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Schlegel A

Name: August Wilhelm von Schlegel

Achievements: Translations of the plays of William Shakespeare, and part of German Romantic movement

Born: September 8, 1767; Hannover, Germany

Died: May 12, 1845; Bonn, Germany (Aged 78)

Field & Discipline: Literature; Translator; Critic

Language: German

Father: Unknown

Mother: Unknown

Siblings: Friedrich

Spouse: Caroline Bohmer

Children: None

Education: School in Hannover; University of Gottingen

Major Work:

Translation of 17 of the plays of William Shakespeare

Life & Times:

Schlegel, the son of a Protestant pastor, read classical philology and aesthetics at university.

In 1788, while still a student he published “De geographia Homerica commentatio” and in 1789 he worked with his tutor on a translation of  [translated] Shakespeare’s* “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. He also contributed an essay on the Italian poet [wrote on] Dante* to an academic review and in 1791 wrote an essay on [wrote on] Schiller’s* poem “Die Kunstler”.

The latter two publications show the influence on Schlegel of the importance of the historical study of literature, a concept he had learned from studying [influenced by] Herder*, and the value of philosophical aesthetics which he learned from Schiller and [influenced by] Kant*.

After finishing his university studies in 1791 Schlegel became a private tutor in the household of a businessman in Amsterdam where he remained for the next five years. During this period he began his own Shakespeare translations. He corresponded with Schiller who in 1794 invited him to contribute to his periodical “Die Horen”.

Schlegel left Amsterdam in 1796 and was persuaded by Schiller to settle in Jena. He married in the same year and began to write a series of reviews for the “Jenaische Allgmeine Literaturzeitung”.

[influenced by] Goethe* was another major influence on Schlegel and reading Goethe’s “Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre” led to essays by Schlegel on the principles of translation for foreign literary works and Shakespeare’s tragedy “Romeo and Juliet”. The majority of Schlegel’s translations of Shakespeare’s plays were completed and published between 1797-1801. They were the first German translation and became the standard text in Germany. They also made Schlegel’s reputation.

After the first publication in 1797 he was appointed an extraordinary professor at Jena University where he lectured on a number of subjects including aesthetics, for which he encompassed all the arts, not just literature. Under the influence of his brother, [brother was] Friedrich von Schlegel* and his circle, Schlegel began to turn away from the classical ideals of Goethe and Schiller and towards the early modern writers which they named Romantic writers. The group of thinkers interested in Romanticism included the Schlegels, Friedrich Schleiermacher, Novalis and [collaborated with] Schelling*. They were part of a new school of thought whose journal was the “Athenaeum”, published by both Schlegels between 1798 and 1800.

In 1801 Schlegel moved to Berlin where he continued his translating and criticism. His publications included selected translations of the writers Petrarch, Dante, Giovanni Boccaccio, Miguel de Cervantes and Luis des Camoes which were published in “Blumenstrause italianischer, spanischer und portugiesischer Poesie” (1804, “Bouquets of Italian, Spanish and Portuguese Poetry”).

Schlegel’s most notable work in Berlin was his series of lectures on esthetics and the history of classic and romantic literature. He reviewed the history of European literature and philosophy and praised the Mediaevalists while rejecting the philosophy of ancient Greece and Rome, and the rationalism of the Enlightenment. His collected lectures were published later in the century under the title “Vorlesungen uber schone Literatur und Kunst” (1884, “Lectures on Fine Art and Literature”).

In 1803 Schlegel and his wife divorced, after she left him for von Schelling.  Goethe introduced Schlegel to the French intellectual, [affair with] de Stael* and Schlegel began to travel with de Stael. Over the next few years he accompanied her on visits to France, Switzerland and Italy.

In 1807 they went to Vienna and in spring 1808  he delivered his most famous series of lectures in the Austrian capital. They were published under the title “Vorlesungen uberr dramatische Kunst und Literatur” (1809-11, “Lectures on Dramatic Art and Literature”). Schlegel praised Shakespeare and the Romantic dramatists while criticizing the neo-classical French dramatists.  The lectures were translated into all the major European languages and were the most widely read of all the works of German Romanticism.

After this time Schlegel’s writing were mostly concerned with historical and philological studies. In 1811 a collection of his poetry was published which aroused little interest then and virtually none since, for Schlegel was a poor poet. While visiting Sweden with de Stael in 1813-14, he acted as press secretary to the [worked for] JBJ Bernadotte* (the Crown Prince) and in 1818 he became professor of literature at Bonn, where he remained for the rest of his life.

At Bonn, Schlegel founded Sanskrit studies in Germany, establishing a Sanskrit printing press on which he produced an edition of the “Bhagavadgita” in 1823.

In his literary criticism, Schlegel took the Romantic view that content and form should become one united whole. His literary theory encompassed three main points: the relationship of literature to the theory of language; its relationship to primordial poetry in its language, rhythm and myth; and the relationship of literature to the philosophy of Kant, [influenced by] Fichte* and von Schelling. Most important to Schlegel was the concept of the unity of history, criticism and theory. His literary theory did not influence any major writer with the exception of the English poet [influenced] Coleridge*.  Schlegel died in 1845.

Assessment: Schlegel was one of the most active and influential disseminators of the Romantic movement but his reputation rests on his Shakespeare translations.

Oneliner: August Schlegel, major Romantic critic

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