Conspiracy and Love

Author: Schiller
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-01
Features: The story of The Conspiracy and Love takes place in 18th-century Germany. At that time, Germany was politically fragmented and economically backward, divided into many feudal small states. The rulers of each state, the dukes, implemented brutal autocratic rule. In one of these duchies, the son of the Chancellor, Walter, fell in love with the daughter of a common musician, Miller, named Luise. However, the love of these young people was opposed by Miller, who was a commoner, and thwarted by the Chancellor, who was a nobleman. Miller opposed his daughter falling in love with a nobleman's son because he believed it was improper due to social status, and that a nobleman could not truly love a commoner girl. The Chancellor opposed his son falling in love with a commoner's daughter, not only due to class prejudice but mainly because he wanted his son to marry the duchess's mistress immediately to win the duchess's favor, sacrificing his son's love to secure his own political position and advancement. To break up the lovers, after failing with threats and inducements, the Chancellor hatched a sinister plot with his secretary, Ulm: the Chancellor ordered Miller and his wife to be thrown into prison, and then Ulm used Luise's desperate desire to save her parents to persuade her to give up her love for Ferdinand. Under Ulm's pressure, Luise, to save her parents from prison, reluctantly wrote a fake love letter to the court steward, Kalkop, under Ulm's dictation and swore not to reveal the truth. Ulm obtained this fake love letter written in Luise's own handwriting and pretended to lose it during a gathering, allowing Ferdinand to "accidentally" find it. Ferdinand, upon reading the fake love letter, fell into the trap. He believed that Luise's previous affection for him was all false, that his true love had been deceived, and that Luise had sworn not to reveal the truth. In despair, Ferdinand poisoned the juice. Luise drank the poisoned juice and finally revealed to Ferdinand before her death that the love letter was fake and that she had written it under the Chancellor's pressure to save her parents. Upon learning the truth, Ferdinand was filled with regret and died of poisoning by the side of his beloved. A pair of young lovers died for their pure love, becoming victims of the conspiracy.