Miss Sara Sampson
Encyclopedia
Miss Sara Sampson is a play by the Enlightenment
philosopher, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
. Written in 1755 while the author was living in Potsdam
, it is seen by many scholars to be one of the first bourgeois tragedies
. In the same year it was represented at Frankfort-on-the-Oder, and was very well received. It was afterwards translated and acted in France
, where it also met with success. The play was Lessing's first real success as a playwright
and it was in part due to the success of this play that he was asked to be the dramaturg at the German National Theatre in Hamburg
.
Enlightenment
-Culture:*Age of Enlightenment, period in Western history and its corresponding movement*Enlightenment , a final blessed state free from ignorance, desire and suffering*Enlightenment in Western secular tradition*Enlightenment in Buddhism...
philosopher, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing was a German writer, philosopher, dramatist, publicist, and art critic, and one of the most outstanding representatives of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the development of German literature...
. Written in 1755 while the author was living in Potsdam
Potsdam
Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....
, it is seen by many scholars to be one of the first bourgeois tragedies
Bourgeois tragedy
Bourgeois Tragedy is a form of tragedy that developed in 18th century Europe. It was a fruit of the enlightenment and the emergence of the bourgeois class and its ideals...
. In the same year it was represented at Frankfort-on-the-Oder, and was very well received. It was afterwards translated and acted in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, where it also met with success. The play was Lessing's first real success as a playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
and it was in part due to the success of this play that he was asked to be the dramaturg at the German National Theatre in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
.
External Links
- Miss Sara Sampson, full text of the play online.