Love and Intrigue   by Frederich Schiller.
(Translation to English by?)

Feb. to April, 2007     E-Text from Project Gutenburg.

I'm rather surprised that the file doesn't have a note about who did the translation. That's rather unusual for this website. Schiller didn't do his own translation into English... did he?

It's a Tragic tale of love against obstacles... and then deaths. It's filled through with intrigues, love, and passion. It is fully equal to Shakespeare, though less genius with the language, (I mean only with the ENGLISH language used in this translation. I expect the original German is a masterpiece.) I could not get into the story, partly because it was so... Dry, and ancient, and contrived, (in the same way as Shakespeare,) but more because I took so long reading it, and letting it lie between times. The last half act, which I read all this afternoon, DID pull me in, and engaged my feelings. (Just in time for the tragic ending.)

I loved the moment, just near the end, after the monumental misunderstanding, when the lover says "All right! I'm leaving you forever! This is goodbye! -But it's hot out, so could I have a glass of lemonade before I go?" It's such a mockery of the drama of the moment! It's so out of place! It is the kind of thing I would expect to see in a Monty Python skit: The pair of lovers screaming at each other, Her putting her bags into the car, and slamming the door in his face, saying "It's Over!!" -And then opening the door again, and asking, "what should I do with your key? Would you like it now, or shall I put it into your mailbox? Perhaps I could drop by tomorrow, and leave it then?"

It becomes later clear that he had a secret motive for asking for the drink, but at the time he says it, the reader can only guess that he's taken leave of his senses.

Hmmm... well... how can I sum it all up? It's a dramatic play, cleanly written by a first rate poet. The plot is timeless, but still... it seems rather old. And it didn't excite me. Certainly good, solid literature though.