Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 7.djvu/463

443 DRAMA 443 he over which his juvenile works had triumphantly passed, &amp;gt;pular j^ ou u-hich y s 2J on Carlos had met with a cold welcome. For a loug time, however, its favourites were authors of a very different order, who suited themselves to the demands of a public little concerned with the literary progress of the drama. After popular tastes had oscillated between the imitators of Gotz and those of Emilia Galotii, they entered into a more settled phase as the establishment of standing theatres at the courts and in the large towns increased the demand for good &quot;acting&quot; plays. Famous actors, such as Schroder and A. W. Iffland (1759-1814), sought by translations or compositions of their own to meet the popular likings, which largely took the direction of that irrepressible favourite of theatrical audiences, the sentimental domestic drama. But the most successful purveyor of such wares was an author who, though not himself an actor, understood the theatre with professional instinct, A. von Kotzebue (1761- 1819). His productivity ranged from the domestic drama and comedy of all kinds to attempts to rival Schiller and Shakespeare in verse ; and though his popularity (which ultimately proved his doom) brought upon him the bitterest attacks of the Romantic school and other literary authorities, his self-conceit is not astonishing, and it seems time to say that there is some exaggeration in the contempt which has been lavished upon him by posterity. Nor should it be forgotten that German literature had hitherto failed to furnish the comic stage with any successors to Minna von Earnlidin ; for Goethe s efforts to dramatize characteristic events or figures of the Revolutionary age 1 must be dismissed as failures, not from a theatrical point of view only. The joint efforts of Goethe aud Schiller for the Weimar stage, important in many respects for the history of the German drama, at the same time reveal the want of a national dramatic literature sufficient to supply the needs of a theatre endeavouring to satisfy the demands of art. lie Meanwhile the so-called Romantic school of German mantle literature was likewise beginning to extend its labours to 1 original dramatic composition. From the universality of sympathies proclaimed by this school, to whose leaders Germany owed its classical translation of Shakespeare, 2 and an introduction to the dramatic literatures of so many ages and nations, 3 a variety of new dramatic impulses might be expected; while much might be hoped for the future of the national drama (especially in its mixed and comic species) from the alliance between poetry and real life which they preached, and which some of them sought personally to exemplify. But in practice universality pre sented itself as peculiarity or even as eccentricity ; and in the end the divorce between poetry and real life was announced as authoritatively as their union had been. Outside this school, the youthful talent of Th. Kb rner (1791-1813), whose early promise as a dramatist 4 might perhaps have ripened into a fulness enabling him not unworthily to occupy the seat left vacant by his father s friend Schiller, was extinguished by a patriotic death. The efforts of M. von Collin (1776-1823) in the direction of the historical drama remained isolated attempts. But of the leaders of the Romantic school. A. W. (1767-1845) 5 and F. von Schlegel 6 (1772-1829), contented themselves with frigid classicalities ; and L. Tieck (1772-1855), in the strange alembic of his Phantasus, melted legend and fairy tale, novel and drama, 7 poetry and satire, into a compound, enjoyable indeed, but hardly so in its entirety, or in many of its parts, to any but the literary mind. F. tic la Motte- 1 Der Groosskophta (Cagliostro); Der Biirgeryeneral. 2 A. W. Schlegel and Tieck s (1797-1833). 3 A. W. S., Lectures on Dramatic Art and Literature, &c. 7 Kaiser Octaclunus; Der Gestiffelte Kater (Puss in Boots], &c. Later dram; The Germ stage the p: day. Fouque (1777-1843) infused a spirit of poetry into the chivalry drama. Clemens Brentano (1777-1842) was a fantastic dramatist unsuited to the stage. Here a feeble outgrowth of the romanticists, the &quot;destiny dramatists&quot; Z. Werner 8 (1768-1823), A. Milliner 9 (1774-1829), and C. E. v. Houwald 10 (1778-1845), achieved a temporary furore ; and it was with an attempt in the same direction 11 that the Austrian dramatist F. Grillparzer (1791-1871) began his long career. He is assuredly -what he pronounced himself to be, the foremost of the later dramatic poets of Germany, unless that tribute be paid to the genius of H. von Kleist (1776-1811), who in his short life produced besides other works a romantic drama 12 and a rustic comedy 13 of genuine merit, and an historical tragedy of singular originality and power. 14 Grillparzer s long series of plays includes poetic dramas on classical themes 15 and historical subjects from Austrian history. 10 The Romantic school, which through Tieck had satirized the drama of the bourgeoisie and its offshoots, was in its turn satirized by A. Count von Platen- Hall erniiinde s (1796-1 835) admirable imitations of Aristo- phanic comedy. 17 Among the objects of his banter were the popular play-wright E. Raupach, and K. Immermann (1 796 1840), a true poet, who is, however, less generally remem bered as a dramatist. F. Hebbel 18 (1813-1863) is justly ranked high among the foremost later dramatic poets of his country, few of whom equal him in intensity. . Other names of literary mark are those of Chr. D. Grabbe&quot; (1801-1836), J. Mosen (1803-1867), 0. Ludwig (1813-1865), and &quot; F. Halm &quot; ( 1 806-1 87 1 ), and, among living writers, K. Gutzkow, G. Freytag, and H. Laube. The last of these names recalls in one of their most noteworthy examples the long-continued and systematic efforts which have raised the modern German stage to the position at present occupied by it among the theatres of Europe. These efforts have not been confined to fostering the art of acting in a succession of eminent re presentatives, among whom the sons of L. Devrient in various ways acquired a reputation worthy of their name, and B. Dawison was accounted the equal of the most bril liant of the brotherhood, or to maintaining as intimate a relation as possible between the stage and literature. Happily contrasting with other countries by the number and variety of its centres of intellectual life rivals in artistic effort even where political or social rivalry is out of the question Germany has not only cherished its own national drama, but with a catholicity of taste, aided by the powers of a language admirably adapted for trans lation, has opened its theatre to the dramatic master pieces of other nations also, and more especially of our own. The German theatre has its weak points, and has not maintained itself wholly free from vicious influences; but upon the whole its efforts are on a level w r ith the demands of the national culture, and in harmony with the breadth and variety of the national intelligence. No other stage furnishes the same opportunities for the study of dramatic literature. With this summary of the history of the German drama it is necessary to close this survey. To be even nominally complete, it would have had to take into account the fortunes of more than one other modern European drama. Dutcl Among these the DUTCH is interesting both in its beginnings, 8 Der 24 Februar. 9 Die Schuld (Guilt}. 10 Das Bild (The Picture}. n Die Ahnfrau (The Ancestress). 12 Das Kathchen (Kate) von Ileilbronn. 13 Der Zerbrochene Krug (The Broken Pitcher). 14 Prim Friedrich xon Homlurg. 13 Sappho, Medea, &c. 16 Konig Ottokars Gl Ack und EnJe (Fortune and Full); Der Bru- derzwist (Fraternal Feud) in Habstturg. 37 Die Zerbrochene Gabel (The Broken Fork] ; Der RomantiscliA (Edipus. 18 Die Nib&ungen; Judith, &.c.
 * Zriny,kc. & Ion. Alarccs.