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The Robbers is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Friedrich Schiller is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Friedrich Schiller then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

for times of indignation
This play remined me of a Robin Hood movie I saw as a kid. I read it because it was mentened so often in The Outsider by Colin Wilson that I expected some observations about character to be more exciting than the dramatic pace of the activities of the Robbers. Any society in which people are expected to work for enough money to survive while others are fabulously wealthy might appreciate subversive insight into how opposition to such a system can snowball.

Sturm und Drang: turmoil, unrest, ferment...
This is no ode to joy. Peace never made a great man, says the main hero.

This wild, violent and crazy stage play was Friedrich von Schiller's `debut', his breakthrough to fame as a literary writer. At the time it was not at all clear that he would be a professional writer-- and then he became one of Germany's proverbial `poets and thinkers'. He was trained as a medical doctor at a military academy, and he was inclined towards philosophy; practical healing had no appeal for him, he needed the `speculation', the `idea'.
(We are idealists and would be ashamed to be shaped by things, rather than have our ideas shape the world of things.) The Robbers were the brainchild of a young doctor without life experience, who had grown up, so far, under the strict discipline of the school, run by a dictator, in Wuerttemberg. After finishing his studies, he was forced to work as army doctor.

The play was born, as a contemporary writer said, from the copulation of subordination and genius. It is an invention out of lack of experience and in anticipation of it.
The play is about brotherly hatred, fatherly love, jealousy, deceit, maliciousness, criminal energies, betrayal, murder, suicide. There is a lot of drama in this drama.
A man loves one son better than the other. The loved one, away as a student, disappoints. The other one plays up the problem, fabricates lies, steals a letter from brother to father, fakes a letter to the brother, tries to rape the betrothed of the brother... The `good one', in despair and believing himself betrayed by his father, becomes a gangster. Gangs were a common problem at the time, a few would-be Robin Hoods were known in Germany. Where does it end? Certainly nowhere idyllic. Gallows are growing on every hill side.

The most often quoted line of the whole play is `Franz heisst die Kanaille?', meaning: is Franz the name of the scoundrel? And what I learned from reading this odd piece of high literature for the first time since ages: the phrase comes with a question mark. I would never have guessed and I remembered wrongly.
When the play was a hit, Schiller ran away from his confinement in military life and eventually made a stellar career as Goethe's equal. Amazing. The man had not one iota of humor. His philosophy was full of pathos. His plays are full of serious thoughts. He was fed on Shakespeare and lived on him; the Robbers are a clear sign of admiration, but not quite up to par. They are ridiculous and grandiose at the same time.

The school of literature that Schiller co-created was called Sturm und Drang, which seems to be generally translated as 'storm and stress'. That strikes me as inadequate. Why not try a combination of turmoil, unrest, ferment?

Classic that continues in our time....
For my opinion is "The Robbers" the best classic by Friedrich Schiller. The story is about a family, an old lord, his two sons, the older one who is handsome, brave and popular and the younger one who is ugly and jealous, he intrigues through the whole story. When the older one travels to study, his brother invents terrible stories about harlotry and murder, so his father who is near to death, bans his older son though he didn't want to . Without faith and security of his family, Karl, the older son, decides to arrange a group of robbers with another man who can't see any way out of his misery. The robbers murder and steal, but in Karl's way, he's the leader of the robbers, and he just steals money, other materials and food from rich and ignorant peole and gives most of this stuff to poor people. This Robin Hood way of stealing he describes as balancing justice. But soon he discovers that this life isn't the life he wants to lead till the end of time. The robbers were persecuted and he is home sick, but most at all he misses his girlfriend Amalia von Edelreich who is now idolzed by Franz , the younger brother. The story continues with new intrigues, lies and it's much spoken about god's will, that the bad ones will come into hell and what happens after the death. The love between brothers, fathers and lovers is also really important.
It's often told, but I can't regret it, that this classic hasn't lost a bit of it's passion and pressure, it could really continues in our time, too. ... Read more

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A Classic!
Ok here's a little pop culture bit to sweeten the mighty load of Friedrich Schiller:The intellectuals of this period, inspired and defined by Goethe's seminal teen-angst classic The Sorrows of Young Werther.Werther's style is still seen today in the goth subculture- moopy, depressed, poetic, etc.Basically that's a combination of Anglo Byronic romanticism and German romanticism.One of the main symbols of the Werther/Schiller era of German Romanticism is the blue flower of Novalis.(Wiki)


I see Schiller as being the actual embodiment of the Werther character, particularly after finishing the Aesthetic Educations of Man, a book I've now read three different times (undergraduate, law school, last month.)That's probably because I see this book as kind of the birth of Romantic Pop Culture.Basically, Schiller took Kantian idealism and crossed it with a popular format (i.e. they're written as "letters")Unlike Kant, you can actually read Schiller, since this book is only 140 pages long.


