The Bride of Messina, and On the Use of the Chorus in Tragedy
Schiller, Friedrich, 1759-1805Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019
Rating 3.9- Word count
- 130K words
- Chapters
- 13
Tags
English Originals Dramatic Literature Choral ArtDrama TheoryTragic FateLove EntanglementsStage TensionComplex HumanitySpiritual HealingClassical DramaAcademic StudyTraditional AestheticsSummary
Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Bride of Messina, and On the Use of the Chorus in Tragedy by Friedrich SchillerAuthor: Schiller, Friedrich, 1759-1805,Language: English, Class: PT: Language and Literatures: Germanic, Scandinavian, and Icelandic literatures, Release Date: Dec 8, 2004Editor's review
This volume combines Schiller's tragedy The Bride of Messina with his essay On the Use of the Chorus in Tragedy, an important pairing for understanding his late views on drama. Modeled on Greek tragedy, the play revolves around family feud and fate and deliberately restores the chorus, giving it a distinctly experimental character; the essay directly defends this choice, explaining how the chorus lifts modern drama above petty reality. Read together, the two show how theory and practice support each other, making Schiller's intentions easier to grasp than reading the play alone. The English translation suits drama studies and German literature courses and can also serve stage creators as a reference for formal experimentation. However, the plot moves slowly, and the choral passages may hinder readers unfamiliar with Greek tragedy, while the essay is weighted toward conceptual argument. It is advisable to read the essay first, or to consult relevant passages while reading the play.Who it's for
A good fit for
- University students studying German classical drama or Schiller's late work
- Readers interested in the relationship between Greek tragic tradition and modern drama
- Researchers seeking to understand Schiller's dramatic theory and aesthetics
- Theatre practitioners working on stage adaptation who want to reference the chorus form
Not a good fit for
- General theatre audiences who prefer fast-paced plots and realistic dialogue
- Beginners with no knowledge of Greek tragedy or relevant background
- Casual readers who want light stories and avoid theoretical essays
Reading tips
- Read On the Use of the Chorus in Tragedy first, then enter the play with the theoretical argument in mind; understanding will be smoother.
- While reading the play, note the function of each choral entrance and record how it comments on or distances the action.
- Read with basic features of Greek tragedy in mind, noting what Schiller borrows and what he changes.
- After finishing, revisit key passages of the essay to test whether the play realizes the author's design.
About the publisher
Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.
Contents
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
FAQ
What does this book include?
According to the source, it includes Schiller's play The Bride of Messina and his essay On the Use of the Chorus in Tragedy. The former is a tragedy in the Greek style, the latter explains the significance of the chorus in modern tragedy; reading them together allows mutual reference.Why did Schiller restore the chorus in tragedy?
From the essay's title and the play's practice, Schiller argued that the chorus lifts drama above the trivia of everyday reality and creates poetic distance. The specific argument requires reading the essay itself and cannot be inferred from a summary alone.Can I understand it without a background in Greek tragedy?
You can read it, but understanding the chorus's function and the play's theme of fate will be harder. It is advisable to first learn the basic elements of Greek tragedy, such as the chorus, fate conflict, and closed structure, before entering this book; the reading experience will improve noticeably.Is this an English or German edition?
The source lists the language as English, so this is an English translation released by Project Gutenberg. To study Schiller's German wording and versification, seek the German original or a bilingual edition.This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.
About the author
Schiller, Friedrich, 1759-1805 AuthorFriedrich Schiller (1759–1805) is a major writer in German literary history, often mentioned alongside Goethe. The collection here contains 60 of his works, covering drama, narrative poetry, and writings on aesthetics, with his plays being especially influential. His representative works include The Robbers, Intrigue and Love, Wallenstein's Death, Mary Stuart, Wilhelm Tell, and The Maid of Orleans. Set mostly against historical and political backgrounds, his plays explore freedom, justice, power, and moral conflict, featuring vivid characters and a language full of passion and tension that combines Enlightenment ideals with the beauty of classical form. Public information is limited, so biographical details are not elaborated here; nevertheless, these works show him as both a representative of Germany's Sturm und Drang movement and a key founder of German classicism, exerting a lasting influence on later European drama and intellectual culture.