Friedrich Schiller: biography, creativity, ideas

Creativity Friedrich Schiller fell on the so-called era of "Storm and Onslaught" - a direction in the literature of Germany, for which was characteristic of the rejection of classicism and the transition to romanticism. This time covers 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

Württemberg Duchy, where Friedrich Schiller was born, was located in the Holy Roman Empire. The poet was born in 1759 in a family of natives. His father was a regimental medical assistant, 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 moving to Stuttgart, he started medicine.

After staging his first sensational play "The Robbers", the young writer was banished from his duchy and spent most of his life in Weimar. Friedrich Schiller was a friend of Goethe and even competed with him in writing ballads. The writer was fond of philosophy, history, poetry. He was a professor of world history at the University of Jena, under the influence of I. Kant wrote philosophical works, was engaged in publishing activities, releasing the magazines "Ory", "Almanac of the Muses." The playwright in Weimar died in 1805.

The play "The Robbers" and the first success

In the period under consideration, romantic moods were very popular among young people, who also became interested in Friedrich Schiller. The main ideas, briefly characterizing his work, boil down to the following: the pathos of freedom, criticism of the upper classes of society, aristocracy, nobility and sympathy for those who for whatever reasons were rejected by this society.

Fame became a writer after staging his drama "The Robbers" in 1781. This play is distinguished by a naive and somewhat pompous romantic pathos, but she fell in love with the viewer with an acute, dynamic plot and a heat of passion. The basis of the composition was the theme of the conflict between the two brothers: Charles and Franz Moore. Treacherous Franz seeks to take from his brother the estate, inheritance, as well as the beloved - the cousin Amalia.

This injustice leads Karl to go to the bandits, but at the same time he manages to keep his nobility and his noble honor. The work was a great success, but 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 number of well-known works that became classics of world literature. In 1783 he wrote the play "Deceit and Love", "The Conspiracy of Fiesco in Genoa", in 1785 - "The Ode to Joy". In this series, it is necessary to separate the work "Deceit and Love", which is called the first "philistine tragedy", because in it for the first time the writer made the object of the artistic image not the problems of noble noblemen, but the suffering of a simple girl of common origin. "Ode to Joy" is considered one of the best works of the author, who proved to be not only a great prose writer, but also a brilliant poet.

Plays of the 1790s

Friedrich Schiller was fond of history, on the subjects 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 "Maria Stewart", in which he drastically departed from the historical realities, making the object of artistic depiction a conflict between two women rivals. The latter circumstance, however, does not detract from the literary merits of the drama.

In 1804 Friedrich Schiller wrote the play "Wilhelm Tell", dedicated to the struggle of the Swiss people against Austrian domination. This work is imbued with the pathos of freedom and independence, which was so characteristic of the creativity of the representatives of the Storm and the Onslaught. In 1805, the writer began working on the drama "Demetrius", dedicated to the events of Russian history, but this play remained unfinished.

The Importance of Schiller's Work in Art

The writer's plays had a great influence on the world culture. What Friedrich Schiller wrote was a subject of interest to Russian poets V. Zhukovsky, M. Lermontov, who translated his ballads. The plays of the playwright served as the basis for the creation of remarkable operas by leading Italian composers of the 19th century. L. Beethoven concluded the final part of his famous ninth symphony on Schiller's "Ode to Joy". In 1829, D. Rossini created the opera "Wilhelm Tell" on the motives of his drama; This work is considered one of the best creations of the composer.

In 1835 G. Donizetti wrote the opera "Maria Stewart", included in the cycle of his musical works on the history of England XVI century. In 1849, D. Verdi created the opera "Louise Miller" based on the drama "Cunning and Love." The opera was not very popular, but it has undoubted musical merits. So, Schiller's influence on world culture is huge, and this explains the interest in his work today.