Love and Intrigue

Abstract

Love an d In tigu e Schiller’s play Kabale und Liebe, usually translated into English as Love and Intrigue, represents the disastrous consequences that follow when social constraint, youthful passion, and ruthless scheming collide in a narrow se� ng. Wri� en between 1782 and 1784, the play bears the marks of life at the court of the despo� c Duke of Wür� emberg, from which Schiller had just fl ed, and of a fraught liaison he entered shortly a� er his fl ight. It tells the tale of a love aff air that crosses the boundaries of class, between a fi ery and rebellious young nobleman and the beau� ful and du� ful daughter of a musician. Their aff air becomes entangled in the compe� ng purposes of malign and not-so-malign fi gures present at an obscure and sordid princely court somewhere in Germany. It all leads to a climac� c murder-suicide.