Two Jewish Plays: The Jews / Nathan the Wise

(Paperback)

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Gotthold Lessing (1729-81), playwright, critic, humanist philosopher and polemicist was a leading figure of the German enlightenment era. From his immense literary output two plays stand out - The Jews and Nathan the Wise - for the passion of the writing and the timeless urgency of the message. Though differing greatly in form and content, both plays are eloquent pleas for human beings to desist from mutual persecution on racial or religious grounds. The relevance of Lessing's thinking in today's world is all too clear. They are published here in new English versions by the award-winning translator, Noel Clark.

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Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729 081) was an influential playwright and theare critic whose plays were among the first important works written for the German stage. He steered German drama away from the influence of French Classical tragedy towards the strengths of Shakespeare and the English dramatic tradition. His plays set a pattern to be followed by subsequent qriters of the Golden Age of German theatre such as Goethe and Schiller.