Author Archive

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781) was a pivotal German writer, philosopher, and dramatist of the Enlightenment, best known for his plays Nathan the Wise (1779) and Emilia Galotti (1772), which champion religious tolerance and bourgeois morality. His critical essays, such as Laocoön (1766), revolutionized aesthetics by delineating the boundaries between poetry and visual art, while his theological writings advanced a progressive, rational approach to faith. As a dramatist and critic, Lessing fundamentally shaped modern German literature by promoting Shakespeare and breaking from rigid French neoclassical conventions.

12 summaries in the archive

18th Century The Sleeping Potion (Der Schlaftrunk) – Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

In this farcical comedy, young Valer loves Leonore, but her father plans to marry her to a wealthy…

6 sec read

18th Century Miss Sara Sampson – Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

The first tragedy, Miss Sara Sampson, is a domestic tragedy centered on the seduction, reconciliation, and eventual poisoning…

43 min read

18th Century The Young Scholar (Der junge Gelehrte) – Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

The Young Scholar is a comedy written by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, first published in 1754 and produced on…

5 min read

18th Century The Jews (Die Juden) – Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

The study examines Jewish involvement with slavery in the American South from 1789 to 1865 using primary sources.

29 min read

18th Century Anti-Goeze – Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Anti-Goeze is a polemical theological work by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, written as a direct response to Johann Melchior…

16 min read

18th Century Hamburg Dramaturgy (Hamburgische Dramaturgie) – Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Lessing was engaged in connection with this enterprise as its resident critic — in effect what we would…

4 min read

18th Century Nathan the Wise (Nathan der Weise) – Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Nathan the Wise is a dramatic poem in five acts by the German author Gotthold Ephraim Lessing.

44 min read

18th Century The Freethinker (Der Freigeist) – Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

The Freethinker is a British freethought and secularist periodical, published weekly from its offices at 103 Borough High…

44 min read

18th Century Emilia Galotti – Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Emilia Galotti is a tragedy in five acts by the German dramatist Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, included in an…

44 min read

Aesthetics Laocoön (Laokoon, oder Über die Grenzen der Malerei und Poesie) – Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Lessing uses this famous artistic subject as his point of departure for a broader philosophical and critical inquiry…

51 min read

18th Century Fables (Fabeln) – Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

This volume presents a collection of fables by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, written in French and organized into three…

23 min read

18th Century Minna von Barnhelm – Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Minna von Barnhelm is a comedy in five acts by the German dramatist and critic Gotthold Ephraim Lessing.

44 min read