Wallenstein's Camp

by Friedrich Schiller

Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1805) was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and dramatist. Schiller wrote many philosophical papers on ethics and aesthetics. He developed the concept of the Schne Seele (beautiful soul), a human being whose emotions have been educated by his reason, so that Pflicht und Neigung (duty and inclination) are no longer in conflict with one another; thus "beauty," for Schiller, is not merely a sensual experience, but a moral one as well: the Good is the Beautiful. His philosophical work was also particularly concerned with the question of human freedom, a preoccupation which also guided his historical researches. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. Critics have noted his innovative use of dramatic structure and his creation of new forms, such as the melodrama and the bourgeois tragedy. Amongst his famous works are Love and Intrigue (1784), Don Carlos (1787), The Minister (1796), The Death of Wallenstein (1799), The Piccolomini (1800) and Mary Stuart (1800).

Genres: German Literature, Classics

37 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 17, 2012

About the author

People best know long didactic poems and historical plays, such as Don Carlos (1787) and William Tell (1804), of leading romanticist German poet, dramatist, and historian Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller.

This philosopher and dramatist struck up a productive if complicated friendship with already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe during the last eighteen years of his life and encouraged Goethe to finish works that he left merely as sketches; they greatly discussed issues concerning aesthetics and thus gave way to a period, now referred to as classicism of Weimar. They also worked together on Die Xenien ( The Xenies ), a collection of short but harsh satires that verbally attacked perceived enemies of their aesthetic agenda.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedri...

Reviews

[Legens]

Quite obviously only a setup for what is to come, thus no rating. I did like the Capuchin monk and his attack on the soldiery, though.

[Mephistopheles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, textured overview of the camp. Since this is the first of a trilogy of plays, it didn’t really have much story, it was more slice of life texture, but it was well done in a slow way.

[Scot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short and sweet lyric poem created to give the reader that is digging into the two part tragedy (The Piccolomini and Death of Wallenstein)a deeper understanding of the people and what life was like in Wallenstein's camp prior to his death.