Person und Staat in Schillers Dramenfragmenten

Schiller's dramatic fragments offer a largely unexplored spectrum of instances of the way Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1805) addressed a problem he was crucially engaged with: the relationship between person and state. They also document a process which can be described as the literary modification of an idealistic philosophy of government. Proceeding from Schiller's own theory of state power and government, the study investigates three dramatic models: the elevated drama of idealistic thinking on political power and government; the drama of conflict with the law; and drama revolving around a pretender to the throne. There is also discussion of the synthesis of various innovative concepts in a doppelgänger drama doing justice to the complexity of the issue by assigning to the idea of person and state legal spheres which, though legitimate in themselves, are also mutually exclusive.