Wilhelm Tell Schhiller

Wilhelm Tell was written in 1804 by Friedrich von Schiller, one of the most talented playwrights in Germany of his time. This play takes place in Switzerland and focuses on the protagonist, Wilhelm Tell who can be characterized as “a brave man”(Schiller, 12), “[an] angel”(12), introverted, and has a primary orientation to his family. On the contrary, the antagonist of the play is Gessler, the evil governor who is a coward, hides behind his power, is “a raging monster”(18), “greed[y] and cruel”(17), and lustful. In this time period in Germany, the French are encroaching. Austria in the play is like France in real life. Although most of his writing is completely fictional, many of the actions taken in the play parallel earlier events such as …show more content…
Citizens tear down all the prisons that Gessler had built and frees all the people in them that had been falsely incarcerated. The people also make a song for Tell: “long live Wilhelm Tell, our savior”(122). Songs and singing are a symbol of happiness, and uplifted spirits which arguably is the exact opposite of what the people, especially the working middle class and peasants felt through out Gessler’s …show more content…
On June 20th, this body was locked out of their meeting site so had to relocate and met in the tennis court. This became known as the Tennis Court Oath. Similarly in Wilhelm Tell, was the gathering on the Rutli meadow. There is the same type of unity as experienced in the National Assembly, with people saying: “in heart and blood we’re one”(52). The difference between the National Assembly and this scene is that in the play there are people of several different classes that come to the meadow. The people gather to plot a revolt against the Gessler and discuss their “hatred of the tyrants’ rule”(47). Their goal is to defend their ancient freedom and shed as little blood as possible. The Second comparison between the French Revolution and the play is the Bastille being destroyed and how the people tore down the prisons that Gessler built. In both the Bastille and the prisons in the play, people are unjustly incarcerated. In the French Revolution the storming of the Bastille marked the end of a society of unequal rights and in Wilhelm Tell, it also marks the beginning of a revolution and a time of more equality and freedom. The last example of similarities between the French Revolution and the play is the state of paranoia and chaos. In the French Revolution, people, especially that of lower classes, were upset about the unfairness