and philosophy. Under the influence of one of his mentors, he became a member of the secret society of the Illuminati.

In 1776-1777, several of Schiller's poems were published in the Swabian Journal.

Schiller began his poetic activity during the era of the literary movement "Sturm and Drang", which was named after the drama of the same name by Friedrich Klinger. Its representatives defended the national uniqueness of art and demanded the depiction of strong passions, heroic deeds, and characters not broken by the regime.

Schiller destroyed his first plays "The Christians", "The Student from Nassau", "Cosimo de' Medici". In 1781, his tragedy “The Robbers” was published anonymously. On January 13, 1782, the tragedy was staged on the stage of a theater in Mannheim, directed by Baron von Dahlberg. For unauthorized absence from the regiment for the performance of his play, Schiller was arrested, and he was forbidden to write anything other than medical essays.
Schiller fled from Stuttgart to the village of Bauerbach. Later he moved to Mannheim, in 1785 to Leipzig, then to Dresden.

During these years, he created the dramatic works “The Fiesco Conspiracy” (1783), “Cunning and Love” (1784), “Don Carlos” (1783-1787). During the same period, the ode “To Joy” (1785) was written, which composer Ludwig Beethoven included in the finale of the 9th symphony as a hymn to the future freedom and brotherhood of man.

From 1787, Schiller lived in Weimar, where he studied history, philosophy and aesthetics.

In 1788 he began editing a series of books entitled "History of Remarkable Rebellions and Conspiracies."

In 1789, with the assistance of the poet and philosopher Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Friedrich Schiller took up the position of extraordinary professor of history at the University of Jena.

Together with Goethe, he created a series of epigrams “Xenia” (Greek - “gifts for guests”), directed against rationalism in literature and theater and the early German romantics.

In the first half of the 1790s, Schiller wrote a number of philosophical works: “On the Tragic in Art” (1792), “Letters on the Aesthetic Education of Man,” “On the Sublime” (both 1795) and others. Starting from Kant's theory of art as a link between the kingdom of nature and the kingdom of freedom, Schiller created his own 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 humanity. His theory found expression in a number of poems of 1795-1798 - “The Poetry of Life”, “The Power of Chanting”, “Division of the Land”, “Ideal and Life”, as well as ballads written in close collaboration with Goethe - “The Glove”, “ Ivikov's Cranes", "Polycrates' Ring", "Hero and Leander" and others.

During these same years, Schiller was editor of the magazine Di Oren.

In 1794-1799 he worked on the Wallenstein trilogy, dedicated to one of the commanders Thirty Years' War.

In the early 1800s he wrote the dramas "Mary Stuart" and " Maid of Orleans"(both - 1801), "The Bride of Messina" (1803), folk drama "William Tell" (1804).

In addition to his own plays, Schiller created stage versions of Shakespeare's "Macbeth" and "Turandot" by Carlo Gozzi, and also translated "Phaedra" by Jean Racine.

In 1802, Holy Roman Emperor Francis II granted Schiller nobility.

IN recent months During his lifetime, the writer worked on the tragedy "Dimitri" from Russian history.

Schiller was married to Charlotte von Lengefeld (1766-1826). The family had four children - sons Karl Friedrich Ludwig and Ernst Friedrich Wilhelm and daughters Caroline Louise Henrietta and Louise Henrietta Emily.

The material was prepared based on information from open sources

Friedrich Schiller's work fell on the so-called era of “Storm and Drang” - a trend in German literature, which was characterized by a rejection of classicism and a transition to romanticism. This time spans approximately two decades: 1760-1780. It was marked by the publication of works by such famous authors as Johann Goethe, Christian Schubart and others.

Brief biography of the writer

The Duchy of Württemberg, where the poet was located, was born in 1759 into a family of people from the lower classes. His father was a regimental paramedic, and his mother was the daughter of a baker. However, the young man received a good education: he studied at the military academy, where he studied law and jurisprudence, and then, after transferring the school to Stuttgart, he took up medicine.

