Gotthold Ephraim Lessing - Biography

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (January 22, 1729- February 15, 1781) was a German philosopher, critic, playwright, and writer. He studied at the University of Leipzig and at Wittenberg. He would be granted a Master’s degree from the University of Wittenberg. The works and life of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing represents the highest ideals of the German Enlightenment. His literature is among the first German literature to influence the international literature of the eighteenth and nineteenth century.

In 1729, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing was born in Kamenz in Upper Lusatia, Saxony. Although his father was a Protestant minister, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing was raised in a tolerant and educated environment. Lessing was a voracious student at Furstenschule St. Afra at Meissen.

In 1746, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing enrolled in the University of Leipzig where he studied theology. While attending university, Lessing’s interest in theater and journalism burgeoned into a deeper study of philosophy and literature. In 1748, Lessing’s play Der Junge Gelehrte was performed. Karoline Neuber and her theater troupe performed. Neuber helped Gotthold Ephraim Lessing hone his theatrical skills. From 1751 until 1752, Lessing worked on his Master’s degree at Wittenberg.

In Berlin, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing wrote for Berliner Priviligierte Zeitung and Vossische Zeitung. Lessing supported himself through these journalistic endeavors until 1755. In 1750, Lessing would join forces with Mylius and found a journal which focused on the techniques of drama. This short lived journal Beitrage zur Historie und Aufnahme des Theaters would argue that German drama should model itself on English drama and not French drama.

Lessing’s time in Berlin also marked the time in which he would become acquainted with Voltaire. This relationship was originally a promising friendship, but tempers flared over the condition of a manuscript that Lessing borrowed form the French philosophe. Gotthold Ephraim Lessing would form a more enduring bond with Moses Mendelssohn. The two men (and C. F. Nicolai) would co-write the essay Pope, ein Metaphysiker.

Until 1755, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing had originally followed the trend of modeling his drama on the French tradition. However, Lessing would back up his critical frame by composing Miss Sarah Sampson. This domestic drama was closes modeled on English dramas. This plays is modeled on the British dramatist George Lillo. In this year, Lessing would travel as a hired companion. The original itinerary included Northern Germany, Holland and England.

However, by the time Lessing and his employer had reached Amsterdam their travel was stopped. The Seven Year’s War, which embroiled the great powers of Europe, prevented further travel. Gotthold Ephraim Lessing returned to Berlin after a short stop in Leipzig.

From 1759 until 1765, the literary journal Briefe, die Neueste Literatur Betreffend was conceived of and managed by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Nicolai and Mendelssohn. The high caliber of the literary criticism contained in this journal was made more impressive by its conceptual frame. The criticism was framed as letters to a wounded officer perhaps in a gesture to signify how deeply the militarization of Europe impacted the culture. In a particular significant piece (the seventeenth letter), Lessing attacks the dominating critical hold of Johann Christoph Gottsched. Gottsched’s vision of drama was diametrically opposed to Lessing’s since Gottsched advocated for the adoption of French instead of English dramatic conventions.

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing acted as the secretary to the governor of Breslau between 1760 and 1765. During this period, Lessing also explored the Classical literature in a more systemic way. The study culminated in Lessing’s essay, Laokoon, oder Uber die Grenzen der Malerei und Poesie. Lessing used this essay to define the boundaries between plastic and literary arts. In addition, Laokoon, oder Uber die Grenzen der Malerei und Poesie cemented Lessing’s positions as one of the leading aesthetic thinkers in Europe.

Two years after this essay (in 1767) provided Lessing with a significant reputation as an aesthetic critic, Lessing composed Minna von Barnheim. Some consider this play the first German national play. Lessing used this play as a salvo against the militarization that had gripped Europe during the Seven Years’ War. This hostility was more damaging since it had led to a rift between Prussian and Saxony. In 1767, the German National Theatre in Hamburg employed Lessing as a literary advisor and critic. His writings for and about this organization would be compiled into Hamburgische Dramaturgie In 1769, the German National Theatre in Hamburg closed its doors for the final time. Gotthold Ephraim Lessing became a court librarian in Wolfenbuttel, Brunswick.

Lessing advocated against an absolute government in the play Emilia Galotti. In 1772, he adapted Emilia Galotti from the Roman Legend of Virginia. He used the play’s source as a way of legitimately placing the action of the play in Italy. Because of the works political overtones, Lessing feared political repercussions if he placed the work in Germany.

In the opening dialogue of Emilia Galotti, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing illustrates the tension between the arbitrary rule of the aristocracy and the enlightened thought of the Bourgeoisie. Prince Hettore Gonzaga Chamberlain’s Marinelli describes the mental debate of Odoardo Galotti, the father of the object of the prince’s desire:

From this window your Highness may observe him. He is walking to and fro under the arcade. Now he turns this way. He comes; no, he turns again. He has not yet altogether made up his mind; but is much calmer, or at least appears so. To us this is unimportant. He will scarcely dare utter the suspicions which these women have expressed! Battista says that he desired his wife to send the carriage hither as soon as she should reach the town, for he came hither on horseback. Mark my words. When he appears before your Highness, he will humbly return thanks for the gracious protection which you were pleased to afford to his family, will recommend himself and his daughter to your further favour, quietly take her to town, and with perfect submission await the further interest which your Highness may think proper to take in the welfare of his child.

From 1776 until 1778, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing was married to Eva Konig. His wife would die in childbirth. The loss of his wife and his oppressive debts weighed heavily on Lessing’s physical and mental health. Lessing would suffer further frustration on the publication of H. S. Reimarus’s Fragmente eines Ungenannten in 1772. Lessing disagreed with the anti-Christian stance that Reimarus had taken in the essay. However, Lessing also defended the freedom of critical thought and inquiry in his essays “Eine Duplik”, “Eine Parabel, Axiomata”, “Anti-Goeze”, and “Ernst und Falk: Gesprache fur Freimaurer.” Hamburg’s chief pastor Johann Melchior Goeze was Lessing’s chief antagonist in this issue. Goeze argued that Lessing was advocating unorthodox views.

As a result of this controversy, Lessing would lose his own right of free publication. Lessing would compose Nathan der Weise, a plea for intellectual tolerance. Lessing would continue to argue for tolerance in his last work Die Erziehung des Menschengeschlechts .

The writings of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing include the plays: Nathan der Weise, Der Freigeist, Die Juden, Der Misogyn, Der Junge Gelehrte , Philotas, Miss Sarah Sampson,, Emilia Galotti Minna von Barnheim; the collection of verse: Kleinigkeiten; and the essays and essay collections: Schriften , Abhandlung uber die Fabel , Laokoon, oder Uber die Grenzen der Malerei und Poesie.