CHAPTER XIX
The Bride of Messina
Genesis of the play—General characterization—Disagreement of the critics—Relation to Sophocles—Substance of the plot—Ancients and moderns—Fate and responsibility—Schiller's invention—Unnaturalness of the action—Strange conduct of Don Manuel, Beatrice and the mother—Lavish use of silence—Schiller's contempt of realism—Don Cesar's expiatory death the real tragedy—Use of the fate idea—Apologia for the chorus—Poetic splendor.