After the production of his first sensational play, “The Robbers,” the young writer was expelled from his native duchy and spent most of his life in Weimar. Friedrich Schiller was Goethe's friend and even competed with him in writing ballads. The writer was interested in philosophy, history, and poetry. He was a professor world history at the University of Jena, under the influence of Immanuel Kant, he wrote philosophical works and was engaged in publishing, publishing the magazines “Ory” and “Almanac of the Muses”. The playwright died in Weimar in 1805.

The play "The Robbers" and the first success

In the era under review, romantic moods were very popular among young people, which Friedrich Schiller also became interested in. The main ideas that briefly characterize his work boil down to the following: the pathos of freedom, criticism of the upper crust of society, the aristocracy, the nobility and sympathy for those who, for whatever reason, were rejected by this society.

The writer gained fame after the production of his drama “The Robbers” in 1781. This play is distinguished by its naive and somewhat pompous romantic pathos, but the audience fell in love with it for its sharp, dynamic plot and intensity of passions. was the theme of the conflict between two brothers: Karl and Franz Moor. The insidious Franz seeks to take away his brother’s estate, inheritance, and his beloved cousin Amalia.

Such injustice prompts Charles to become a robber, but at the same time he manages to preserve his nobility and his noble honor. The work had big success, however, brought trouble to the author: due to unauthorized absence, he was punished and subsequently expelled from his native duchy.

Dramas of the 1780s

The success of The Robbers prompted the young playwright to create a whole series famous works, which became In 1783, he wrote the play “Cunning and Love”, “The Fiesco Conspiracy in Genoa”, in 1785 - “Ode to Joy”. In this series, we should separately highlight the work “Cunning and Love”, which is called the first “philistine tragedy”, since in it for the first time the writer made the object of artistic depiction not the problems of noble nobles, but the suffering of a simple girl of humble origin. “Ode to Joy” is considered one of the best works of the author, who showed himself not only to be a magnificent prose writer, but also a brilliant poet.

Plays of the 1790s

Friedrich Schiller was fond of history, based on the plots of which he wrote a number of his dramas. In 1796, he created the play Wallenstein, dedicated to the commander of the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). In 1800, he wrote the drama “Mary Stuart,” in which he significantly departed from historical realities, making the conflict of two female rivals the object of artistic depiction. The latter circumstance, however, in no way detracts from the literary merits of the drama.

In 1804, Friedrich Schiller wrote the play William Tell, dedicated to the struggle of the Swiss people against Austrian rule. This work is imbued with the pathos of freedom and independence, which was so characteristic of the work of the representatives of Sturm and Drang. In 1805, the writer began working on the drama “Dimitri”, dedicated to the events of Russian history, but this play remained unfinished.

The significance of Schiller's work in art

The writer's plays had a great influence on world culture. What Friedrich Schiller wrote became the subject of interest of Russian poets V. Zhukovsky, M. Lermontov, who translated his ballads. The playwright's plays served as the basis for the creation of wonderful operas by leading Italian composers of the 19th century. L. Beethoven set the final movement of his famous ninth symphony to Schiller’s “Ode to Joy.” In 1829, D. Rossini created the opera “William Tell” based on his drama; this work is considered one of the composer's best creations.

In 1835, G. Donizetti wrote the opera “Mary Stuart,” which was included in the cycle of his musical compositions dedicated to the history of England in the 16th century. In 1849, D. Verdi created the opera “Luisa Miller” based on the drama “Cunning and Love”. The opera did not gain much popularity, but has undoubted musical merits. So, Schiller’s influence on world culture is enormous, and this explains the interest in his work today.

SCHILLER, JOHANN CHRISTOPH FRIEDRICH(Schiller, Johann Christoph Friedrich) (1759–1805), German poet, playwright and aesthetic philosopher. Born November 10, 1759 in Marbach (Württemberg); comes from the lower classes of the German burghers: his mother is from the family of a provincial baker-tavern keeper, his father is a regimental paramedic. After studying at primary school and studies with a Protestant pastor, Schiller in 1773, at the insistence of the Duke, entered the newly established military academy and began to study law, although since 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. Having completed the course in 1780, he received a position as a regimental doctor in Stuttgart.

