Robert Guiskard, Duke of the Normans

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Robert Guiskard. Duke of Normans is a dramatic fragment by Heinrich von Kleist from 1808.

Subject and content

Robert Guiskard , military leader and Duke of the Normans, successfully subdued Italy. He was able to secure the title of Empress of Greece for his daughter Helena. He is now planning the conquest of Byzantium and, since his daughter became a widow, has been striving for emperor himself. The plague rages in the vicinity of Byzantium and Guiskard's men are at the mercy of the plague. Guiskard himself is infected, but keeps his infection a secret so that he does not lose his heroic status. The expectations of him are limitless, he cannot meet them and has to answer questions from his people.

Reception history

Kleist tried several times to master the subject, but destroyed some versions in the course of the work and ultimately left the piece unfinished.

However, he published part of it in print during his lifetime ( Der Phöbus ).

In 1951, the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation produced an approx. 46-minute radio play based on this model, directed by Walter Ohm , who was also responsible for the radio processing. The attempt by the East Frisian poet Siegfried Bokelmann in 1959 to complete the drama was rated as a "curiosity" in 2011 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Text fragment of the drama in Gutenberg
  2. ↑ Information sheet on the exhibition about Heinrich von Kleist, on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of his death on November 21, 2011, in the university library of the Free University of Berlin

Web links