Die Zwillinge

Friedrich Maximilian Klinger's (1752-1831) tragedy "Die Zwillinge" (The Twins) is generally held to be one of the most important and dramatically successful stage plays of the Sturm und Drang period. Klinger's own high opinion of the play is reflected in the way he constantly reworked it throughout his life, with the result that there are a number of very different extant versions. This volume is first of all a parallel edition of the first version of 1776 and the reworking of 1792. Further it contains the manuscript variants from later revisions by Klinger and Karl Morgenstern, his authorized assistant, as well as those transcribed from the manuscript of the Hamburg performing version by Friedrich Ludwig Schroeder (1780). The variant apparatus gives access to all authorized versions and the Introduction provides detailed information on the genesis of the play and the history of its publication and reception.