Schiller was born in a poor family in marbach, a small town in the German state of Wü rttemberg. His father is a military doctor and his mother is a baker's daughter. Schiller was interested in poetry and drama since he was a child. 1768 entered the Latin school, but in 1773 he was forcibly elected to the military school he founded to receive strict military education. The poet Schubart once called this military academy a "slave training center".
When he was in a military school, Schiller met Albert, a psychology teacher. Under his influence, he came into contact with the works of Shakespeare, Rousseau, Goethe and others, which made Schiller firmly embark on the road of literary creation. Starting from 1776, Schiller published some lyric poems in magazines. Moreover, during his study in the military academy, Schiller gradually formed his own anti-authoritarian thought. 1777, Schiller began to write the play The Robber, which was completed in 178 1 year and staged in Mannheim the following year 1 year, causing great repercussions. According to some historical records, the theater at that time was like a madhouse, and people crowded into the narrow audience to watch the play. Some critics even think that Schiller is the German Shakespeare.
The reason why The Robber was so warmly welcomed was that the anti-authoritarian thought contained in the work deeply catered to the psychology of German youth at that time. At this time, Germany's "charge movement" has reached a climax, and Karl, the hero of The Robber, is a typical image of a charge youth. He is dissatisfied with the social status quo in which autocracy and pattern coexist, but he is powerless to change it. He pursued freedom and challenged the society at that time. He is a typical rebel, but in the end he can only end in tragedy.
After the success of The Robber, Schiller entered the first vigorous creative period of his life. From 1782 to 1787, Schiller successively completed the tragedy Conspiracy and Love (1784), Ode to Joy (1785) and Don Carlos (1787).
Conspiracy and Love is the pinnacle of Schiller's youth creation, and together with Goethe's Young Werther, it is the most outstanding achievement of the surging movement. The play exposed the corrupt life of the upper ruling class and the cheating in the court. Conspiracy and Love is a model of German citizen tragedy in structure and theme. When Schiller wrote The Robber, he abandoned the usual long speech and satirized it with concise language. Dialogue between Louise, a citizen class figure, and the Prime Minister: "I can play an adagio for you, but I won't buy or sell prostitutes ... If I have to submit an application, I will be respectful; But if I treat a rude guest, I will kick him out of the house! " Directly questioning the strict hierarchy of German society is utopia.
The poetic drama Don Carlos takes the story of Spanish palace in the 6th century A.D./KLOC-0 as the background, and expresses the author's ideal with vivid plots: social improvement through an enlightened monarch. This script is a turning point in Schiller's writing style, which shows that he has changed from the radical revolutionary spirit "Charge for the Front" to a moderate reform thought. Since then, Schiller's youth writing has come to an end.
Schiller is the second monument after Goethe in German classical literature. One of his representative works is the historical drama "Valentin". In fact, this play is a replay of the German national tragedy in the Thirty Years' War. Schiller's contribution is that he put this national tragedy on the artistic stage.
1In May of 805, Schiller died unfortunately, and Goethe was in great pain: "I lost Schiller and my half-life." After Goethe died, according to his last words, he was buried next to Schiller's body.