While still at the academy, Schiller moved away from the religious and sentimental exaltation of his early literary experiences, turned to drama, and in 1781 he completed and published Robbers (Die Rauber). Early next year Robbers were staged in Mannheim; Schiller attended the premiere without asking the sovereign for permission to leave the duchy. Having heard about the second visit to the Mannheim theater, the Duke put Schiller in the guardhouse, and later ordered him to practice medicine alone. On September 22, 1782, Schiller fled the Duchy of Württemberg. The following summer, apparently no longer fearing the Duke's revenge, the intendant of the Mannheim Theater Dahlberg appoints Schiller as a "theater poet", concluding a contract with him to write plays for production on the Mannheim stage. Two dramas that Schiller worked on even before fleeing Stuttgart - Fiesco Conspiracy in Genoa (Die Verschwörung des Fiesco zu Genua) And Deceit and love (Kabale und Liebe), - were staged at the Mannheim Theater, and the latter was a great success. Dahlberg did not renew the contract, and Schiller found himself in Mannheim in very straitened financial circumstances, moreover, tormented by the pangs of unrequited love. He willingly accepted the invitation of one of his enthusiastic admirers, Privatdozent G. Körner, and for more than two years (April 1785 - July 1787) stayed with him in Leipzig and Dresden.

Second edition Robbers(1782) had on title page image of a roaring lion with the motto "In tyrannos!" (Latin: “Against tyrants!”). The plot of the play is based on the enmity of two brothers, Karl and Franz Moor; Karl is impetuous, courageous and, in essence, generous; Franz is an insidious scoundrel who seeks to take away from his older brother not only his title and estates, but also the love of his cousin Amalia. For all the illogicality of the gloomy plot, the irregularities of the rude language and youthful immaturity, the tragedy captures the reader and viewer with its energy and social pathos. First of all Robbers and prompted the French in 1792 to make Schiller an honorary citizen of the new French Republic.

Fiesco(1783) is significant primarily because it anticipates Schiller’s later triumphs in historical drama, but by composing the play based on the biography of the Genoese conspirator of the 16th century, it captures the dramatic essence of historical events and clearly outlines moral issues the young poet did not yet know how. IN Cunning and love(1784) Schiller turns to the well-known reality of the small German principalities. IN Don Carlos (Don Carlos, 1787) the concept of personal and civil freedom was clarified and clarified. Don Carlos The first period of Schiller's dramatic work ended.

In July 1787, Schiller left Dresden and lived in Weimar and its environs until 1789. In 1789 he received a professorship of world history at the University of Jena, and thanks to his marriage (1790) to Charlotte von Lengefeld, he found family happiness. The poet's meager salary was not enough even to satisfy modest needs; help came from Crown Prince Fr. Kr. von Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg and Count E. von Schimmelmann, who paid him a stipend for three years (1791–1794), then Schiller was supported by the publisher I. Fr. Cotta, who invited him in 1794 publish the monthly magazine Ory. The magazine "Thalia" - an earlier venture to publish a literary magazine - was published in 1785-1791 very irregularly and under different names; in 1796, Schiller founded another periodical, the annual Almanac of the Muses, where many of his works were published. In search of materials, Schiller turned to J.W. Goethe. They met soon after Goethe returned from Italy (1788), but then things did not go beyond a superficial acquaintance; now the poets became close friends. In 1799, the Duke doubled Schiller's allowance, which essentially became a pension, because... The poet was no longer engaged in teaching and moved from Jena to Weimar. In 1802, the Holy Roman Emperor of the German Nation, Francis II, granted Schiller the nobility. Schiller was never in good health, was often ill, and developed tuberculosis. Schiller died in Weimar on May 9, 1805.

