Don Carlos, Infante of Spain by Friedrich Schiller
"Don Carlos, Infante of Spain" is a dramatic work by Friedrich Schiller that explores the turbulent relationship between Don Carlos, the son of King Philip II of Spain, and his father. The play is set against the backdrop of 16th-century Spain, a period marked by political intrigue and personal conflict. Don Carlos is portrayed as a passionate young man who struggles with feelings of betrayal and unrequited love for his stepmother, Queen Elizabeth de Valois, who was once his intended bride. The tension between father and son escalates as Philip, suspicious of Carlos's ambitions and influenced by his own past, refuses to entrust him with any royal duties.
As the story unfolds, Don Carlos seeks to champion the oppressed people of Flanders, contending with the tyrannical policies imposed by his father. He finds an ally in the Marquis de Posa, who aims to guide him. However, their friendship is tested as conspiracies arise, leading to tragic consequences. Throughout the narrative, themes of love, loyalty, betrayal, and the struggle for power are intricately woven, culminating in a dramatic confrontation that challenges the foundations of authority and familial bonds. The play ultimately offers a poignant exploration of the personal costs of political machinations and the quest for justice.
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Don Carlos, Infante of Spain by Friedrich Schiller
First produced:Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien, 1787; first published, 1787 (English translation, 1798)
Type of work: Drama
Type of plot: Historical
Time of plot: Sixteenth century
Locale: Spain
Principal characters
Don Carlos , the heir to the Spanish thronePhilip II , the king of Spain and Don Carlos’s fatherElizabeth de Valois , the queen of Spain and Don Carlos’s stepmotherMarquis de Posa , Don Carlos’s friendDomingo , the king’s confessorDuke of Alva , Philip II’s trusted general and ministerPrincess de Eboli , an attendant to the queen
The Story:
King Philip II of Spain does not wish to trust his son, Don Carlos, with any of the crown’s affairs, ostensibly because, even though Don Carlos is twenty-three years old, he is too hot-blooded. Probably the real reason is that Philip, who forced his father, Charles V, from the throne, now fears his own son. The differences and coldness between the king and his son are aggravated by the fact that Philip is married to Elizabeth de Valois, with whom Don Carlos was in love. Indeed, the courtship between the two was sanctioned by France and Spain, until Philip decided to take Elizabeth for himself.
Don Carlos hides his continuing love for Elizabeth, now his stepmother, until his friend, the Marquis de Posa, returns from Flanders, at which time Don Carlos confides in him. The marquis is horrified but swears upon their boyhood friendship to help the prince, if the prince in turn will try to help the people of Flanders escape from the heavy and tyrannic policies forced upon them by Philip through his emissary, the duke of Alva.
Don Carlos goes to his father and pleads that he be made the king’s agent in Flanders, declaring that he will act humanely toward the people. Philip refuses to listen and sends the duke over Don Carlos’s protests. He does, however, request that the duke be better disposed toward his son. When the duke goes to speak to the prince, he finds Don Carlos in the queen’s antechamber. They have words and fight, until the queen intervenes.
From one of the queen’s pages Don Carlos receives a mysterious note and a key to a room in the queen’s apartments. Hoping against hope that the queen sent it to him, he goes to the room, an act for which his jealous father would have punished him severely. Instead of the queen, he finds the Princess de Eboli, who sent him the note because she fell in love with him. She asks his help in evading the importunities of the king, who seeks her for his mistress, but Don Carlos repels her advances and thus incurs her anger. When he leaves, he takes with him a letter that the king sent her. Hoping to use the letter as proof that the king is a tyrant and an evil man, he shows it to the Marquis de Posa. The marquis tears up the letter, however, saying that it is too dangerous a weapon and might hurt Don Carlos and the queen more than the king.
In the meantime, the Princess de Eboli, infuriated at Don Carlos’s refusal of her love, goes to Domingo, the king’s confessor and pander, and tells him of her decision to become Philip’s mistress. She also tells about meeting the prince and that he obviously hoped to meet the queen. That information pleases Domingo and the duke of Alva, who want to rid the kingdom of both Don Carlos and the queen.
With the help of the princess, the duke and the confessor lay a trap for Don Carlos and the queen. Becoming suspicious of the conspirators’ motives, Philip calls in a man he thinks will be completely honest in solving the problem. Ironically, that man is Don Carlos’s friend, the Marquis de Posa. He quickly gains the king’s confidence, even though some of his religious ideas are heretical, and he does his best to help Don Carlos. Because the marquis works in secret, Don Carlos considers him disloyal. Other courtiers report to Don Carlos that a file of letters he gave to the marquis were seen in the king’s chamber. What Don Carlos hears is true, for the marquis finds it necessary to tell the truth about the letters to clear Don Carlos of the charge of illicit relations with the queen.
Don Carlos, not knowing the truth concerning the marquis’s activities, goes to Princess de Eboli to seek her help. The Marquis de Posa, learning of Don Carlos’s visit to the princess, enters immediately after the prince. Using the authority given him by the king to arrest Don Carlos, the marquis puts him incommunicado in prison, lest he talk to others who can do him harm. The easiest way to keep Don Carlos safe would be to murder Princess de Eboli, but the marquis does not have the heart to kill her, even when his dagger is at her breast.
