Lessing was born inKamenz, a small town inSaxony, to pastor and theologianJohann Gottfried Lessing [de] (1693–1770) and his wife Justine Salome Feller (1703–1777), daughter of pastor ofKamenz, Gottfried Feller (1674–1733). His father was a Lutheran minister and wrote on theology. Young Lessing studied at the Latin School in Kamenz from 1737 to 1741. With a father who wanted his son to follow in his footsteps, Lessing next attended theFürstenschule St. Afra inMeissen. After completing his education at St. Afra's, he enrolled atLeipzig University where he pursued a degree in theology, medicine, philosophy, and philology (1746–1748).[5][3]
It was here that his relationship withKaroline Neuber, a famous German actress, began. He translated several French plays for her, and his interest in theatre grew. During this time, he wrote his first play,The Young Scholar. Neuber eventually produced the play in 1748.[3]
From 1748 to 1760, Lessing lived in Leipzig and Berlin. He began to work as a reviewer and editor for theVossische Zeitung and other periodicals. Lessing formed a close connection with his cousin, Christlob Mylius, and decided to follow him to Berlin. In 1750, Lessing and Mylius teamed together to begin a periodical publication namedBeiträge zur Historie und Aufnahme des Theaters. The publication ran only four issues, but it caught the public's eye and revealed Lessing to be a serious critic and theorist of drama.[3]
In 1765, Lessing returned to Berlin, leaving in 1767 to work for three years at theHamburg National Theatre. Actor-manager Konrad Ackermann began construction of Germany's first permanent national theatre in Hamburg, established byJohann Friedrich Löwen [de]. The owners of the newHamburg National Theatre hired Lessing as the theatre's critic of plays and acting, an activity later known asdramaturgy (based on his own words), making Lessing the very firstdramaturge. The theatre's main backer wasAbel Seyler, a former currency speculator who since became known as "the leading patron of German theatre."[6] There he metEva König, his future wife. His work in Hamburg formed the basis of his pioneering work on drama, titledHamburgische Dramaturgie. Unfortunately, because of financial losses due to pirated editions of theHamburgische Dramaturgie, the Hamburg Theatre closed just three years later.[7]
In 1770, Lessing became librarian at the ducal library, now theHerzog August Library (Herzog-August-Bibliothek,Bibliotheca Augusta), inWolfenbüttel under the commission of the Duke of Brunswick. His tenure there was energetic, if interrupted by many journeys. In 1775, for example, he accompanied Prince Leopold to Italy. Follower ofSpinoza's philosophy,[8] on 14 October 1771, Lessing was initiated into Freemasonry in the lodge "Zu den drei Goldenen Rosen" in Hamburg.[9]
In 1773, he discoveredArchimedes'cattle problem in a Greek manuscript containing a poem of 44 lines, in the Herzog August Library in Wolfenbüttel. This problem would remain unsolved until 1880. In 1776, he marriedEva König, who was then a widow, in Jork (near Hamburg). She died in 1778 after giving birth to a short-lived son.[3] On 15 February 1781, Lessing, aged 52, died during a visit to the wine dealer Angott inBrunswick.
Lessing was also famous for his friendship with Jewish-German philosopherMoses Mendelssohn. A 2003 biography of Mendelssohn's grandson,Felix, describes their friendship as one of the most "illuminatingmetaphors [for] the clarion call of the Enlightenment forreligious tolerance".[10] It was this relationship that sparked his interest in popular religious debates of the time. He began publishing heated pamphlets on his beliefs which were eventually banned. It was this banishment that inspired him to return to theatre to portray his views and to writeNathan the Wise.
Early in his life, Lessing showed interest in the theatre. In his theoretical and critical writings on the subject—as in his own plays—he tried to contribute to the development of a new type of theatre in Germany. With this he especially turned against the then predominantliterary theory ofGottsched[11] and his followers. Lessing'sHamburgische Dramaturgie ran critiques of plays that were performed in the Hamburg Theatre, but after dealing with dissatisfied actors and actresses, Lessing redirected his writings to more of an analysis on the proper uses of drama. Lessing advocated the outline of drama in Aristotle'sPoetics. He believed theFrench Academy had devalued the uses of drama through theirneoclassical rules of form and separation of genres. His repeated opinions on this issue influenced theatre practitioners who began the movement of rejecting theatre rules known asSturm und Drang ("Storm and Stress").[12][13] He also supported serious reception ofShakespeare's works.[3] He worked with many theatre groups (e.g. that of theNeuberin).
