Synopsis & thematic overview
The Illustrated Works of Friedrich Schiller A Linked Index to the Project Gutenberg Editions, written by Friedrich Schiller and surfacing in print around 1805, is a compact one-act whose density of incident is part of its argument: everything has to happen quickly because, in life, it usually does. The play belongs squarely to the world of Restoration & Neoclassical, both in the staging conventions it presupposes and in the kinds of social pressure its characters take for granted, and it has retained a steady place in the repertoire because it solves a problem every generation of theatre-makers eventually has to solve: how to make a familiar form do something unfamiliar. The principal roles are Scene Ii, Scene I, Scene Iii, and Scene V — a configuration that gives the script its working geometry, since almost every consequential scene is built on the friction between two or three of these figures pressing against the limits of what they are willing to say aloud.
Thematically, The Illustrated Works of Friedrich Schiller A Linked Index to the Project Gutenberg Editions sits at the intersection of the personal and the public — which is, as theatre artists know, the only place a play can actually live. Friedrich Schiller's long-term subject is the gap between the version of themselves people present in company and the version that surfaces under pressure, and The Illustrated Works of Friedrich Schiller A Linked Index to the Project Gutenberg Editions works that subject hard. The central encounters are written so that what each character says is often the opposite of what they mean; it is the actor's job, and the audience's pleasure, to track both registers at once. Read on the page, the script can feel quieter than it actually plays, because the language carries an enormous quantity of subtext that only becomes audible when bodies are moved through three-dimensional space.
Across 47 acts, the action moves from a recognisable opening composure through a mid-play crisis to a resolution that, on the page, can read more quietly than it plays. The text rewards close reading: hidden inside scenes that look at first like exposition are the play's most consequential decisions, made in passing by characters who do not yet realise what they have just done. By the close, The Illustrated Works of Friedrich Schiller A Linked Index to the Project Gutenberg Editions has earned its ending the hard way — not by manufacturing surprise but by laying down enough small-scale pressure that the final pages carry the weight of everything that came before.
Dramatis personae
Principal speaking roles, ranked by stage time in the script (extracted automatically from the text).
- Scene Ii
- Scene I
- Scene Iii
- Scene V
- Scene Iv
- Scene Vi
- Scene Vii
- Scene Viii
- Scene Ix
- Scene X
- Scene Xi
- Act I
- Act Ii
- Act Iii
Themes & thematic analysis
The thematic centre of The Illustrated Works of Friedrich Schiller A Linked Index to the Project Gutenberg Editions is most often described in terms of the single decision that organises a life, the room as moral pressure-cooker, the late-night confession, and what a person will do when they are no longer being observed, but a closer reading shows Friedrich Schiller doing something subtler: the play's overt subjects keep being refracted through the small-scale behaviour of characters who would be startled to hear themselves described as themed. That is part of the script's durability. Productions that try to put the themes on top tend to flatten the play; productions that trust the script to do its work — that let the actors play the scene as written, beat by beat — tend to discover that the themes arrive on their own, in the audience's chest, somewhere around the middle of the second half. A useful classroom exercise is to read three consecutive scenes asking only, of each, what does this character want in this exact moment, and how is that want frustrated. The thematic argument of The Illustrated Works of Friedrich Schiller A Linked Index to the Project Gutenberg Editions is the cumulative answer to those two small questions.
Notable productions & performance history
Performance history for The Illustrated Works of Friedrich Schiller A Linked Index to the Project Gutenberg Editions is, like the performance history of most public-domain plays, considerably richer than the surviving programmes alone suggest. The script entered general circulation during Restoration & Neoclassical, was revived intermittently throughout the nineteenth century, and re-entered the working repertoire of regional and academic theatres in the modern era when directors looking for substantial public-domain material with strong roles found it ready to hand. Notable revivals tend to cluster around two kinds of company: drama-school graduating-year productions, where the script gives every member of the ensemble something genuinely playable, and small professional companies that program one classical title a season as a counterweight to contemporary new work. Friedrich Schiller has, in the last fifty years, been served particularly well by productions that resist the temptation to update the language while updating everything else — the costume, the set, the framing concept — and by productions that go in the opposite direction and stage the play as if for its first audience. Both can work. What rarely works is doing only half the job.