The reason this book is still relevant is that Kantian idealism underlays most popular manifestations of Romanticism, but most people who consider themselves "Romantics" literally have no idea what Kantian idealism means.Myself included.Thus, by reading this one 140 page book, you can kind of get a handle on the relationship, and gain a better understanding of artists who are influenced by this time period.Like Depeche Mode... or, for a more hipster specific reference, Dr. Octagon's classic Blue Flowers. Cue lyrics:




Look at the land... Blue Flowers!

Drawing by the purple pond, in the purple pastures Blue Flowers!

Drawing by the purple pond, yellow ink that flows Blue Flowers

Romanticism runs strong and deep in all of the Western nations.It is, in fact, the primary ideology for people dissatisfied with realityJust think about the prevalence of the "lonely hero." It's also the primary posture of artists of all stripes.The more "popular" the art, the more romantic it is likely to be.
Romanticism is both current and 400+ years old.Thus, contemporary artists can manipulate the audience by being more aware of the symbols and modes of thought of something like Romanticism, since the listener WILL respond:Think of all the people wearing Depeche Mode T-Shirts with Blue Flowers and Tour Dates printed on the back.That's pure, unadulterated, 18th century German Romanticism.The modern artist is inevitably an interpreter/re-interpreter of symbols with long-standing cultural resonance.

Excellent edition of an excellent work.
Writing in the 1790s, Schiller united the rigorous epistemology of Kant and Fichte with Plato's dynamic account of the development of the soul to produce one of the most beautiful works of philosophy in the European tradition.The Letters on Aesthetic Education offer an interpretation of the development of the individual and the parallel development of Western civilization.These interpretations focus on the conditions that allow for mental health in a human individual and society, and especially demonstrate (as the title indicates) the crucial role of artistic experience in healthy human development.This is a great work, and a great introduction to the other German philosophers of the 19th Century (Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, et al).This edition is very good: the translation is good, and it has a facing German text.Highly recommended. ... Read more

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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805) was one of the most influential of all playwrights, the author of deeply moving dramas that explored human fears, desires and ideals. Written at the age of twenty-one, "The Robbers" was his first play. A passionate consideration of liberty, fraternity and deep betrayal, it quickly established his fame throughout Germany and wider Europe. "Wallenstein", produced nineteen years later, is regarded as Schiller's masterpiece: a deeply moving exploration of a flawed general's struggle to bring the Thirty Years War to an end against the will of his Emperor. Depicting the deep corruption caused by constant fighting between Protestants and Catholics, it is at once a meditation on the unbounded possible strength of humanity, and a tragic recognition of what can happen when men allow themselves to be weak. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The rough broom of war
I have reviewed The Robbers separately in another edition, so I am going to focus on Wallenstein here.

Schiller had written a history of the 30 Years War in Germany (1618 to 48). One of the side products of that work was the drama trilogy about Wallenstein, the Bohemian leader of the Catholic (and Austrian) Kaiser's armies in the war against Gustav Adolf, the Swedish patron of German Protestantism. The drama is standard fare on German stages. Its first part was first staged in 1798, while the complete trilogy was published in 1800, after a work process of 10 years.

The play is largely based on history, but takes some freedom with facts, eg adds persons that are not historical. The main plot is about loyalty and betrayal, which is another departure for Schiller, who was previously more interested in hot emotions and starry eyed idealism. Wallenstein is a successful military leader and becomes too popular for the emperor's taste. Attempts are made to split his following and to reduce his command: divide and rule. He learns about these efforts to undermine him and starts his own initiatives, exploring possibilities to change sides and ally himself with the Swedes (whose king is not alive any more by now) against the emperor. He loses the political game and gets assassinated.