Instead of assuming the guilt of murder, the marquis resolves to make himself the victim. The king is convinced that Don Carlos and the queen are involved in a treasonable plot against the crown in Flanders. To clear them, the marquis sends a letter he knows will be put into the king’s hands. In it he states that he, the marquis, is the real conspirator. Afterward the marquis has only enough time to go to the prison and reveal his true actions to Don Carlos before a shot is fired through the gratings by an assassin sent by Philip.
Popular wrath and the indignation of the grandees force Philip to release his son, but Don Carlos refuses to leave the prison until his father comes in person to give him back his sword and his freedom. When Philip arrives, in the company of the grandees of the council, Don Carlos confronts him with the marquis’s corpse and tells him that he caused the murder of an innocent man. Philip, seeing the truth of the accusation and filled with remorse, becomes ill in the prison and is carried away by the grandees.
A friend reports to Don Carlos that the king and the duke of Alva are enraged by public reaction in favor of the imprisoned prince. Hoping to lift the yoke of tyranny that his father and the duke of Alva imposed on that country and its people, Don Carlos decides to leave Spain immediately and go to Flanders. Before he leaves, he plans to see the queen once more and tell her of his plans. Donning a mask and the garb of a monk, he goes through a secret passage to the queen’s wing of the castle. Once there he walks openly through the corridors to her rooms, able to do so because of a superstition that Charles V, garbed in like manner, haunts the castle. The superstitious soldiers let him pass.
The king, meanwhile, sends for the Cardinal Inquisitor. Asked for his advice, the churchman rebukes Philip for his waywardness in letting the heretic marquis escape proper punishment for so long and then having him killed for political reasons. They discuss also the heresy of the young prince, and Philip resolves to turn his son over to the Inquisition for punishment. Philip leads the cardinal to the queen’s apartments, for, having heard reports of the ghost, he guesses who is beneath the disguise. Don Carlos is found with the queen and handed over to the authorities of the Inquisition.
Bibliography
Hammer, Stephanie Barbé. Schiller’s Wound: The Theater of Trauma from Crisis to Commodity. Detroit, Mich.: Wayne State University Press, 2001. Argues that Schiller was one of the first playwrights to explore the topic of psychological trauma. Analyzes how his plays depict the relationship between pain, spectacle, and money. Don Carlos is discussed in chapter 2.
Harrison, R. B. “Gott ist über mir: Ruler and Reformer in the Twofold Symmetry of Schiller’s Don Carlos.” Modern Language Review 76, no. 3 (July, 1981): 598-611. Discusses structure, symmetry, and characterization in Don Carlos. Presents an analysis of Schiller’s understanding and use of structure and form.
Kerry, Paul E., ed. Friedrich Schiller: Playwright, Poet, Philosopher, Historian. New York: Peter Lang, 2007. Collection of essays that examine Schiller’s various vocations, such as a poet, dramatist, historian, prose writer, and philosopher; assesses the status of his work two hundred years after his death.
Martinson, Steven D., ed. A Companion to the Works of Friedrich Schiller. Rochester, N.Y.: Camden House, 2005. Collection of essays commemorating the two hundredth anniversary of Schiller’s death. Includes discussions of his philosophical aesthetics, lyric poetry, reception in the twentieth century, and relevance to the twenty-first century, as well as analyses of specific works. “Great Emotions, Great Criminals? Schiller’s Don Carlos” by Rolf-Peter Janz examines this play.
Miller, Ronald Duncan. Interpreting Schiller: A Study of Four Plays. Harrogate, England: Duchy Press, 1986. Provides a rigorous criticism and analysis of Don Carlos, as well as of Wilhelm Tell (1804), Jungfrau von Orleans (1801), and Wallensteins Tod (1799). Analyzes the plays individually but also compares and contrasts them with one another. Gives some consideration to Schiller’s life and times.
Sharpe, Lesley. A National Repertoire: Schiller, Iffland, and the German Stage. New York: Peter Lang, 2007. Examines Schiller’s influence on the German theater of his time by analyzing his plays’ impact on the Mannheim National and Weimar Court theaters, with which he was closely associated. Places his theatrical career in parallel with that of August Wilhelm Iffland, an actor and playwright who eventually produced Schiller’s plays at the Berlin National Theatre. Describes the relationship between Schiller and Johann Wolfgang van Goethe as playwrights.
‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. Schiller and the Historical Character: Presentation and Interpretation in the Historiographical Works and in the Historical Dramas. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982. Approaches Schiller’s works both as histories and as dramas and focuses on defining his historical and philosophical thought. Considers the genre of historical drama and the appropriate approach to analyzing such presentations.
Vazsonyi, Nicholas. “Schiller’s Don Carlos: Historical Drama or Dramatized History?” New German Review: A Journal of Germanic Studies 7 (1991): 26-41. Discusses Don Carlos as both drama and historical drama within the context of Germanic literature.