionate hymn to friendship, joy, love. The poet condemns enmity, anger, cruelty and war, calls on humanity to live in peace and friendship
Schiller's attitude to the events of the French bourgeois revolution of 1789-1794 was complex and contradictory. At first he welcomed her and was proud that the Legislative Assembly of France in 1792 awarded him, as a champion of freedom, the title of honorary citizen of the French Republic. Later, Schiller, not understanding the need for revolutionary terror, became an opponent of the revolution. But great events forced him to re-evaluate a number of cardinal problems of worldview and creativity. One of these most important questions was the question of the role of the people, their influence on history, on the fate of the homeland. The image of a lone rebel disappears from Schiller's drama, and gradually the theme of the people is established in it. Schiller still remains a freedom-loving poet, but he does not think of achieving freedom in a revolutionary way. He is looking for new non-violent methods to combat social evil. In the early 90s. Schiller is predominantly concerned with philosophical and aesthetic problems. He pays especially a lot of attention to the philosophy of Kant, who had on the writer significant influence... Schiller accepted the starting positions of Kant's philosophy, but in the course of further searches he more and more clearly revealed his divergence with him. These differences were due to the fact that the German philosopher did not believe in the possibility of realizing freedom, humanistic ideals in reality and transferred their implementation to the other world. The meaning of all Schiller's quests boils down to the fact that he sought to find ways to achieve freedom, ways to create conditions for comprehensive development personalities in the real world. Disagreements on this issue predetermined other disagreements as well.
Schiller's most important theoretical work is "Letters on the aesthetic education of man" (Uber die asthetische Erziehung des Menschen, 1795). In this programmatic work, the writer touched upon not only aesthetic issues, but also tried to answer the most important social problems, to find ways to reorganize society.
Rejecting the violent ways of achieving freedom, Schiller sees the key to solving basic social problems in aesthetic education. Rough animal instincts prevent modern people from living in freedom. Humanity needs to be re-educated. The writer considers aesthetic education, education of people through beauty to be the decisive means of transforming society. "... The path to freedom leads only through beauty" - that's the main idea of this work.
An important role in aesthetic education is played by the form, beauty and grace of works of art. From now on, the poet pays great attention to the finishing of his works. The prosaic youthful dramas are being replaced by the poetic tragedies of the mature Schiller. History of German Literature. In 5 volumes.Moscow, 1966.Vol. 3.
A significant step in the aesthetic development of Schiller was his work "On Naive and Sentimental Poetry" (Ober naive und sentimentalische Dichtung, 1795-1796). In it, for the first time, an attempt is made to explain the connection between aesthetic problems and the development of society. Schiller rejects ahistorical ideas about the immutability of aesthetic ideals, which was widespread in the 17th - 18th centuries.
He distinguishes between two types of poetry - "naive" and "sentimental", which arose in different periods. human history... The first is typical for the ancient world, the second for the modern one. The main feature of "naive" poets is the impartial, objective nature of their work. Modern poets are subjective, "sentimental". They put in their works a personal relationship to the world they portray. Ancient poetry arose in the unique conditions of childhood of human society, when a person was harmoniously developed and did not feel discord with the world around him. Modern, or "sentimental" poetry develops in completely different conditions. The poet of modern times lives in discord with the world around him, and in his search for beauty he often breaks away from modernity, which does not meet his ideals.
Schiller's sympathies were on the side of "naive", antique poetry.
Passion for ancient literature was reflected in many of Schiller's works, in particular in his famous poem "The Gods of Greece" (Die Gotter Griechenland, 1788), in which mournful thoughts about the death of the ancient world, idealized by the poet, sound with great force.
In the late 90s. Shiller's brilliant ballads appear one after another - "The Cup" (the name was given by V.A. Zhukovsky, for Schiller - "Diver" - Der Taucher), "Glove" (Der Handschuh), Ibykus), "Pledge" (Die Burgschait), "Knight Toggenburg" (Ritter Toggenburg), talentedly translated into Russian by V.A. Zhukovsky.
In ballads, the poet glorifies the noble ideas of friendship, loyalty, honor, heroism, self-sacrifice, the greatness of the human spirit. For example, in the ballad "Bail" he glorifies friendship, for the sake of which pi does not stop before what sacrifices; courage and courage are described in the ballads "Glove", "Cup".
