Don Carlos: A Play

Schiller, Friedrich, 1759-1805Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 4.1

Word count: 265K words
Chapters: 27

Summary

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.Don Carlos: A Play by Friedrich SchillerAuthor: Schiller, Friedrich, 1759-1805,Language: English, Class: PT: Language and Literatures: Germanic, Scandinavian, and Icelandic literatures, Release Date: Dec 8, 2004

Editor's review

Schiller's Don Carlos is an important play from his youth, marking the transition to his classical period. Set in the Spanish court, it revolves around the forbidden feelings between Prince Carlos and his stepmother Elisabeth, the conflict between father and son, and the idealism of the Marquis of Posa. The characters' speeches are full of passion and reflection; the Marquis of Posa's appeal for freedom of thought and human dignity is especially moving, embodying Schiller's enduring concern with moral and political freedom. This edition is a public-domain English eBook from Project Gutenberg, making the text freely accessible. It is suitable as a supplementary reader for German literature and drama studies, and for readers interested in political drama of the Enlightenment. While reading, note the interweaving of court intrigue and personal feeling, and how Schiller shifts tone between verse and prose. As this is an English translation, consult the German original or a reliable annotated edition for key passages, and note differences in how translators handle the verse.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in German classical literature and Schiller's drama
Students studying political and moral drama of the Enlightenment
Drama enthusiasts who want to read public-domain English translations for free
Literary readers who want to understand tragedy set in the Spanish court

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer light popular reading and are unused to verse dialogue
Advanced researchers who need detailed scholarly annotation and German-facing texts
Readers impatient with court intrigue and long monologues

Reading tips

Read a plot summary first, then go through the play act by act to reduce confusion over character relationships.
Highlight the Marquis of Posa's monologues to appreciate Schillerian idealist rhetoric.
If possible, compare the German original or different English translations for their handling of verse.
After reading, combine with Schiller's life and the Enlightenment background to understand the play's political concerns.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project 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.

FAQ

Is this book the German original or an English translation?

According to the data, this edition is an English eBook released by Project Gutenberg, with the language marked as English. It suits reading an English translation, but for studying the original wording, find a German edition for comparison.

What background knowledge is needed to read this verse play?

Familiarity with the Spanish court under Philip II and the political currents of Schiller's Enlightenment era helps in understanding the play's conflicts over freedom, power, and personal feeling. Without this background, one can still read the plot first.

Does the electronic edition include annotations or an introduction?

The data only states that this is a public-domain eBook from Project Gutenberg and does not mention scholarly annotations or an introduction. Readers may need to find background materials themselves or use an annotated edition as a supplement.

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 Author

Friedrich 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.