Communication with Körner aroused Schiller's interest in philosophy, especially aesthetics; as a result appeared Philosophical letters (Philosophische Briefe, 1786) and a whole series of essays (1792–1796) – About the tragic in art (Über die tragische Kunst), About grace and dignity (Über Anmut und Würde), About the sublime (Uber das Erhabene) And About naive and sentimental poetry (Über naive und sentimentalische Dichtung). Schiller's philosophical views were strongly influenced by I. Kant. In contrast to philosophical poetry, purely lyrical poems - short, songlike, expressing personal experiences - are less typical for Schiller, although there are remarkable exceptions. The so-called “ballad year” (1797) was marked by Schiller and Goethe with excellent ballads, incl. in Schiller - Cup (Der Taucher), Glove (Der Handschuh), Polikratov ring (Der Ring des Polycrates) And Ivikov's cranes (Die Kraniche des Ibykus), which came to the Russian reader in magnificent translations by V.A. Zhukovsky. Ksenia (Xenien), short satirical poems, were the fruit of the joint work of Goethe and Schiller.

Studying materials for Don Carlos, Schiller prepared his first historical research – The history of the fall of the Netherlands from Spanish rule (Geschichte des Abfalls der vereinigten Niederlande von der spanischen Regierung, 1788); in Jena he wrote History of the Thirty Years' War (Die Geschichte des Dreißigjährigen Krieges, 1791–1793).

Schiller's second period of dramatic creativity began in 1796 Wallenstein (Wallenstein) and ended with a fragment from Russian history Dimitri (Demetrius), work on which was interrupted by death. While studying History of the Thirty Years' War, Schiller saw in the Generalissimo of the Imperial troops Wallenstein a dramatic figure who was grateful. The drama took shape in 1799 and took the form of a trilogy: acting as a prologue Camp Wallenstein (Wallensteins Lager) and two five-act dramas - Piccolomini (Die Piccolomini) And Death of Wallenstein (Wallensteins Tod).

Next play Mary Stuart (Marie Stuart, 1800), illustrates Schiller’s aesthetic thesis that for the sake of drama it is quite acceptable to change and reshape historical events. Schiller did not bring to the fore in Mary Stuart political and religious problems and determined the outcome of the drama by the development of the conflict between the rival queens. Leaving aside the question of historical authenticity, it should be recognized that Mary Stuart- the play is extremely scenic, and the title role was invariably loved by all the great European actresses.

At the core Maid of Orleans (Die Jungfrau von Orleans, 1801) - the story of Joan of Arc. Schiller gave free rein to his imagination, using material from a medieval legend, and admitted his involvement in the new romantic movement, calling the play a “romantic tragedy.” The poet was well-read in Greek drama, translated from Euripides and studied Aristotelian theory dramas, and Messina bride (Die Braut von Messina, 1803) he experimentally tried to introduce the chorus of ancient tragedy and the Greek concept of fate into medieval drama. William Tell (Wilhelm Tell, 1804), the last of his completed plays, is a large-scale picture of the struggle of four Swiss forest cantons against the tyranny of Imperial Austria.

Beginning with Don Carlos Schiller wrote his dramas in blank verse, sometimes interspersed with metrical verse. The language of his works is sublime, melodic and expressive, although sometimes overly rhetorical and pompous, but on stage he makes an extremely winning impression. Schiller enriched the literature of his country with outstanding dramatic works. In addition to his own plays, he created stage versions of Shakespeare's Macbeth And Turandot C. Gozzi, and also translated Racine’s Phaedra. In Russia, Schiller has been known since the end of the 18th century.

Schiller, Johann Christoph Friedrich - great German poet, b. November 10, 1759 in the Swabian town of Marbach. His father, first a paramedic, then an officer, despite his abilities and energy, had insignificant earnings and, together with his wife, a kind, impressionable and religious woman, lived meagerly. Following the regiment from one place to another, it was only in 1770 that they finally settled in Ludwigsburg, where Schiller’s father received the position of head of the palace gardens of the Duke of Württemberg. The boy was sent to local school, counting in the future, in accordance with his inclinations, to see him as a pastor, but, at the request of the Duke, Schiller entered the newly opened military school, which in 1775, under the name of the Charles Academy, was transferred to Stuttgart. So gentle boy from loving family I found myself in a rough soldier's environment, and instead of giving in to natural instincts, I was forced to take up medicine, for which I did not feel the slightest inclination.

