Ironhand (adapted from "Goetz von Berlichingen") Book

Goetz von Berlichingen was Goethe's first play, written when he was twenty-four. The hero, 'Goetz of the iron hand,' is a robber knight of the late middle ages - a choice which reflects the revolt of Goethe's generation against the staleness and corruption of polite society in pre-revolutionary Europe. John Arden's free adaptation of this fast-moving prose play preserves the vigour and broad scope of the original: he has, however, balanced the somewhat one-sided, romantic presentation of Goetz by strengthening the character of Weislingen, the free knight turned statesman. Ironhand is a rich, vivid and ironic drama of early sixteenth-century Germany, when the old way of life was challenged as much by the revolt of the peasants - who sought to make Goetz their champion - as by the new order of the princes and the new middle class.Read More