Caroline Neuber

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at the life of eighteenth-century German dramatist and actor, Caroline Neuber. It describes the obstacles she and other women faced in German theater at the time, the dramatic reforms of the theater scene she championed and the inventive way in which she used dramaturgical conventions like the prologue to advance her agenda. The paper also discusses Neuber's commitment to re-shaping German comedy so that it would acquire the gravitas she felt it deserved. Finally, the paper examines Neuber's pivotal relationship with Johann Christoph Gottsched.

From the Paper:

"Still, for all the troubles which attended her life-long foray into the German theatre, Neuber should be remembered for her many accomplishments. Not least of all, she was one of the very few theater troupe owners who happened to be female; Neuber was also a committed perfectionist who dedicated herself to raising the standards of the German theater. Not to be overlooked, it was Caroline Neuber, arguably more so than anyone else in German theater at the time, who transformed the improvised, traditional Haupt- und Staatsaktion performances into a genuine national theater which promoted rehearsed and memorized performances of the 'courtly' Alexandrinerdrama variety so much in vogue in France at that time (Eigler & Kord, 75 and 229)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Eigler, Friederike and Susanne Kord. The Feminist Encyclopedia of German Literature. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1997. Questia.com. 15 Feb. 2007 <http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=35452501>
• Fritsche-Lichte, Erika. History of European Drama and Theatre. London: Routledge, 2001. Questia.com. 15 Feb. 2007 <http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=108426619>
• Grange, William. Comedy in the Weimar Republic: A Chronicle of Incongruous Laughter. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996. Questia.com. 15 Feb. 2007 <http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=27103185>
• Neuberin, Friederica Karolina. Ein deutsches Vorspiel. Deutsche Litteraturdenkmale des 18. und 19. Jahrhunderts, vol. 63. Ed. Arthur Richter. Leipzig: Goschen, 1897.
• Robertson, J.G. Lessing's Dramatic Theory: Being an Introduction to & Commentary on His Hamburgische Dramaturgie. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1939. Questia.com. 15 Feb. 2007 <http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=33771372>

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