Emilia Galotti

Emilia wants it all – bridegroom and lover, marriage and adventure. Remaining true to her choices as a woman is unfortunately not at the top of her list. Cloaked as a bourgeois tragedy, Lessing, the 18th century enlightment dramatist, wrote a fast-paced crime plot. With considerable aplomb, his female characters attempt to escape the demands and expectations of their sex. His heroine Emilia Galotti starts out as a pure innocent, but when she discovers what she wants and longs for, there is no holding her back. Her antagonist Orsina, rejected by the prince because she talks too much and thinks too independently, is looking for an escape route, as is her mother Claudia, whose only chance of betterment lies in the fulfillment of her daughter’s prospects. What can you do with men in power who insist on laying down all the rules? Their leader is a prince who sees no problem in sorting out one lover for another. He is Man; his longing will not be contained. Emilia’s father, on the other hand, is intent on teaching his daughter how to be a good wife. The careerist Marinelli, the motor of the plot, is literally prepared to kill for his ambitions. Where in the world are those values in the name of which Lessing’s heroine is expected to commit suicide? Is a different ending even possible?