The full script
Reading time: ~7 minutes · 1,344 words · Source: Project Gutenberg #28969 | Original on Project Gutenberg ↗
Produced by David Widger
THE ILLUSTRATED WORKS OF
FREDERICH SCHILLER
AN INDEX
Edited by David Widger
Frederich Schiller (1759-1805)
Project Gutenberg Editions
CONTENTS
HISTORY: ## Thirty Years War ## Revolt of Netherlands
PLAYS:
## The Robbers ## Fiesco ## Love and Intrigue
## The Camp of Wallenstein ## Piccolomini ## The Death of Wallenstein
## Whilhelm Tell ## Don Carlos ## Demetrius
## Mary Stuart ## The Maid of Orleans ## The Bride of Messina
POEMS ## First Period ## Second Period ## Third Period
## Supressed Poems
PHILOSOPHY: ## Aesthetical Essays ## Philosophical Letters
NOVEL: ## The Ghost Seer [or, The Apparitionist] and The Sport of Destiny
VOLUMES, CHAPTERS AND STORIES
Thirty Years War
PREFACE TO THE SIXTH EDITION.
HISTORY OF THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR IN GERMANY.
BOOK I.
BOOK II.
BOOK III.
BOOK IV.
BOOK V.
Revolt of Netherlands
PREFACE TO THE EDITION.
THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE.
INTRODUCTION.
BOOK I.--Earlier History
BOOK II.--Cardinal Granvella
BOOK III.--Conspiracy of the Nobles
BOOK IV.--The Iconoclasts
Trial and Execution of Counts Egmont and Horn
Siege of Antwerp by the Prince of Parma
The Robbers
SCHILLER'S PREFACE.
ADVERTISEMENT TO THE ROBBERS.
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
THE ROBBERS
ACT I.
SCENE II.--A Tavern on the Frontier of Saxony.
SCENE III.--MOOR'S Castle.--AMELIA'S Chamber.
ACT II.
SCENE II.--Old Moor's Bedchamber.
SCENE III.--THE BOHEMIAN WOODS.
ACT III.
SCENE VIII.
SCENE IX.
SCENE II.--Country near the Danube.
ACT IV.
SCENE II.*--Gallery in the Castle.
SCENE III.--Another Room in the Castle.
SCENE V.
ACT V.
SCENE II.
SCENE VIII.
SCENE IX.
Fiesco
ACT I.
ACT II.
ACT III.
ACT IV.
ACT V.
Love and Intrigue
ACT I.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
SCENE IV.
SCENE V.
SCENE VI.
SCENE VII.
ACT II.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
SCENE IV.
SCENE V.
SCENE VI.
SCENE VII.
ACT III.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
SCENE IV.
SCENE V.
SCENE VI.
ACT IV.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
SCENE IV.
SCENE V.
SCENE VI.
SCENE VII.
SCENE VIII.
SCENE IX.
ACT V.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
SCENE IV.
SCENE V.
SCENE VI.
SCENE VII.
SCENE VIII.
The Camp of Wallenstein
THE CAMP OF WALLENSTEIN.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
SCENE IV.
SCENE V.
SCENE VI.
SCENE VII.
SCENE VIII.
SCENE IX.
SCENE X.
SCENE XI.
Piccolomini
PREFACE.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE.
ACT I.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
SCENE IV.
SCENE V.
ACT II.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
SCENE IV.
SCENE V.
SCENE VI.
SCENE VII.
ACT III.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
SCENE IV.
SCENE V.
SCENE VI.
SCENE VII.
SCENE VIII.
SCENE IX.
ACT IV.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
SCENE IV.
SCENE V.
SCENE VI.
SCENE VII.
ACT V.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
FOOTNOTES.
The Death of Wallenstein
DRAMATIS PERSONAE.
ACT I.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
SCENE IV.
SCENE V.
SCENE VI.
SCENE VII.
ACT II.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
SCENE IV.
SCENE V.
SCENE VI.
SCENE VII.
ACT III.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
SCENE IV.
SCENE V.
SCENE VI.
SCENE VII.
SCENE VIII.
SCENE X.
SCENE XI.
SCENE XII.
SCENE XIII.
SCENE XIV.
SCENE XV.
SCENE XVI.
SCENE XVII.
SCENE XVIII.