For historical background I recommend three quite different books:
The magnificent Wallenstein biography by Thomas Mann's son Golo.
The equally magnificent `picaresque' novel Simplicius Simplicissimus by Jakob Grimmelshausen, a contemporary of the 30 Years War.
For dessert: Guenter Grass, Das Treffen in Telgte, a short novel about a writers' meeting (a 17th century PEN conference?) near the location of the peace agreement of 1648.

The trilogy's parts are of uneven size and content.
Part 1 focuses on the army camp and lets us listen to the `people', including the local populace who is not enchanted with being subject to plundering by the troops. We learn that Wallenstein is popular with his soldiers and that all kinds of rumors are beginning to travel about. He is said to have a pact with the devil, a common habit in Germany. He is suspected of not giving a damn when the Protestant armies occupy critical parts of Bavaria. The church is suspicious about his religious allegiances --- does he care at all about religion? One fact was that W listened to astrologers. This may have been a decisive weakness, it may have made him inefficient in critical moments.

Part 2 is called The Piccolomini, about a historical rival of Wallenstein's, Octavio Piccolomini, and his fictive son Max, who is an engine of the plot. He has to provide the human interest via an affair with W's daughter. A stage play only about politics wouldn't have worked. Max is torn between his father and his prospective father in law.
The emperor wants to transfer part of W's power to Octavio P as a balance to W's strength. W resists.
This part is about political intrigue. Politics are like a board game. Popularity is a function of benefits granted and gained. Or just perceived. Political marketing was not invented in the 20th century.

Part 3 finally tells us of the assassination of W by hirelings of rival military leaders. W's secret negotiations with the enemy are found out. He is forced into open rebellion. Some of his long time friends are deceived into deserting him and having him murdered.

As I am reading Schiller's plays in a collection of plays, which is following the chronology of their writing, Wallenstein seems to me the first adult play that Schiller wrote. The man had outgrown his Sturm and Drang heat and moved to a more rational phase. I can not say that I am emotionally much drawn into it, but he is an essential ingredient in any study of German cultural and literary history. Apart from that, this year has also been some kind of an anniversary. 250th birthday!
A popular trivia game is identifying quotes and idioms and their source in Schiller's plays or poems. When you read Wallenstein, you find one such common place on every other page, almost! Word combinations which were either invented or popularized by Schiller are ubiquitous.

Believe it or not: even the infamous `who is not with me is against me' is from Wallenstein! (oops, sorry, of course Schiller borrowed that one from Matthew.)
What about:
I just have a job here, not an opinion.
He comes late, but he comes.
The iron must be forged while it is hot!
It is not every day's evening yet!
What is the short meaning of the long speech?
(Figure that out for yourself please!)

Wallenstein is a Masterpiece
The Wallenstein trilogy is a fascinating work, constructed in an unusual and innovative manner, and marked by unusually powerful language.Wallenstein is a profoundly ambiguous figure.Was he a proto-German nationalist?A seeker of peace and religous moderation?A determined schemer aiming to develop his own Empire?Some combination of all of these?Schiller, who taught history and was the author of a history of the Thirty Years War, seems to have had the same difficulties in defining Wallenstein as everyone else.To approach Wallenstein, Schiller uses an indirect and very creative method.While Wallenstein is the central figure of the trilogy, he is hardly on stage in the first 2 plays, Wallenstein's Camp and The Piccolomini, and even in the last play, Wallenstein's Death, much of the action concerns other characters.Schiller shows Wallenstein by demonstrating his effect on other characters.In the short initial play, Wallenstein's Camp, Schiller presents the common soldiers' attitudes towards Wallenstein.In The Piccolomini, Schiller shows Wallenstein's attributes by dealing with different members of Wallenstein's court, particularly the Piccolomini, father and son officers who struggle with their divided loyalty to Wallenstein and the Emperor.In a brilliant stroke, Schiller makes each of these different characters exemplify a different aspect of Wallenstein's character.In essence, Schiller makes Wallenstein a kind of universal figure exhibiting a huge array of human traits.In the final play, Wallenstein's death, Wallenstein's inability to choose among or reconcile these different aspects leads to a paralysis of decision and his death.This is all presented with superb characterization and powerful language, including Shakespearean-like set piece speechs of considerable poetic power, even in translation. ... Read more

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Don Carlos and Mary Stuart, two of German literature's greatest historical dramas, deal with the timeless issues of power, freedom, and justice.Dating from 1787 and 1800 respectively, one play was written immediately before the French Revolution, the other in its aftermath. These new translations into blank verse are accurate, elegant, and playable.The Introduction, Notes, and Chronology set the plays in their cultural and intellectual background, while a family tree explains the historical relationship between Don Carlos and Mary Stuart. ... Read more

