Wallenstein’s Tod / Death of Wallenstein – Samuel Taylor Coleridge
This is the third and final part of the Wallenstein trilogy by German playwright and mastermind Friedrich Schiller. The work as a whole produced a profound impression, and it is certainly Schiller’s masterpiece in dramatic literature. He brings out with extraordinary vividness the ascendency of Wallenstein over the wild troops whom he has gathered around him, and at the same time we are made to see how the mighty general’s schemes must necessarily end in ruin, not merely because a plot against him is skilfully prepared by vigilant enemies, but because he himself is lulled into a sense of security by superstitious belief in his supposed destiny as revealed to him by the stars. Wallenstein is the most subtle and complex of Schiller’s dramatic conceptions, and it taxes the powers of the greatest actors to present an adequate rendering of the motives which explain his strange and dark career. The love-story of Max Piccolomini and Thekla is in its own way not less impressive than the story of Wallenstein with which it is interwoven.
This is the bilingual edition of this literary masterpiece including the English and German versions of the play.
Wallenstein’s Tod / Death of Wallenstein
Format: Paperback.
Wallenstein’s Tod / Death of Wallenstein.
ISBN: 9783849673482.
Available at amazon.com and other venues.
Plot summary of Death of Wallenstein (from wikipedia)
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.
(The text of the last section was taken from a Wikipedia entry and is available under the the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.)
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