Author: Frederich Schiller

Publisher: Createspace Independent Pub

Published: 2012-09-02

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13: 9781479238996

Wallenstein is the popular designation for a trilogy of dramas by German author Friedrich Schiller. It consists of the plays Wallenstein's Camp (Wallensteins Lager) with a lengthy prologue, The Piccolomini (Die Piccolomini), and Wallenstein's Death (Wallensteins Tod). Schiller himself also structured the trilogy into two parts, with Wallenstein I including Wallenstein's Camp and The Piccolomini, and Wallenstein II consisting of Wallenstein's Death. He completed the trilogy in 1799. In this drama Schiller addresses the decline of the famous general Albrecht von Wallenstein, basing it loosely on actual historical events during the Thirty Years' War. Wallenstein fails at the height of his power as successful commander-in-chief of the imperial army when he begins to rebel against his emperor, Ferdinand II. The action is set some 16 years after the start of the war, in the winter of 1633/1634 and begins in the Bohemian city of Pilsen, where Wallenstein is based with his troops. For the second and third acts of the third play the action moves to Eger, where Wallenstein has fled and where he was assassinated on 26 February 1634. In the last part of the Wallenstein trilogy the conflict anticipated in the second play erupts and leads to a tragic conclusion. Having learned that the negotiators he has sent to bargain with the Swedes have been intercepted by imperial troops, Wallenstein supposes that the emperor now has damning evidence of his treason. After some hesitation and intense pressure exerted by Illo, Terzky and especially the latter's spouse, Countess Terzky, Wallenstein decides to burn his bridges: he will enter into official alliance with the Swedes. But there is opposition. Octavio Piccolomini, the emperor's spy, manages to convince almost all the important leaders in Wallenstein's army--especially Butler--to abandon him. Convinced that Wallenstein has thwarted his ambitions, Butler hangs on for the sake of revenge. Max Piccolomini, for his part, is torn between his loyalty to the emperor, his admiration for Wallenstein, and his love for Thekla. He finally decides to leave Wallenstein, hoping there will be no hard feelings, but for the prince it's the final straw. He then flees with his remaining supporters to Eger; Max Piccolomini throws himself into a doomed battle with the Swedes, which costs him his life. When Thekla learns of this, she secretly sets out for his grave, there to die. Wallenstein also grieves about the loss of Max Piccolomini, but believes that the fates have taken him away in compensation for future good fortune. In the night, Butler's henchmen, Macdonald and Deveroux, murder Illo and Terzky during a banquet, then kill Wallenstein himself in his bedroom. The drama ends with a final dialogue between Octavio and his chief antagonist, Countess Terzky, who dies of the poison she has taken. Finally, Octavio hears that the emperor, in gratitude, has promoted him to the rank of prince.