Intrigue and Love

"A dreadful fatality has deranged the language of our hearts."

Love, doubt, intrigue and death – these are the ingredients of the tragedy Friedrich Schiller wrote when he was just 23 years old. It’s the tale of two young lovers, torn apart by the ignorance of their fathers. However Schiller’s play can also be interpreted as an indictment of a cynical social order. Luise Miller, an ordinary girl from a middle-class family, loves Ferdinand von Walter, the President’s son. And he loves her. However their romance becomes a pawn in a game others are playing; everyone and everything seems to have conspired against them.  Plots are hatched, marriages arranged, letters written under duress. Convinced that their love can overcome the odds, Luise and Ferdinand are driven to conflict, to lying, to fighting back – and eventually to extremes. In “Intrigue and Love,” Schiller settles scores with his father’s generation and with Absolutism. While class differences no longer play such a significant role today, the issue of discrimination against and marginalization of whole sections of society is more relevant than ever. When constellations of power become increasingly unrecognizable and cultural codes aren’t clear, individuals find themselves asking: Who am I? Where do I stand? What am I worth?