In Hamburg he tried with others to set up theGerman National Theatre. Today his own works appear as prototypes of the later developed bourgeois German drama. Scholars seeMiss Sara Sampson andEmilia Galotti as amongst the firstbourgeois tragedies,Minna von Barnhelm (Minna of Barnhelm) as the model for many classic German comedies,Nathan the Wise (Nathan der Weise) as the first German drama of ideas ("Ideendrama"). His theoretical writingsLaocoön andHamburg Dramaturgy (Hamburgische Dramaturgie) set the standards for the discussion of aesthetic and literary theoretical principles. Lessing advocated that dramaturgs should carry their work out working directly with theatre companies rather than in isolation.[14]
In his religious and philosophical writings he defended the faithful Christian's right for freedom of thought. He argued against the belief inrevelation and the holding on to a literal interpretation of the Bible by the predominant orthodox doctrine through a problem later to be calledLessing's Ditch. Lessing outlined the concept of the religious "Proof of Power": How canmiracles continue to be used as a base for Christianity when we have no proof of miracles? Historical truths which are in doubt cannot be used to prove metaphysical truths (such as God's existence). As Lessing says it: "That, then, is the ugly great ditch which I cannot cross, however often and however earnestly I have tried to make that leap."[15]
In the final leg of his life, Lessing threw himself into an intense evaluation of theology and religion. He did much of his studying by reading manuscripts he found while working as a librarian. While working for the Duke, he formed a close friendship with a family by the name of Reimarus. The family held an unpublished manuscript byHermann Samuel Reimarus which attacked the historicity of Christian revelation. Despite discouragement from his brotherKarl Gotthelf Lessing, he began publishing pieces of the manuscript in pamphlets known asFragments from an Unnamed Author. The controversial pamphlets resulted in a heated debate between him and another theologian,Johann Melchior Goeze. In concern for tarnishing his reputation, Goeze requested the government put an end to the feud, and Lessing was silenced through a law that took away his freedom from censorship.[16]
In response, Lessing relied upon his skills as a playwright to write what is undoubtedly his most influential play,Nathan the Wise. In the play, Lessing set up tension betweenJudaism,Islam, andChristianity by having one character ask Nathan which religion was the most genuine. Nathan avoids the question by telling the parable of the three rings, which implies the idea that no specific religion is the "correct religion." The Enlightenment ideas to which Lessing held tight were portrayed through his "ideal of humanity," stating that religion is relative to the individual's ability to reason.Nathan the Wise is considered to be the first example of the German "literature of humanity". As a child of the Enlightenment he trusted in a "Christianity of Reason", which oriented itself by the spirit of religion. He believed that human reason (initiated by criticism and dissent) would develop, even without help by a divine revelation. In his writingThe Education of Humankind (Die Erziehung des Menschengeschlechts), often translated asThe Education of the Human Race, he extensively and coherently lays out his position.[3][17]
The idea of freedom (for the theatre against the dominance of its French model; for religion from the church's dogma) is his central theme throughout his life. Therefore, he also stood up for the liberation of the upcoming middle and upper class from the nobility making up their minds for them.[3][17] In his own literary existence he also constantly strove for independence. But his ideal of a possible life as a free author was hard to keep up against the economic constraints he faced. His project of authors self-publishing their works, which he tried to accomplish in Hamburg withC. J. Bode, failed in 1769.[17]
Lessing is important as aliterary critic for his workLaocoon: An Essay on the Limits of Painting and Poetry. In this work, he argues against the tendency to takeHorace'sut pictura poesis (as painting, so poetry) as prescriptive for literature. In other words, he objected to trying to write poetry using the same devices as one would in painting. Instead, poetry and painting each has its character (the former is extended in time; the latter is extended in space). This is related to Lessing's turn from Frenchclassicism to Aristotelianmimesis, discussed above.[3]
TheRadical PietistJohann Daniel Müller [de] (born 1716 in Wissenbach/Nassau, today part ofEschenburg, deceased after 1785) published the following anonymous book against Lessing and Reimarus:
Johann Daniel Müller:Der Sieg der Wahrheit des Worts Gottes über dieLügen desWolfenbüttelschenBibliothecarii, [Gotthold]Ephraim Lessing, und seines Fragmenten-Schreibers [i. e. Hermann Samuel Reimarus]in ihren Lästerungen gegen Jesum Christum, seine Jünger, Apostel, und die ganze Bibel. 1780.
Cf. Reinhard Breymayer: Ein unbekannter Gegner Gotthold Ephraim Lessings. Der ehemalige Frankfurter Konzertdirektor Johann Daniel Müller ausWissenbach/Nassau (1716 bis nach 1785),Alchemist im Umkreis [Johann Wolfgang] Goethes,Kabbalist,separatistischerChiliast, Freund der Illuminaten von Avignon ("Elias / Elias Artista") Dietrich Meyer (Ed.):Pietismus –Herrnhutertum –Erweckungsbewegung.Festschrift für Erich Beyreuther. Köln [Pulheim-Brauweiler] and Bonn 1982 (Schriftenreihe des Vereins für Rheinische Kirchengeschichte, volume 70), pp. 109–145, and p. 108 Silhouette of [Johann] Daniel Müller.
