Johann Elias Schlegel

Schlegel, Johann Elias (Meißen, 1719-49, Sorø, Denmark), brother of J. A. Schlegel and uncle of A. W. and F. Schlegel, was at Schulpforta (see Fürstenschulen) with Klopstock, and then went up to Leipzig University, where he became an adherent of J. C. Gottsched, contributing to Die deutsche Schaubühne and Beyträge zur critischen Historie der deutschen Sprache, Poesie und Beredsamkeit. In 1743 he became secretary to the Saxon Minister in Copenhagen and in 1748 a professor at the noblemen's school (Ritterakademie) at Sorø. While in Denmark he contributed to the Bremer Beiträge.

In his short life Schlegel was extremely active both as the author of plays and as a critic, writing at least fourteen plays, including eight tragedies in the French classical manner favoured by Gottsched, and six comedies, which, if they are more independent, still recall the French pattern. Schlegel's principal tragedies are Canut (1746), in which the king is conceived as a benevolent despot, Hekuba (1736), after Euripides, later revised as Die Trojanerinnen, and the patriotic Hermann (1743). The outstanding comedies are Der Geheimnisvolle (1747), Der Triumph der guten Frauen (1746), and Die stumme Schönheit (1747). They were praised by Lessing in Die Hamburgische Dramaturgie, where he describes the last as ‘unstreitig unser bestes komisches Original’ (13. Stück). An edition by G. M. Schulz appeared in Lustspiele der Aufklärung in einem Akt in 1986.

Schlegel is more notable for his critical and theoretical work. His Vergleichung Shakespears und Andreas Gryphs (1741, ed. H. Powell, 1964) is one of the first German endeavours to interpret Shakespeare sympathetically. The Abhandlung von der Nachahmung (1742-5) anticipates some of the views of the Abbé Batteux (1713-80), whose Les beaux-arts (1746) was translated in 1751 by Johann Adolf Schlegel. The Gedanken zur Aufnahme des dänischen Theaters (1747) reacts against Gottsched's didacticism, presses for national subjects, and rejects the class distinction between the characters of tragedy and those of comedy, accepted since the 17th c.

Theatralische Werke (5 vols.), ed. J. H. Schlegel, appeared 1764-73 (reissued 1971) and Asthetische und dramaturgische Schriften, ed. J. von Antoniewicz, 1970 (edn. of 1887); Ausgewählte Werke, ed. W. Schubert, 1963.

This article relies largely or entirely upon a single source. Please help improve this article by introducing appropriate citations of additional sources. (March 2009)

Johann Elias Schlegel (January 17, 1719 Meissen - August 13, 1749), was a German critic and dramatic poet.

Contents 1 Life 2 Works 3 Bibliography 4 References 5 External links

Life

He was educated at Schulpforta and at the University of Leipzig, where he studied law. In 1743 he became private secretary to his relative, von Spener, the Saxon ambassador at the Danish court. Afterwards he was made professor extraordinary at the academy of Sere, where he died on the 13th of August 1749.

Works

Schlegel was a contributor to the Bremer Beiträge and for some time, while he was living in Denmark, edited a weekly periodical, Der Fremde. With his dramas as well as with his critical writings he did much to prepare the way for Lessing, by whom his genius was warmly appreciated. He wrote two lively and well-constructed comedies, Der Triumph der guten Frauen and Die stumme Schönheit, the former in prose, the latter in alexandrines. Hermann and Canut (in alexandrines) are generally considered his best tragedies.

His works were edited (in 5 vols., 1761-1770) by his brother, J. H. Schlegel (1724-1780), who had a considerable reputation as a writer on Danish history. Another brother, Johann Adolf Schlegel, an eminent preacher, and author of some volumes of verse, was the father of August Wilhelm and Friedrich von Schlegel.

Bibliography

J. E. Schlegel's Asthetische und dramaturgische Schriften have been edited by J. von Antoniewicz (1887), and a selection of his plays by F. Muncker in Bremer Beiträge, vol. ii. (Kürschner's Deutsche Nalionalliteratur, vol. xliv., 1899). See, besides the biography by his brother in the edition of his works, E. Wolff, Johann Elias Schlegel (1889); and J. Rentsch, Johann Elias Schlegel als Trauerspieldichter (1890).

References

 "Schlegel, Johann Elias". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911. 

External links

• Johann Elias Schlegel in the German National Library catalogue (German)
• Works by Johann Elias Schlegel at Zeno.org (German)
• Johann von Antoniewicz: Schlegel, Elias. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Band 31, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1890, S. 378–384. (German)

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)