Aesthetical and Philosophical Essays (Works of Frederick Schiller) [Paperback]

Friedrich Schiller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2001 | ISBN-10: 0898751748 | ISBN-13: 978-0898751741

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 Schöne 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).

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Friedrich Schiller was a famous German playwright, born in 1759 in the little duchy of Wurttemberg, Germany.

Friedrich von Schiller was the son of an army officer. Although the young boy disliked the strict regimentation of his father's chosen profession, he was forced by the Duke of Wurttemberg to enter a military academy. Trapped and overcome with depression, Schiller began to compose morbid poetry. He found some comfort in these literary diversions, but after composing his first play - The Robbers (1782) -Schiller's writing was discovered by his superiors, and he was forbidden to write. The young dramatist quickly determined to desert the army and flee to Mannheim where he lived under an assumed name and made his living as a court playwright and stage manager. During this period, he penned such plays as Fiesko (1783), Intrigue and Love (1784) and Don Carlos (1787).

Between 1787 and 1798, Schiller wrote no plays, instead devoting himself to historical studies - The Revolt of the Netherlands and A History of the Thirty Years War - that won him fame as a historian. In 1794, however, Schiller established a close friendship with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Under Goethe's influence, Schiller soon returned his attentions to the craft of playwriting and, during the period that followed, composed his most mature dramas including Wallenstein's Camp (1798), The Piccolomini (1799), Wallenstein's Death (1799), Mary Stuart (1800), The Maid of Orleans (1801), and William Tell (1804.) In 1799, he took up residence in Weimar where he and Goethe collaborated to make the Weimar Theatre one of the most prestigious theatrical houses in Germany.

On May 9, 1805, Friedrich Schiller died of tuberculosis. He was only forty-six years old. His plays, however, along with those of Goethe, had established a theatrical renaissance in Germany, which would become known as "Weimar Classicism." For more than a century after his death, Schiller remained the favorite playwright of the German people..

Product Details

• Paperback: 444 pages
• Publisher: Univ Pr of the Pacific (January 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898751748
• ISBN-13: 978-0898751741
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,267,836 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)