Friedrich Schiller: Drama, Thought and Politics

Description

This is the first general study of Friedrich Schiller's works to appear in English for over forty years. Lesley Sharpe assesses Schiller's development as a dramatist, poet and thinker, and provides detailed discussions of all his major works, including his essays on aesthetics. His works are viewed against the social, political and literary background of the late eighteenth century. Spanning a period from the late 1770s to 1805 they explore the insistent themes of the age - the loss of tradition and authority, the individual's claim to self-expression and the search for stability. While the early works focus on the turbulent individual, Schiller later turns to the great public concerns of the French Revolutionary era - legitimacy and power, the exercise of freedom, and the relationship between morality and politics. The aesthetic essays explore the vital role of art in integrating the aesthetic, moral and political realms.

"A scholar of broad intellectual range and critical acumen, she [Sharpe] does not only do full justice to her subject's complexities, but also offers a clearly delineated evaluation of the poet's works. Elegantly written..." Monatshefte "...sensible full-scale study of Schiller's work, the first to appear in English for more than 40 years." Times Higher Education Supplement |x x "Sharpe's interpretation of Schiller's plays in interesting and commendable...this is a fine work of scholarship." Denny McClelland