SCENE XIX.
SCENE XX.
SCENE XXI.
SCENE XXII.
SCENE XXIII.
ACT IV.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
SCENE IV.
SCENE V.
SCENE VI.
SCENE VII.
SCENE VIII.
SCENE IX.
SCENE X.
SCENE XI.
SCENE XII.
SCENE XIII.
SCENE XIV.
ACT V.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
SCENE V.
SCENE V.
SCENE VI.
SCENE VII.
SCENE VIII.
SCENE IX.
SCENE X.
SCENE XI.
SCENE XII.
Whilhelm Tell
DRAMATIS PERSONAE.
WILHELM TELL.
ACT I.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
SCENE IV.
ACT II.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
ACT III.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
ACT IV.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
ACT V.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
FOOTNOTES.
Don Carlos
ACT I.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
SCENE IV.
SCENE V.
SCENE VI.
SCENE VII.
SCENE VIII.
SCENE IX.
ACT II.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
SCENE IV.
SCENE V.
SCENE VI.
SCENE VII.
SCENE VIII.
SCENE IX.
SCENE X.
SCENE XI.
SCENE XII.
SCENE XIII.
SCENE XIV.
SCENE XV.
ACT III.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
SCENE IV.
SCENE V.
SCENE VI.
SCENE VII.
SCENE VIII.
SCENE IX.
SCENE X.
ACT IV.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
SCENE IV.
SCENE V.
SCENE VI.
SCENE VII.
SCENE VIII.
SCENE IX.
SCENE X.
SCENE XI.
SCENE XII.
SCENE XIII.
SCENE XIV.
SCENE XV.
SCENE XVI.
SCENE XVII.
SCENE XVIII.
SCENE XIX.
SCENE XX.
SCENE XXI.
SCENE XXII.
SCENE XXIII.
SCENE XXIV.
ACT V.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
SCENE IV.
SCENE V.
SCENE VI.
SCENE VII.
SCENE VIII.
SCENE IX.
SCENE X.
SCENE XI.
Demetrius
ACT I.
SCENE I.
ACT II.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
Mary Stuart
DRAMATIS PERSONAE.
ACT I.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
SCENE IV.
SCENE V.
SCENE VI.
SCENE VII.
SCENE VIII.
ACT II.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
SCENE IV.
SCENE V.
SCENE VI.
SCENE VII.
SCENE VIII.
SCENE IX.
ACT III.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
SCENE IV.
SCENE V.
SCENE VI.
SCENE VII.
SCENE VIII.
ACT IV.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
SCENE IV.
SCENE V.
SCENE VI.
SCENE VII.
SCENE VIII.
SCENE IX.
SCENE X.
SCENE XI.
SCENE XII.
ACT V.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
SCENE IV.
SCENE V.
SCENE VI.
SCENE VII.
SCENE VIII.
SCENE IX.
SCENE X.
SCENE XI.
SCENE XII.
SCENE XIII.
SCENE XIV.
SCENE XV.
The Maid of Orleans
PROLOGUE
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
SCENE IV.
ACT I.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
SCENE IV.
SCENE V.
SCENE VI.
SCENE VII.
SCENE VIII.
SCENE IX.
SCENE X.
SCENE XI.
ACT II.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
SCENE IV.
SCENE V.
SCENE VI.
SCENE VII.
SCENE VIII.
SCENE IX.
SCENE X.
ACT III.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
SCENE IV.
SCENE V.
SCENE VI.
SCENE VII.
SCENE VIII.
SCENE IX.
SCENE X.
SCENE XI.
ACT IV.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
SCENE IV.
SCENE V.
SCENE VI.
SCENE VII.
SCENE VIII.
SCENE IX.
SCENE X.
SCENE XI.
SCENE XII.
SCENE XIII.
ACT V.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
SCENE III.
SCENE IV.
SCENE V.
SCENE VI.
SCENE VII.
SCENE VIII.
SCENE IX.
SCENE X.
SCENE XI.
SCENE XII.
SCENE IV.
SCENE XIV.
The Bride of Messina
DRAMATIS PERSONAE.
SCENE I.
SCENE II.
ON THE USE OF THE CHORUS IN TRAGEDY.
First Period POEMS
POEMS OF THE FIRST PERIOD.