Schiller's ballads are distinguished by a poignant dramatic plot. With great expressiveness and liveliness, they convey the typical features of the environment and human characters. The spirit of abstraction recedes into the background. As one of the well-known experts on the German poet in our country, Franz Petrovich Schiller, rightly noted, it is not difficult to feel that “in all ballads, the hand of a genius playwright is felt”.
At the end of the 18th century. Schiller creates the famous poem "Song of the Bell" (Das Lied von der Glocke, 1799), strikingly contradictory in its ideological content. The content of the poem is the poet's thoughts about work, about the happiness of people, about the ways of reorganizing life.
The Wallenstein trilogy (1797 - 1799) is one of Schiller's most remarkable works. He worked on it much longer than on his other works. The process of nurturing and thinking over an idea was very long. However, this is not surprising given that Wallenstein discovered new stage in the work of the playwright, that the trilogy is written mainly in a new artistic manner.
The broad historical concept associated with the events of the Thirty Years' War required an objective depiction of Characters and surroundings. A subjective approach to business could only damage the idea. Schiller's long study of history, his large historical works "The History of the Fall of the United Netherlands" (Die Geschichte des Abfails der vereinigten Niederlande, 1788), "The History of the Thirty Years War" (Die Geschichte des Dreissigjahrigen Krieges, 1792) were a good preparatory school for the creation of Walt ... Studying history developed the habit of sticking to concrete facts, giving real motivation for events. History of German Literature. In 5 volumes.Moscow, 1966.Vol. 3.
Maria Stuart (1800) is a socio-psychological tragedy. There are no broad social pictures in it, the world depicted by Schiller is limited mainly to court circles.
The tragedy begins at the moment when the fate of Mary has already been decided. She was sentenced to death. Maria has only a few hours left to live.
Schiller brought the trial beyond the tragedy, the whole backstory of the Scottish queen. Only from the words of the characters we learn about her brilliant, but scandalous past, when she was involved in the murder of her husband, for which she lost the Scottish throne.
Schiller's Maria is by no means innocent. There are crimes on her conscience. But she had suffered so much over the long years of imprisonment in an English prison that she largely atoned for her guilt. She changed her mind about many things, looked critically at her past. Mary changed for the better, suffering ennobled her. She is not devoid of spiritual beauty. She has sincerity, sincerity, which Elizabeth lacks so much.
V romantic tragedy"The Maid of Orleans" (Die Jung-frau von Orleans, 1801) shows the national liberation struggle of the French people against foreign invaders, the British in the era of the Hundred Years War. The national heroine of this war was the peasant girl Jeanne d "Arc. Schiller showed that the salvation of France was brought not by the king and noble nobility, but by ordinary people.
The image of Joan of Arc evoked a variety of interpretations. The churchmen first burned her as a sorceress at the stake, and later declared her a saint. Voltaire, fighting the obscurantism and fanaticism of the churchmen, went to the other extreme and depicted Cain in emphatically frivolous tones.
Schiller made it his goal to rehabilitate Jeanne, to show all the greatness of her feat, her patriotism.
"Wilhelm Tell" (Wilhelm Tell, 1804) is the last completed drama, worthily completing Schiller's career. In it, the writer sums up his many years of meditation on the fate of the people, the homeland. The work was a kind of poetic testament to the playwright.
Wilhelm Tell was conceived from the very beginning as a folk drama. About the nature of his idea in a letter dated August 18, 1803, the poet reported: "Wilhelm Tell" is very interesting to me now ... The topic is generally very attractive and its nationality is very suitable for the theater. " The very content of the drama, which was based on the legend of the well-aimed arrow Tell, which was widespread among some European peoples, was popular. Legends about him were often found in Switzerland, Germany, France.
In the last months of his life, Schiller was working on the tragedy from Russian history "Demetrius" (Demetrius, 1805). He managed to write the first two acts and outline a general plan for the further development of the plot. The tragedy was based on the story of the short-term rise and fall of False Dmitry. His tragedy was that he acts as an involuntary deceiver, who at first sincerely believes in his royal origin. Later he learns that he himself was mistaken and deceived others, becoming an instrument in the hands of foreigners who came to Russia as invaders.
