FROM "WILHELM TELL"
1. What are the social and political conditions in Switzerland at the beginning of the play? How did they compare with those of other lands?
2. From what class in society do the characters come? Is their style of speech consistent with their social position? Is absolute adherence to realism desirable? Why, and also why not?
3. What is the date of this play and what great social upheavals had recently taken place?
4. Why is Tell's son introduced?
5. Is the character of Gessler too harshly drawn?
6. The scene on p. 363 occurs at the close of the play; meanwhile previous acts have shown the development of the spirit of freedom in the hearts of the people and the determination to do away with tyranny. Does this justify Tell's act?
7. "The Robbers" was one of the first products of Romanticism; is "Tell" also a good example of this age?
8. Compare the style in "Tell" with that of Shakespeare and Goethe, making allowance for loss in translation.