Born in a Lutheran clergyman's family, and with an early history of interest in theatrics, Lessing wrote a comedy by the age of 17, and shortly thereafter came under the notice of Voltaire, who employed him in making translations.He contributed to theatre in Leipzig, defying convention with his Miss Sara Sampson (1755). In 1767 Lessing became associated with a group of actors in Hamburg, where he wrote the justly celebrated Hamburg Dramaturgy, in which he explained to the world the principles underlying the art of the theater. Constructed on English models, his plays Miss Sara Sampson, Minna von Barnhelm and Emilia Galotti revolutionized the German stage, introducing the drama of ordinary life. During the next ten years two other dramas came from his pen; but he was slandered and misrepresented by Voltaire and his followers, and he suffered the usual fate of the man who is in advance of his age. The essays on dramaturgy were pirated, with the result that when he left Hamburg he was still poor, though famous. He became court librarian at Wolfenbüttel, and died in 1781. Even Goethe declares that it is impossible to estimate Lessing's influence on dramatic literature. "We lose much in him," wrote Goethe after his death, "much more than we think."
No comments:
Post a Comment