An outstanding poet, playwright, philosopher, historian, art theorist was Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805).
Schiller belonged to a family whose ancestors,
who lived for more than two hundred years in the Duchy of Württemberg were winemakers and peasants. His father served as a regimental paramedic for the Duke of Württemberg, the magician came from
baker's family. Born in the city of Marbach-na-Nskkars and having received his initial education from Pastor Moser, Schiller in 1766 was sent to study at the Latin school in Ludwigsburg, which he graduated with honors four years later. Growing up in Fg, (t9 m5 ) lV religious atmosphere, the future poet dreamed of becoming a priest, but the order of the duke in 1773 to assign him to study at the military academy "Charles High School" changed his fate. Schiller was assigned to the burgher department of the Faculty of Law, from where in 1776, due to hostility towards jurisprudence, he was transferred to the Faculty of Medicine. It was here that he, carried away by the poetry of the Sturmers and F. Klopstock, and under the influence of the latter's poetic manner, creates a drama "Cosmus von Medici" and ode "Conqueror", Published in 1777 in the journal" German Chronicles ".
In 1780 he completed his studies at the Academy and received a post as regimental doctor in Stuttgart. In 1781 he finished the drama The Robbers, on which he worked during his stay at the Academy, but not a single Stuttgart publisher wanted to print it, and therefore Schiller publishes the drama at his own expense. The drama was liked by the director of the Mannheim Theater, Baron Dalbsrg, in 1782 it was staged on the stage of the Mannheim Theater and was a resounding success. The audience was amazed at how accurately the drama reflects the pressing problems of German reality, real life. The plot itself reproduced quite real life collisions: in 1771 in Bavaria, Matthias Klostermeier was sent to the scaffold, who gathered a detachment of rebels, attacked the powerful, distributing the loot to the poor. As N. Berkovsky justly noted, “the very reality in Germany was too similar to the fictions of literature, and this was the German misfortune.<...>Karl Moor raised his sword of liberation over the oppressors and then learned that the liberator depends entirely on the country, on the state of forces and minds in it, on the support and response that he can expect. Serious social forces in Germany were not yet ready for the liberation cause. Immature conditions and showed themselves through the plot of "Robbers", through this story about fugitive schoolchildren<...>» .
The main character"Robbers" - Karl Moor - a student, fascinated by the biographies of the great men of antiquity, dreams of turning Germany into a republic. This is the first Schiller hero-Sturmer, an idealist, dreaming of the liberation of all mankind, but betrayed by his brother and cursed by his father, Karl becomes the leader of a band of robbers and administers justice by force of arms, and violence soon intoxicates the robbers, and cruelty becomes a habit. The turning point in the drama is the scene on the banks of the Danube, when Karl hears detailed stories their companions about the people they ruined: saving a comrade, they killed women, old people, and Shufterls describes in detail how he threw a child into the fire. Karl Moor is horrified by the atrocities of his people, because in his aspirations freedom is inseparable from morality. Karl realizes that the great good he planned turns into a great evil. It is impossible to correct the world by atrocities, and therefore he decides to surrender to the hands of justice. In the denouement of the drama, the hero runs away from himself, returning to his father's house with the deepest regret for everything he has done:. And this determines the dimensions of his internal catastrophe: Karl was pushed to robbery by personal resentment (conflict with his father), with the collapse of family harmony the whole world collapses for him, and therefore in the finale the hero realizes the destructiveness of the chosen path of violence and returns to his home. The parallel with the well-known biblical parable is obvious here, and F. Schiller himself wanted to name his first drama "The Prodigal Son" and almost returned to this title when he worked it up for the theater.
The main conflict in the drama was of a social nature, but Schiller does not show the real clashes of the hero with the powers that be, but demonstrates the collision of Karl with his brother Franz, who just symbolizes everything that is old, inert, and ugly in despotic Germany. Franz achieves everything by cunning and treachery, for him there are no moral laws, his own "I", the thirst for power and selfish interests are above all for him. In achieving personal goals, he does not shun anything, unlike Karl, who is driven by freedom and morality. The confrontation between brothers is nothing more than a confrontation between two contrasting life positions.
