Calderon in German Literature

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

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In the development of a national German-speaking theater, two foreign playwrights had a predominant role as sources of inspiration and emulation: William Shakespeare and Pedro Calderón de la Barca (1600-81). Their reception began in the seventeenth century and was promoted by itinerant troupes, with Shakespeare’s plays experiencing their heyday during the subsequent Storm-and-Stress movement, whereas Calderon’s pieces had to wait for the German romantics and for Goethe to gather an enthusiastic following. At times Shakespeare was more rapturously endorsed, sometimes Calderón. There is no doubt, however, that the latter remained a potent and viable model for the German-speaking stage throughout the nineteenth and into the early …

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Citation: Hoffmeister, Gerhart. "Calderon in German Literature". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 03 March 2010 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=7215, accessed 28 March 2024.]

7215 Calderon in German Literature 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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