Chapter XXI The End — Unfinished Plays and Adaptations
A Russian theme chosen—Berlin negotiations—Work on ‘Demetrius’—‘The Homage of the Arts’—Last illness and death—The unfinished ‘Demetrius’—The historical Dmitri—The original plan modified—Character of the hero—Poetic promise of ‘Demetrius’—‘Warbeck’—‘The Princess of Celle’—‘The Knights of Malta’—Other unfinished plays—Adaptation of ‘Egmont’—Of ‘Nathan the Wise’—Of ‘Macbeth’—Of ‘Turandot’—Interest in the French drama—Adaptations from the French.
Chapter XXII
The Verdict of Posterity
Schiller a national poet—His idealized personality—Estimate of Dannecker—Of Madame de Staël—Goethe’s ‘Epilogue’—Controversy over Goethe and Schiller—Attitude of Schlegel—Of Menzel—Goethe’s loyalty to his friend—The mid-century epoch—Unreasonable criticism—Interesting prophecy of Gervinus—Schiller’s aesthetic idealism often misunderstood—Schiller as a friend of the people—Partisan misconceptions—The enthusiasm of 1859—Epoch of the philologers—Present opinion of Schiller—Conclusion.