Already in the first drama, Schiller relies not on strength, but on the moral correction of society. The fierce passion of the characters, the pathetic nature of their speeches, the intensity of the plot made The Robbers an exemplary work of Storm and Onslaught. To attend the premiere of the drama, Schiller went to Mannheim without permission, for which, upon his return, he was arrested and ordered "not to write anything but essays on medicine." Then Schiller decided to run away, on September 22, 1782 he left the Duchy of Württemberg, and from that time his five-year wanderings and struggle for reader and theatrical recognition began.
For several years, Schiller settled in Mannheim, where he received a job as head of the literary department in " National Theater". Following The Robbers, Schiller creates a second drama, but based on historical material, the genre of which he designated as a "republican tragedy" - "Fiesco's Conspiracy in Genoa" (1782) - a tragedy from the late Italian Renaissance. Fiesco must save the republic from the tyranny of the Doria family, but people of dirty aspirations - Sacco and Calcagno - are involved in an honest conspiracy of the Republicans: Sacco's business is going badly, and he hoped that the state of turmoil would save him from the claims of creditors; Calcagno hopes that participation in the conspiracy will help him enter Fiesco's house and bring him closer to Fiesco's wife Leonora. If in "The Robbers" Karl Moor himself was pure in thoughts and aspirations, but his companions were worth nothing, then in this drama the leader of the uprising is far from being impeccable: he is power-hungry, dreams not of freedom for Genoa, but of the place of the Doge for himself, in This is the tragedy of the republic and the republican idea: the adventurer Fiesco, a man devoid of epicureanism, artistry and generosity, seeks to become the same tyrant as his predecessor.
The next play - "Treachery and Love" (1783) - went down in the history of world drama as a "bourgeois tragedy." Before Schiller, only monarchs and aristocrats acted in tragedies, the third estate was allowed to be portrayed only in comedies, but in "Treachery and Love" Schiller proved that tragic collisions are possible, and sometimes inevitable in the life of a simple humble person- "tradesman". The love story of Louise Miller, the daughter of a simple musician, and the son of the president, the young Major Ferdinand von Walter, arouses the indignation of Ferdinand's father and fits into the history of "treachery" - political court intrigues. Like Lessing in Emily Galotti, Schiller makes philistine drama a part of “state action,” thereby justifying its meaning. President Walter and his accomplice Wurm are accustomed to using people for selfish interests, turning them into means of achieving their own goals, and this is the "deceit" of both, reigning at the court and in the government of the duke. Having thrown the innocent Millers into dungeon, Wurm, through his people, is engaged in low extortion, demanding from Louise the most expensive price for her parents' release. With a pure soul, Louise writes a note dictated by Wurm, dirtying her love for Ferdinand. The love of Louise and Ferdinand is deliberately doomed, because it undermines the foundations of the established order, and young people become victims of intrigue: having not fully appreciated the power of deceit, Ferdinand, who believed in slander, takes the life of both his beloved and himself. Love turns out to be powerless against the world of lies, meanness and slander, in which the natural rights of the individual are usurped.
Simultaneously with drama, Schiller devotes himself to poetry, and in his poems, thought always prevails over feeling; reflecting on various phenomena of life, the poet draws arguments from ancient mythology or Renaissance art. At the heart of most of Schiller's poems lies the fundamental optimism characteristic of the poet, faith in man, the conviction that people can and should become related to each other. ("Ode to Joy"). Singing to the beautiful lady, he calls her Laura, thereby not only expressing the sublime platonic structure of feelings, but also declaring himself an adherent of F. Petrarch. According to the poet's thought, inherited by him from the ancient sages, all the particles of the huge scattered world are reunited by love, without the world and nature being dead, love is a great good feeling, because it is a necessary connecting particle of the universe.
