Shakespeare's Mädchen und Frauen

by Heinrich Heine

Heinrich Heine (1797-1856) war ein deutscher Dichter der Romantik, doch zugleich auch Essayist, Journalist und Satiriker. Kein anderer deutscher Lyriker wurde so oft übersetzt wie Heine. Er machte die Alltagssprache lyrikfähig und erhob den Reisebericht zu einer neuen Kunstform. Sein Stil machte ihn auch im englischsprachigen Raum sehr beliebt. In diesem Band beschreibt er in seiner typisch eleganten Leichtigkeit die diversen Frauenfiguren in Shakespeare's Dramen, Tragödien und Komödien.

Genres: Nonfiction, German Literature

136 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1839

About the author

Christian Johann Heinrich Heine was one of the most significant German poets of the 19th century. He was also a journalist, essayist, and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of Lieder (art songs) by composers such as Robert Schumann and Franz Schubert. Heine's later verse and prose is distinguished by its satirical wit and irony. His radical political views led to many of his works being banned by German authorities. Heine spent the last 25 years of his life as an expatriate in Paris.

Reviews

[Mesoscope · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure what the story of this book is, but it very much feels half-finished. After a brief initial essay, it consists of many short sections, each nominally devoted to a particular female character from Shakespeare's dramatic works. Some sections contain mini-essays that often deal as much or more with the play as a whole than the female character identified in the section title. Others consist solely of a few dozen lines of quotations. It's hard to know what to make of it.

The book concludes with another short essay, which deals largely with Shakespeare's reception in France.

Heine is not capable of writing a book that is without interest, and this book does contain several interesting observations and arguments, but more than any work of his I know, he tries his best here to throw the reader with the half-baked quality of his conception.

[Alessandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Ma come la lancia d'Achille, la quale poteva sanare le ferite che infliggeva, così anche le piaghe più mortali sono guarite dai baci della bocca dell'amante, le cui parole taglienti hanno colpito l'animo dell'innamorato.
E dopo l'ignominia che la serpe dell'antico Nilo procurava al lupo romano, e dopo la maledizione che lui le ululava, entrambi si leccano con maggiore affetto; e lui ancora, fino alla morte, schiaccia le sue labbra con l'ultimo di tanti baci."

[Sara Cantoni · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ho scoperto questo titolo gironzolando in una libreria dell'usato in Germania. Poiché il mio livello di tedesco non mi consentiva la lettura in lingua, appena rientrata l'ho inserito in wishlist e alla prima occasione buona me lo sono accaparrato.

Non so ... mi aspettavo molto di più da un pensatore del livello di Heine che avevo studiato e apprezzato a scuola.
Mi sono sembrati dei micro saggi davvero molto superficiali e poco approfonditi.

Davvero un peccato!