ABSTRACT
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing initially intended for The Hamburg Dramaturgy to be a series of weekly essays, beginning in May of 1767, that would provide a “critical register” of the plays performed at the newly formed Hamburg National Theater. The first 25 essays roughly deliver on that promise, providing critical commentary on the first 30 evenings of performance. Lessing then abandons the project of providing a running commentary on the theater’s season and shifts his focus to extended discussions of individual plays that allow him to engage with key questions of dramatic theory and to argue for the social and cultural value of the theater. Particularly noteworthy in this regard are his excursions into the proper function of music ( Essays 26–27 ); his wide-ranging analysis of Voltaire’s Mérope in comparison to its source material ( Essays 36–50 ); his detailed description and comparison of three theatrical treatments of The Earl of Essex, by Thomas Corneille ( Essays 22–25 ), John Banks ( Essays 54–59 ), and Antonio Coello ( Essays 60–70 ); his close, attentive reevaluation of both Aristotle’s Poetics (in Essays 73–79 and 89–95 ) and French neoclassical interpretations of Aristotle ( Essays 80–83 ); his engagement with contemporary dramatic theorists like Denis Diderot ( Essays 84–91 ) and Richard Hurd ( Essays 92–95 ); and his analysis of masterworks from antiquity such as Terence’s The Brothers (in Essays 70–73 and 96–100 ). In the final, long installment – a combination of Essays 101–104 – Lessing reflects on the original aims of his project, on the challenges and obstacles he encountered along the way (which included, among other things, piracy of his work), on his perceived accomplishments, and on the role of the critic in the arts.