FOOTNOTES
Second Period POEMS
HYMN TO JOY.
THE INVINCIBLE ARMADA.
THE GODS OF GREECE.
RESIGNATION.
THE CONFLICT.
THE ARTISTS.
THE CELEBRATED WOMAN.
WRITTEN IN A YOUNG LADY'S ALBUM.
Third Period
POEMS OF THE THIRD PERIOD.
DEDICATION TO DEATH, MY PRINCIPAL.
PREFACE.
FOOTNOTES.
SUPRESSED POEMS
SUPPRESSED POEMS.
APPENDIX OF POEMS ETC. IN SCHILLER'S DRAMATIC WORKS.
FOOTNOTES
Aesthetical Essays
INTRODUCTION.
VOCABULARY OF TERMINOLOGY.
LETTERS ON THE AESTHETICAL EDUCATION OF MAN.
LETTER I.
LETTER II.
LETTER III.
LETTER IV.
LETTER V.
LETTER VI.
LETTER VII.
LETTER VIII.
LETTER IX.
LETTER X.
LETTER XI.
LETTER XII.
LETTER XIII.
LETTER XIV.
LETTER XV.
LETTER XVI.
LETTER XVII.
LETTER XVIII.
LETTER XIX.
LETTER XX.
LETTER XXI.
LETTER XXII.
LETTER XXIII.
LETTER XXIV.
LETTER XXV.
LETTER XXVI.
LETTER XXVII.
THE MORAL UTILITY OF AESTHETIC MANNERS.
ON THE SUBLIME.
THE PATHETIC.
ON GRACE AND DIGNITY.
ON DIGNITY.
LIMITATIONS IN THE USE OF BEAUTY OF FORM.
THE VULGAR AND LOW ELEMENTS IN WORKS OF ART.
REFLECTIONS ON DIFFERENT QUESTIONS OF AESTHETICS.
ON SIMPLE AND SENTIMENTAL POETRY.
SENTIMENTAL POETRY.
SATIRICAL POETRY.
ELEGIAC POETRY.
IDYL.
THE STAGE AS A MORAL INSTITUTION.
ON THE TRAGIC ART.
THE PLEASURE WE DERIVE FROM TRAGIC OBJECTS.
Philosophical Letters
PREFATORY REMARKS.
LETTER I.
LETTER II.
LETTER III.
LETTER IV.
THEOSOPHY OF JULIUS.
LETTER V.
ON THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE ANIMAL AND THE SPIRITUAL NATURE IN MAN.
PHYSICAL CONNECTION.
PHILOSOPHICAL CONNECTION.
The Ghost Seer [or, The Apparitionist]
and The Sport of Destiny
BOOK I
BOOK II.
LETTER I.
LETTER II.
LETTER III.
LETTER IV.
LETTER V.
LETTER VI.
LETTER VII.
LETTER VIII.
LETTER IX.
LETTER X.
About this edition
This edition of The Illustrated Works of Friedrich Schiller A Linked Index to the Project Gutenberg Editions reproduces the public-domain text as preserved in Project Gutenberg's archive, presented in a clean reading layout suitable for study, audition preparation, dramaturgical research, and rehearsal-room reference. The play sits within the tradition of Restoration & Neoclassical drama, and reading it alongside other works from the period — many of which are also available in our library — is the fastest way to appreciate what Friedrich Schiller was doing differently. We have not abridged or modernised the text; the only editorial intervention is the removal of Project Gutenberg's header and footer matter so you can read the script itself without scrolling past licensing boilerplate. Where the original publication uses non-modern spelling or punctuation conventions, those are preserved as printed.
Notes for performance
If you are mounting The Illustrated Works of Friedrich Schiller A Linked Index to the Project Gutenberg Editions in production, two practical notes. First, because the text is in the public domain, you can perform it in any venue, charge admission, cut it, translate it, set it on Mars, or stage it as a one-actor solo show without paying royalties or seeking permission from anyone. Second, because the text comes from a digitised public-domain edition rather than an officially licensed acting edition, expect to do your own line-editing pass before rehearsals begin: act and scene divisions are present, but stage directions reflect the conventions of the original publication rather than modern practice. Most companies producing Friedrich Schiller budget a week of dramaturgy time before the first read-through to harmonise the text with their production concept.