Wallenstein, Ein Dramatisches Gedicht

(Wallenstein, A Dramatic Poem) by Friedrich Schiller.

   Premiered in toto 1799. Schiller structured his 10-act tragedy about the flawed general of imperial armies during the Thirty Years' War as a trilogy, opening with the one-act Wallensteins Lager (Wallenstein 's Camp). It briefly portrays a large number of character types, many of them disreputable, and their devotion to Wallenstein. They range from peasants to aristocrats, black marketeers to priests, cuirassiers to pikers. Few have doubts about his superb gifts as a military strategist and political infighter; a soldiers' choir sings a moving hymn that concludes this prologue.

   The second part, Die Piccolomini (The Piccolominis), develops around Wallenstein's plot with his second-in-command Octavio Pic-colomini to place his armies at the disposal of his adversaries the Swedes, based on astrological suppositions. A subplot involves the love affair between Wallenstein's daughter Thekla and Piccolomini's son Max. Again Schiller portrays a wide range of convincing character types to create a broad tapestry, all of whom figure panoramically in the growing counterconspiracy against Wallenstein.

   In the trilogy's conclusion, Wallensteins Tod (Wallenstein's Death), Wallenstein attains tragic dimensions as he realizes his faith has been misplaced in men like Octavio Piccolomini, in other trusted lieutenants and mercenaries, and in astrology. The conclusive battle for Prague ends in disaster as his troops mutiny. Max Piccolomini is killed while leading a charge against the Swedes, and a hired assassin murders Wallenstein. Octavio surveys the utter collapse that was the hope of imperial unity and ponders the loss of his son and his estates, while realizing that he now must face accusations of disloyalty, along with accepting ultimate responsibility for Wallenstein's failure.