Emilia Galotti
Emilia Galotti, a play by
Gotthold Lessing (1729 - 1781), which appeared in 1772, provides a classic example of
German bürgerliches Trauerspiel (bourgeois
tragedy). Other works in this category include
Schiller's
Kabale und Liebe and
Hebbel's
Maria Magdalene.
Set in Italy,
Emilia Galotti tells the story of a virtuous young woman of the upper middle class. Because of her beauty and because of a nobleman's lack of scruples, she falls into disgrace and finally has her father kill her in order to maintain her virtue and purity.
Lessing's work of course comprises an attack against the
nobility and its
powers. Lessing depicts aristocrats as having unfair powers in
society and as ruining the happiness of the emerging
middle class. With that play Lessing directed criticism to the tyranny of the reigning class.