Portrait of Friedrich Schiller. Artist G. von Kügelgen, 1808-09

Here, under the yoke of heartless and aimless discipline, Schiller was kept until 1780, when he was released and accepted into the service as a regimental doctor with a paltry salary. But despite the increased supervision, Schiller, while still at the academy, managed to taste the forbidden fruits of the new German poetry, and there he began to write his first tragedy, which he published in 1781 under the title “Robbers” and with the inscription “In tyrannos!” (“On the tyrants!”) In January 1782, going to Mannheim secretly from the regimental authorities, the author witnessed the extraordinary success of his first-born on stage. For his unauthorized absence, the young doctor was put under arrest, advising him to give up the nonsense and take up medicine better.

Then Schiller decided to break with the past, fled from Stuttgart and, with the support of some friends, began new dramatic works. In 1783, his drama “The Fiesco Conspiracy in Genoa” was published, the following year - the bourgeois tragedy “Cunning and Love”. All three of Schiller's youthful plays are filled with indignation against despotism and violence, from under the yoke of which the poet himself had just escaped. But at the same time, in their elevated style, exaggerations and sharp contrasts when drawing characters, in the uncertainty of ideals with a republican tint, one can feel a not quite mature youth, filled with noble courage and high impulses. Much more perfect is the tragedy “Don Carlos”, published in 1787, with the famous Marquis Posa, the bearer of the poet’s cherished ideas and aspirations, the herald of humanity and tolerance. Starting with this play, Schiller, instead of the previous prose form, began to use the poetic form, which enhances the artistic impression .

German literature

Johann Christoph Friedrich Schiller

Biography

SCHILLER (Schiller) Friedrich von ( full name Johann Christoph Friedrich) (November 10, 1759, Marbach am Neckar - May 9, 1805, Weimar), German poet, playwright and theorist of Enlightenment art.

Childhood and years at the military academy

Born into the family of a regimental paramedic, who was in the service of the Duke of Württemberg, Karl Eugene.

In 1773, by the highest order, 14-year-old Friedrich was sent to study at the military medical academy that had just been created by the Duke, and his father was forced to sign that Friedrich “is completely committed to the services of the ducal Württemberg house and has no right to leave it without receiving with the most merciful permission." At the academy, Schiller studies law and medicine, which do not interest him. In 1779, Schiller's dissertation was rejected by the leadership of the academy, and he was forced to stay for a second year. Finally, at the end of 1780, Schiller left the academy and received a position as a regimental paramedic in Stuttgart.

Early dramas

While still at the Academy, Schiller became interested in literature and philosophy and, despite the prohibitions of teachers, he studied F. G. Klopstock, Albrecht von Haller, J. V. Goethe, the writers of Sturm and Drang, J. J. Rousseau. Under the influence of one of his mentors, Schiller became a member secret society Illuminati, predecessors of the German Jacobins. In 1776-1777 Several of Schiller's poems were published in the Swabian Journal. In the same magazine for 1775, Schiller also found material for his first significant work: as the basis for the play “The Robbers” (1781), the aspiring playwright took Daniel Schubart’s short story “On History human heart».

Schiller significantly enriched the schematic plot of the original source, based on the motif of enmity between two brothers, which was very common among the writers of Sturm und Drang: Karl, main character drama, the eldest son of Count von Moor, emotional, “spontaneous, natural nature”, cannot come to terms with the measured city life and participates with his friends in pranks, not always harmless. Soon, however, he repents and in a letter to his father promises to improve. The letter intercepts him younger brother, Franz, who is jealous of Karl, his father's favorite. Franz plots to deprive his brother of his inheritance and reads another letter to his father, composed by himself, after which von Moor curses his eldest son, and Franz writes a response to his brother on behalf of his father. Karl, shocked by his father’s injustice, and his friends go robber into the Bohemian forests, and Franz deceives his father into a dungeon, dooming him to death. Karl sneaks home under the guise of a foreign count, learns about the death of his father and wants to take revenge on his brother, but he, in fear of the robbers, has already committed suicide.