In 1785, due to financial difficulties, Schiller was forced to leave Mannheim. He moved to Dresden, where, without a permanent home, he lived with friends. Despite the difficult conditions, the playwright worked actively: he tries himself in prose genres (novellas Lost Honor Crime 1786, "A game of fate" 1789; fragment of the novel "Spiritual Seer" 1787), ends "Philosophical Letters", Writes the" dramatic poem "Don Carlos, the Spanish Infante (1787). In the works of the Dresden period, Schiller's departure from the former rebellious ideology was outlined: now he believes that in order to reconcile the ideal and life, the poetic genius "must strive to break with the realm of the real world." The revolution in the poet's worldview occurred both as a result of disillusionment with the ideals of Storm and Onslaught, and as a result of the study of Kantian philosophy and enthusiasm for the ideas of Freemasonry. The drama "Don Carlos", written on the basis of Spanish history, well reflected this turning point, even formally: unlike the early plays, whose characters spoke in simple language, "Don Carlos" was written with a classic iambic pentameter, its main character is not a representative of the "philistine estate ", As was customary among representatives of" Storm and Onslaught ", and a courtier; one of the central ideas of the drama is the idea of reforming society by an enlightened ruler (Schiller puts it in the mouth of the Marquis Pose, a friend of the protagonist).
The drama takes place in Spain at the beginning of the 17th century. Don Carlos, son of the cruel tyrant Philip II, decides to side with the rebellious Netherlands. The spirit of free thought and hatred of tyranny is supported in the young hero by his wise mentor, the Marquis Pose, who hopes not for rebellion, but for transformations carried out by a wise ruler, in accordance with natural laws: “Look at the life of nature. // Her law is freedom, ”he tries to convince the king. However, Pose's dreams turn out to be utopian in contemporary conditions. In the name of saving Carlos, the marquis dies, while Carlos, shaken by the death of his friend and mentor, selflessly renouncing love, is also doomed: the king hands him over to the Inquisition.
After Don Carlos, Schiller plunged more and more into the study of antiquity and Kantian philosophy. If earlier the value of antiquity for the poet was in certain civic ideals, now antiquity is becoming important for him primarily as an aesthetic phenomenon. Like Winkslmann and Goethe, Schiller sees in antiquity "noble simplicity and pacified grandeur", the curbing of "chaos." Having revived the form of ancient art, in his opinion, one can approach the harmony of the serene "childhood of mankind", lost forever. Schiller expressed his thoughts on the meaning of antiquity in two program poems: "Gods of Greece" and "Artists" (1788).
In 1787 Schiller moved to Weimar, where he communicated with Herder and Wieland. In 1787-88. Schiller will publish the magazine Thalia, collaborates with M. Wieland's German Mercury. He completes The History of the Fall of the Netherlands, the publication of which earned him the reputation of an outstanding historian. Soon, at the request of Goethe, Schiller received the post of extraordinary professor of history and philosophy at the University of Jena. Here he reads a course of lectures on the history of the Thirty Years War (published in 1793). In the first half of the 1790s. Schiller does not create large dramatic works, but writes a number of philosophical works: "On the tragic in art" (1792), "Letters on the aesthetic education of man"(1795), "On the sublime"(1795). Schiller never considered aesthetic problems only as particular issues of artistic practice: they were the most important element of his worldview. Solving the problem of the integrity and intrinsic value of the individual, Schiller develops his theory of beauty. If the perfection of a person lies in the harmonious energy of his sensual and spiritual forces, then he can lose it only either in the absence of harmony of these forces, or in the case of a weakening of their energy. Where the harmony of a human being is disturbed, a state of tension arises. Where the unity of human nature is maintained at the cost of a uniform weakening of sensory and spiritual forces, a person falls into a state of weakening. These are the two opposite limits to which man is moving as a result of the division of labor that has embraced the entire area of social life. Schiller argues that the disintegration of a person's integrity, the weakening of his physical and spiritual powers "are destroyed by beauty." It is beauty that "restores harmony in a tense person, and energy in a weakened one." Beauty brings the current limited state of a person to the unconditioned and makes a person "complete in himself as a whole."
Starting from I. Kant's theory of art as a connecting link between the kingdom of nature and the kingdom of freedom, Schiller created his theory of the transition from the "natural absolutist state to the bourgeois kingdom of reason" with the help of aesthetic culture and moral re-education of mankind. A number of poems of 1795-1798 are closely related to these theoretical works. ("Poetry of Life", "The Power of Chanting", "Division of the Earth", "Ideal and Life") and ballads written in close collaboration with Goethe.
