Intrigue and Love - Themes

Themes

In 1784 Schiller published his theoretical work The Theatre considered as a Moral Institution, whose central idea was to present tragedy as a means of theodicy, with theatre's mission being to show the world God had created the restoration of divine justice onstage. This righteousness is visible in Intrigue and Love, since ultimately, its final court of appeal is not secular justice but God himself. Schiller saw education as another function of theatre, to bring the audience to catharsis to complete their education and so make the theatre a "moral institution". He saw its most important function, however, as to mediate between freedom and necessity, showing an idealised version of the individual's struggle with and victory over social, moral and religious constraints onstage.

Intrigue and Love belongs to the era of Sturm und Drang and is categorised as a bourgeois tragedy, a genre attributable to Gotthold Ephraim Lessing - Lessing's own Emilia Galotti is a key influence on it. Tragedy had previously been limited to the nobility, through the Ständeklausel or "estates clause", but Lessing's genre also opened it to the world of the German middle classes. Intrigue and Love has as its dominant motif the conflict between the middle-classes and the nobility in middle-class pride and aristocratic snobbery, with universal humanity at its centre, charged with open political grievances. In it, individual interests, subjective feelings and the demand for freedom from a class-ridden society's constraints are powerful drivers for the characters and ultimately lead to disaster. Schiller was personally aware of the pain of love across the classes, through his love for Charlotte von Wolzogen (sister in law of Caroline von Wolzogen - Caroline was sister of Charlotte von Lengefeld, who would later become Schiller's wife).

Charles Eugene, Duke of Württemberg had just arrested Schiller and banned his works, in punishment for his unauthorised departure to attend the premiere of his play The Robbers. Thus, in September 1782 Schiller fled the Duke's sphere of influence, moving to Mannheim and starting work on Intrigue and Love as a response to his arbitrary injustice. This can be seen in some of its themes:

• The extravagance at the ducal court - Although Württemberg was a relatively poor country at the time of Schiller, Charles Eugene lived his life along the lines of the French royal court at the Palace of Versailles, financing expensive balls, hunts and festivals by exploiting his people and selling his population as mercenaries.
• Trade in soldiers - In Schiller's time one of Charles Eugene's ways of raising money was to 'sell off' farmers', craftsmen's and labourers' sons to serve abroad as mercenaries, such as in the American Revolutionary War, sometimes by violence, drugging or abduction.
• Mistresses - For a long time Charles Eugene ran a system of mistresses, including Franziska von Leutrum (later the Duke's official partner and wife, and the basis for the character Lady Milford, especially in her influence on the duke).
• Intrigues - In Schiller's time the acting minister of the Württemberg court, count Samuel Monmartin, had brought about the downfall of his rivals via forged letters and gained the exclusive confidence of the Prince.
• Despotism - How justified Schiller's critique of the duke's rule was can be seen in the treatment of the journalist and poet Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart, who took offence at the appalling conditions in the duchy and was imprisoned without even the verdict of a court.