Schiller's first drama masterfully combined Shakespearean power in the depiction of characters, plausible pictures of German everyday life, elements of biblical style (it is characteristic that the author initially wanted to title the drama “The Prodigal Son”), and the poet’s personal experiences: his complex relationship with his father. Schiller managed to capture the rebellious freedom-loving mood that reigned in society in the first years after the Great french revolution and express them in the image of Karl Moor. The first production of The Robbers in Mannheim in January 1782 created a sensation: “ strangers they threw themselves into each other’s arms, the women left the hall in a semi-fainting state.” The author, who was immediately dubbed the “German Shakespeare,” secretly attended the premiere.

However, upon returning to Stuttgart, Schiller was arrested and, by order of the Duke, put in the guardhouse. In the summer of 1782, the playwright fled from the possessions of Karl Eugene, taking with him the manuscript of his second significant dramatic work - the drama “The Fiesco Conspiracy in Genoa” (staged in 1783). For several years, Schiller settled in Mannheim, where he received a position as head of the literary department at the National Theater.

In April 1784, the premiere of Schiller’s bourgeois tragedy “Cunning and Love” took place on the stage of this theater. Unlike the first dramas, here the central character is a girl: Louise Miller (Schiller originally intended to name the play after her), the daughter of a poor musician. She is in love with Ferdinand, the son of an aristocrat, but class prejudices prevent them from uniting. The petty-bourgeois pride of Louise's father and the careerist plans of the President, Ferdinand's father, the clash of the cruel laws of an absolutist society and human feelings, lead to a tragic outcome: caught in a network of intrigue, Ferdinand kills Louise out of jealousy.

Before Schiller, no one had dared to treat the theme of love between representatives of different classes, common in sentimental literature of that time, with such social bias. Even G. E. Lessing in the burgher tragedy “Emilia Galotti,” with which Schiller’s play obviously echoes, chose to transfer the action of his work to Italy in order to avoid conflict with the authorities. Thanks to its civic pathos, the play “Cunning and Love” was a huge success with the public.

"Don Carlos"

In 1785, due to financial difficulties, Schiller was forced to leave Mannheim. He moves to Dresden, where, having no permanent home, he lives with friends. Despite difficult conditions, Schiller works actively: he tries himself in prose genres (short stories “Crime of Lost Honor”, ​​1786, “The Game of Fate”, 1789, a fragment of the novel “The Spiritualist”, 1787), completes “Philosophical Letters”, writes the “dramatic poem” “Don Carlos, Infante of Spain” (1787). In the works of the Dresden period, Schiller's departure from his previous rebellious ideology is outlined. Now Schiller believes that in order to reconcile the ideal and life, the poetic genius “must strive for a break with the realm of the real world.” The revolution in the poet's worldview occurs both as a result of disappointment in the ideals of Sturm and Drang, and as a result of the study of Kantian philosophy and passion for the ideas of Freemasonry. The drama "Don Carlos", written on the material of Spanish history, well reflects this turning point even formally: unlike the early plays, the characters of which spoke in simple language, “Don Carlos” is written in classic iambic pentameter, its main character is not a representative of the “philistine class”, as was customary among the representatives of “Sturm and Drang,” but a courtier; one of the central ideas of the drama is the idea of ​​​​reforming society by an enlightened ruler (Schiller puts it into the mouth of the Marquis Pose, a friend of the title character).

After Don Carlos, Schiller became increasingly immersed in the study of antiquity and Kantian philosophy. If earlier the value of antiquity for the poet lay in certain civic ideals, now antiquity becomes important for him primarily as an aesthetic phenomenon. Like I. I. Winkelmann and Goethe, Schiller sees in antiquity “noble simplicity and peaceful grandeur”, the curbing of “chaos”. By reviving the form of ancient art, you can get closer to the lost forever harmony of the serene “childhood of humanity.” Schiller expresses his thoughts about the meaning of antiquity in two programmatic poems: “The Gods of Greece” and “The Artists” (both 1788).

