Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Miss Sara Sampson. Ein bürgerliches Trauerspiel in fünf Aufzügen [Miss Sara Sampson]

Friederike von Schwerin-High

Ed. by Gerhard P. Knapp, University of Utah
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.4.1: German-language Writing and Culture: Germany, 500-present.
Vol. editors: Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah), Jennifer Marston William (Purdue University), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jill E. Twark (East Carolina University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1755

Places

Germany (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Play

Resources

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The historical significance of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's play

Miss Sara Sampson

for the development of German theater can hardly be overstated. Published in 1755 with no German predecessors in its genre, the play proudly and self-confidently sported the classificatory subtitle

bürgerliches Trauerspiel

, a term usually translated as “domestic tragedy” or as “bourgeois tragedy”. In the years immediately preceding Lessing's literary activities, the sanctioned theater genres in Germany had been high tragedy (

haute tragédie

) on the one hand and ridiculing comedy (

Verlachkomödie

) on the other. Courtly tragedy gave prominence to royal heroes, metered language, and strict adherence to the three Aristotelian unities of space, time, and action. Ridiculing comedy featured middle-class…

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2170 words

Citation: von Schwerin-High, Friederike. "Miss Sara Sampson. Ein bürgerliches Trauerspiel in fünf Aufzügen". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 September 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=16331, accessed 23 November 2024.]

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Miss Sara Sampson. Ein bürgerliches Trauerspiel in fünf Aufzügen [Miss Sara Sampson]

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