Schiller and Goethe revived this genre from long oblivion, having entered into a friendly competition in the creation of ballads in 1797. Schiller's ballads are perceived as echoes of those ancient times when various kinds of beliefs and legends, adjacent to reality, merged into whimsical folk images. Ballads most often speak not of any specific historical time, but of antiquity as such. All ballads are filled with inexplicable mysteries of nature, ancient and medieval plots are developed in them ("Ivik's Cranes", "Polycrates Ring", "Glove". "Hero and Leander", "Cup", "Knight of Togenburg"). The ballads show the skill of Schiller as a playwright: at the heart of each of them is an acute dramatic conflict. An important place in Schiller's poetry is "Song of the Bell", Where two themes are developed in parallel. The poet scrupulously reproduces the entire process of casting a bell, the ringing of which accompanies a person at all stages of a difficult life, and this life itself in the most important fragments of a generalized biography. This is a hymn to the work of man, the glorification of his power, mind, the strength of his hands.
In the 1790s. Schiller creates a number of aesthetic compositions ("Letters on the aesthetic education of man," On naive and sentimental poetry " and others), together with Goethe will publish the magazine "Ora". However, throughout his career, drama remained his favorite genre. At the same time, starting with Don Carlos, the nature of his drama changes: Schiller writes with iambic pentameter, this is explained by the fact that all his subsequent dramatic works are based on historical material that required an increase in convention. Although each drama has an accurate dating of events, the story is recreated in a rather general way, and historical characters are interpreted rather freely. The most fruitful in terms of drama was the last decade of Schiller's career: he creates a trilogy Wallenstein(1799), dramas "Mary Stuart" (1800), "The Maid of Orleans" (1801), "Wilhelm Tell"(1804), an unfinished tragedy "Dmitriy"(1805), in which artistic analysis subjected to turning points in the history of European peoples. Their heroes are historical figures whom the author judges not only by the importance of their role in history, but primarily as bearers of high morality. V Wallenstein the playwright turns to the history of the Thirty Years War, when the commander of the imperial forces, the Duke of Wallenstein, tries to end civil strife and unite Germany. The hero is shown at a critical moment in German history, but, as Schiller believed, only at such moments can a person freely express himself as a spiritual person, it is in times of crisis that a contradiction is most often created between freedom and necessity, between the individual and society, aspirations and moral duty are possible only in the death of the hero. In drama Wilhelm Tell, which is based on the legend of a skillful shooter, Schiller tried to show not only the development of one person (initially Tlll was an agreeable peasant, in the end - a politically conscious rebel), but the evolution of an entire people from “naive” to “ideal”; the dramatic collision lies in the fact that only by crime can the Swiss get rid of Austrian domination, but according to Schiller, they have no right to do so, since “the people can only engage in“ self-defense ”and not“ self-liberation ”. Play "Dmitriy", based on the events of Russian history and dedicated to the tragic fate of the impostor Dmitry, who sincerely believes that he is the son of Ivan IV, remained unfinished: on May 9, 1805, Schiller died with a pen in his hands.
F. Schiller's work had a huge impact on the development of world culture, including Russian. Schiller's ethical views gave impetus to the design and self-determination of romanticism. FM Dostoevsky wrote: “... Schiller, indeed, entered the flesh and blood of Russian society, especially in the past and in the past generation. We were brought up on him, he is dear to us and in many ways influenced our development. " Indeed, recognition for the work of the outstanding German poet and playwright came in Russia with the translation of his Ode to Joy by N. M. Karamzin and the staging of the drama The Robbers, which in 1793 was played by the pupils of the Noble Boarding School at Moscow University. His authority as the "advocate of humanity" (V. G. Belinsky) was indisputable. Schiller's poems and ballads were translated by the outstanding Russian poets G.R.Derzhavin, V.A.Zhukovsky, M. Yu. Lermontov, A. A. Fet, F. I. Tyutchev, L. N. Mei, N. A. Zabolotsky.
- Berkovsky N.Ya. Schiller Theater // Berkovsky N.Ya. Articles and lectures on foreign literature. SPb., 2002.S. 378.
- Schiller F. The Robbers. SPb., 2010.S. 127.