Years in Weimar. Great historical dramas

In 1787, Schiller moved to Weimar, where he communicated with the philosopher I. G. Herder and the writer K. M. Wieland. He completes the historical research on the topic “The History of the Fall of the Netherlands,” which he began while working on Don Carlos. Soon, at the request of Goethe, Schiller received the chair of professor of history at the University of Jena. Here he gives 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 a number of his philosophical works appear: “On the Tragic in Art” (1792), “Letters on the Aesthetic Education of Man,” “On the Sublime” (both 1795), etc. Starting from Kant’s theory about art as a link between the kingdom of nature and the kingdom of freedom, Schiller creates his theory of the transition from “the natural absolutist state to the bourgeois kingdom of reason” with the help of aesthetic culture and the moral re-education of humanity. Closely adjacent to these theoretical works are a number of poems from 1795−1798. (“The Poetry of Life”, “The Power of Chant”, “Division of the Land”, “Ideal and Life”) and ballads written in close collaboration with Goethe (especially in 1797, the so-called “ballad year”): “The Glove”, “The Ivikovs” cranes”, “Polycrates’ ring”, “Hero and Leander”, etc.

In the last years of life

Historical and philosophical studies gave Schiller extensive material for further creativity: from 1794 to 1799 he worked on the Wallenstein trilogy (Wallenstein's Camp, 1798, Piccolomini, The Death of Wallenstein, both 1799), dedicated to one of the commanders of the Thirty Years war (a grandiose production of the drama on the stage of the Weimar Court Theater was directed by Goethe). In “Wallenstein” the playwright turns to a critical, turning point in history, because, 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, and resolution of the conflict between sensory aspirations and moral duty is possible only in the death of the hero. All subsequent dramas by Schiller bear the imprint of a similar ideology (Mary Stuart, The Maid of Orleans, both - 1801, the tragedy of fate - The Bride of Messina, 1803).

In the drama “William Tell” (1804), in the creation of which the playwright used the Swiss legend of a skilled marksman, Schiller tried to show not only the development of one person (in the beginning Tell is shown as an easy-going peasant, in the end as a politically conscious rebel), but the evolution of an entire people from “naive” to “ideal”; The dramatic collision is that only through crime can the Swiss get rid of Austrian rule, but, according to Schiller, they do not have the right to do this, since “the people can only engage in “self-defense” and not “self-liberation.”

In 1805, Schiller began work on the drama “Dmitry,” dedicated to the “time of troubles” in Russian history, but it remained unfinished.

Johann Christoph Friedrich Schiller, German poet and playwright, was born on November 10, 1759 in Marbach am Neckar into the family of a military doctor. In 1773, Schiller, by order of the Duke of Württemberg, went to the Military Medical Academy, where he studied law and medicine and wrote a dissertation. In 1780 he moved to Stuttgart and worked as a regimental paramedic.

Schiller's creative debut took place in 1776 with the publication of several of his works in the Swabian Journal, thanks to which he found material for his first play, The Robbers. The play is based on D. Schubart’s short story “On the History of the Human Heart,” which Schiller significantly reworks and enriches with details. After the successful premiere of the play, Schiller is called the “German Shakespeare.”

However, the Duke of Württemberg condemns the play and orders the author to be put in the guardhouse. In 1782, the playwright fled from the Duke's possessions and settled in Mannheim, where he worked as a manager at the National Theater. In 1784, on the stage of this theater, the premiere of Schiller’s play “Cunning and Love” took place, which, with social bias, interprets the feelings of lovers from different classes.

In the dramatic poem “Don Carlos,” Schiller moves away from rebellious ideology; the main idea of ​​the poem is the reform of society. In 1804, Schiller published the drama William Tell, in which he demonstrates the development of an entire people. In 1805, the playwright began work on the unfinished work “Dmitry”, which was based on Time of Troubles history of Russia.