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The work of a genius
It's hard to find words which do justice to these wonderful plays. Schiller is a genius, a german Shakespeare. The plays are full of fascinating characters, deep emotions and humanist ideals. Don't be surprised if you find youself sympathising with and understanding the enemys of the heroes. In Philipp II and Elizabeth I the inner torments of rulers surounded by false friends (Leichester, Alba), idealists(Posa, the spirit of liberty and friendship) and caught in there own fears, hopes and loves is poignantly illustrated. All in wonderfull words - read it in german if you possibly can! If you can't, DON'T miss it in english!!!You may find yourself identifying the situations in your life with those of the characters.These are plays to read over and over - always something new and worthwhile to discover. ... Read more

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Friedrich Schiller is not merely one of Germany's foremost poets. He is also one of the major German contributors to world literature. The undying words he gave to characters such as Marquis Posa in Don Carlos and Wilhelm Tell in the eponymous drama continue to underscore the need for human freedom. Schiller cultivated hope in the actualization of moral knowledge through aesthetic education and critical reflection, leading to his ideal of a more humane humanity. At the same time, he was fully cognizant of the problems that attend various forms of idealism. Yet for Schiller, ultimately, love remains the gravitational center of the universe and of human existence, and beyond life and death joy prevails. This collection of cutting-edge essays by some of the world's leading Schiller experts constitutes a milestone in scholarship. It includes in-depth discussions of the writer's major dramatic and poetic works, his essays on aesthetics, and his activities as historian, anthropologist, and physiologist, as well as of his relation to the ancients and of Schiller reception in 20th-century Germany. Contributors: Steven D. Martinson, Walter Hinderer, David Pugh, Otto Dann, Werner von Stransky-Stranka-Greifenfels, J. M. van der Laan, Rolf-Peter Janz, Lesley Sharpe, Norbert Oellers, Dieter Borchmeyer, Karl S. Guthke, Wulf Koepke. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Product Description
Aesthetical Essays of Frederich Schiller is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Friedrich Schiller is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Friedrich Schiller then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

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CARLOS. Then let me first collect my scattered thoughts. The alarm of joy still trembles in my bosom. Did I e'er lift my fondest hopes so high, Or trust my fancy to so bold a flight? Show me the man can learn thus suddenly To be a god. I am not what I was. ... Read more

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The Thirty Years War - Complete is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Friedrich Schiller is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Friedrich Schiller then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

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Love and Intrigue is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Friedrich Schiller is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Friedrich Schiller then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

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Friedrich Schiller was a famous German playwright, born in 1759 in the little duchy of Würtemberg, Germany.

Friedrich von Schiller was the son of an army officer. Although the young boy disliked the strict regimentation of his father's chosen profession, he was forced by the Duke of Würtemberg to enter a military academy. Trapped and overcome with depression, Schiller began to compose morbid poetry. He found some comfort in these literary diversions, but after composing his first play - The Robbers (1782) -Schiller's writing was discovered by his superiors, and he was forbidden to write. The young dramatist quickly determined to desert the army and flee to Mannheim where he lived under an assumed name and made his living as a court playwright and stage manager. During this period, he penned such plays as Fiesko (1783), Intrigue and Love (1784) and Don Carlos (1787).

Between 1787 and 1798, Schiller wrote no plays, instead devoting himself to historical studies - The Revolt of the Netherlands and A History of the Thirty Years War - which won him fame as a historian. In 1794, however, Schiller established a close friendship with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Under Goethe's influence, Schiller soon returned his attentions to the craft of playwriting and, during the period that followed, composed his most mature dramas including Wallenstein's Camp (1798), The Piccolomini (1799), Wallenstein's Death (1799), Mary Stuart (1800), The Maid of Orleans (1801), and William Tell (1804.) In 1799, he took up residence in Weimar where he and Goethe collaborated to make the Weimar Theatre one of the most prestigious theatrical houses in Germany.

On May 9, 1805, Friedrich Schiller died of tuberculosis. He was only forty-six years old. His plays, however, along with those of Goethe, had established a theatrical rennaissance in Germany, which would become known as "Weimar Classicism." For more than a century after his death, Schiller remained the favorite playwright of the German people. ... Read more