Fables and epigrams. London, Printed for J.& H.L. Hunt, 1825.
Laocoon: or, The limits of Poetry and Painting, translated by William Ross. London, Ridgeway, 1836.
Nathan the Wise: a dramatic poem in five acts, translated by Adolph Reich. London, A. W. Bennett, 1860.
Nathan, the Wise. A dramatic poem of five acts, translated by Dr. Isidor Kalisch. New York, Waldheimer & Zenn, 1869.
The Education of the Human Race, translated by Fred W. Robertson, M.A.. London, C.K. Paul & Co., 1881.
Plays of Lessing: Nathan the Wise and Minna von Barnhelm, translated by Ernest Bell. London, G. Bell, 1888.
Selected prose works of G. E. Lessing, translated by E. C. Beasley, B. A., and Helen Zimmern. London, G. Bell and sons, 1890.
Lessing’s Emilia Galotti, with footnotes and vocabulary; New York, Hinds & Noble, 1899.
Lessing’s Nathan der Weise, with footnotes and vocabulary. New York, Hinds & Noble, 1899.
Laocoon. An essay upon the limits of painting and poetry: With remarks illustrative of various points in the history of ancient art, translated byEllen Frothingham. Boston, Little, Brown, 1904.
Laocoon, translated by Sir Robert Phillimore, London, G. Routledge & sons, 1905.
Minna von Barnhelm, edited with an introduction, German questions, notes and vocabulary, by Philip Schuyler Allen. New York, Charles E. Merrill Co., 1907.
Minna von Barnhelm; or, Soldier’s fortune translated byOtto Heller. New York, H. Holt and company, 1917.
Nathan the Wise; a dramatic poem in five acts, translated and edited by Leo Markun. Girard, Kan., Haldeman-Julius Co., 1926.
Laocoon, Nathan the Wise, Minna von Barnhelm, translated by William A. Steel. London, J. M. Dent & sons, ltd.; New York, E. P. Dutton & co., inc., 1930.
Nathan the Wise, translated by Berthold August Eisenlohr. Ann Arbor, Mich., Lithoprinted by Edwards Brothers, inc., 1942.
Lessing's Theological Writings. Selections in Translation, edited by Henry Chadwick. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1957.
Emilia Galotti: a tragedy in five acts, translated by Anna Johanna Gode von Aesch. Great Neck, N.Y., Barron's Educational Series, inc., 1959.
Emilia Galotti, a tragedy in five acts, translated by Edward Dvoretzky. New York, Ungar, 1962, reprinted German Book Center, 2003.
Hamburg dramaturgy, translated by Victor Lange. New York, Dover Publications, 1962. Reprint of Helen Zimmern's 1890 translation.
Laocoon: an essay on the limits of painting and poetry, translated by Edward Allen McCormick. Indianapolis, Bobbs-Merrill, 1962.
Minna von Barnhelm: a comedy in five acts, translated by Kenneth J. Northcott. Chicago, University of Chicago Press [1972]
Nathan the Wise, Minna von Barnhelm, and Other Plays and Writings, edited by Peter Demetz with a foreword by Hannah Arendt. New York: Continuum, 1991.
Nathan the Wise, with Related Documents, translated, edited, and with an introduction by Ronald Schechter. Boston/New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2004.
Philosophical and Theological Writings, edited by H. B. Nisbet. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
^Luckhurst, Mary (2006).Dramaturgy: A Revolution in Theatre. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 24.Gotthold Ephraim Lessing was the world's first officially appointed dramaturg.
^Cf.Andreas Dorschel: Polemik und Schadenfreude. In:Zeitschrift für Ideengeschichte XIII/3 (Autumn 2019), pp. 117–122, esp. p. 119.
^Wilson, Edwin, and Alvin Goldfarb.Living Theatre: History of Theatre. 6th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2012. Print.
^Karen Otterweell,Lessing and the Sturm und Drang: A Reappraisal Revisited, Peter Lang Pub, Inc., 2002. Print.
^Eckersley, M. 1997. Soundings in the Dramaturgy of the Australian Theatre Director. University of Melbourne. Melbourne. p 9.
^Gotthold Ephraim Lessing. "On the proof of the spirit and of power."Lessing: Philosophical and theological writings, p. 87. H. B. Nisbet (translator and editor). Cambridge University Press, 2005
^Vallee, Gerard.Soundings in G.E. Lessing's Philosophy of Religion. Lanham: University of America, 2000. Print.
Tononi, Fabio. “Gotthold Ephraim Lessing onLaocoön: Empathy, Motor Imagery, and Predictive Processing”, inHistory, Practice and Pedagogy: Empathic Engagements in the Visual Arts, ed. by Susan Barahal and Elizabeth Pugliano. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2024, pp. 11–30.
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