### Open Book Classics

# **Don Carlos Infante of Spain**

A Dramatic Poem

Friedrich Schiller Translated by Flora Kimmich

### DON CARLOS

## Don Carlos Infante of Spain

A Dramatic Poem

*By Friedrich Schiller*

*Translation and Notes to the Text by Flora Kimmich Introduction by John Guthrie*

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Translation and Notes to the Text © 2018 Flora Kimmich. Introduction © 2018 John Guthrie.

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Friedrich Schiller. *Don Carlos Infante of Spain. A Dramatic Poem.* Translation and Notes to the Text by Flora Kimmich. Introduction by John Guthrie. Cambridge, UK: Open Book Publishers, 2018. https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0134

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Open Book Classics Series, vol. 9 | ISSN: 2054-216X (Print); 2054-2178 (Online)

ISBN Paperback: 978-1-78374-446-6 ISBN Hardback: 978-1-78374-447-3 ISBN Digital (PDF): 978-1-78374-448-0 ISBN Digital ebook (epub): 978-1-78374-449-7 ISBN Digital ebook (mobi): 978-1-78374-450-3 DOI: 10.11647/OBP.0134

Cover image: Scene from *Don Carlos*: Carlos kneels before the queen, from Bernhard Neher, *Illustrationen zu verschiedenen Werken Schillers*. Photo R.W. Nehrdich © Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte, Farbdiaarchiv. Cover design: Anna Gatti

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### Contents


This translation of Schiller's *Don Carlos* joins *Fiesco*<sup>1</sup> and *Wallenstein*<sup>2</sup> in a continuing series of translations, with commentary, of Schiller's major plays which Open Book Publishers makes freely available to a wide readership.

Like those translations, this one addresses itself to young people in college-level instruction and to the general reader. The endnotes therefore undertake to ease a student's way through an old text. At a basic level, they identify people and places and provide modest amounts of other historical information. Less basically, they draw attention to the motifs and other forms of internal reference the poet has embedded in the text, and they excavate what remains unsaid—but is present—in the best of Schiller's representations of speech and thought. Importantly, they point to the structures in the architecture of the play.

Schiller never finished *Don Carlos* to his satisfaction, and passages of great prolixity survive. Here I have refrained from expanding—or inflating—the English text with what to my ear are otiose repetitions and tautological modifiers present in the German original. I aim for a gain in felicity at no expense of meaning.

Translation enables deep acquaintance with a literary work and that acquaintance has raised my estimation of *Don Carlos*. This great

<sup>1</sup> Friedrich Schiller, *Fiesco's Conspiracy at Genoa*. Translation by Flora Kimmich. Introduction and Notes to the Text by John Guthrie (Cambridge: Open Book Publishers, 2015), https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0058

<sup>2</sup> Friedrich Schiller, *Wallenstein: A Dramatic Poem.* Translation and Notes to the Text by Flora Kimmich. Introduction by Roger Paulin (Cambridge: Open Book Publishers, 2017), https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0101

patchwork of a young man's play may not be Schiller's greatest—that distinction surely belongs to *Wallenstein*—but it is, with reason, his best loved.

I gratefully acknowledge my debt to Gerhard Kluge, editor of the edition Deutsche Klassiker, Frankfurt am Main, 1989, the text on which my translation is based, whose commentary and other materials proved a rich resource for the end notes. Roger Paulin read the text with a fine ear and wide knowledge, and his comments greatly strengthened the translation.

#### Additional Resources

Readers can freely access the original German text of Schiller's *Don Carlos*, *Don Karlos: Infant von Spanien* (Leipzig: Georg Joachim Göschen, 1804) at The Internet Archive Library, https://archive.org/details/ donkarlosinfant00schigoog

### Introduction

### *John Guthrie*

*Don Carlos* is the fourth play written by Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805). It was begun in March 1783 while he was still working on the domestic drama *Louise Millerin* (later called *Kabale und Liebe*, *Intrigue and Love*) and the historical domestic drama, *Fiesco's Conspiracy at Genoa*. It was published in fragmentary form in the following year and in a first complete version in 1787. Schiller returned to the play several times after this protracted and interrupted four-year period of writing and published a final version in 1805, the year of his death. The writing and re-writing cost him much effort and reflects the struggle involved with changing his style and combining history and grand tragedy. *Don Carlos* is in all respects a transitional play. It combines many of the themes of his youthful period with the forward-looking idealism of his later plays, and it is the first in which he adopts a more formal, classical style using iambic metre, and aims to achieve greater unity of time and place. It is considerably longer than anything he had written before, its plot is involved and complex, full of twists and turns, but equally, full of striking dramatic characters and powerful theatrical moments. It is several plays rolled into one: a family portrait of a royal household in which tensions erupt, a historical play dealing with the struggle of the Spanish Netherlands as they were emerging from despotic Spanish rule and demanding human rights, and finally it is a play of ideas in which the fate of humanity and political idealism are to the fore.

#### *4 Introduction*

Schiller's main source for the plot was a late seventeenth-century French novella by the Abbé de Saint-Réal, which was based losely on historical facts. There he found all his main characters apart from Philip's confessor Domingo. Saint-Réal's work gave him the idea of an amorous attachment between Elisabeth of Valois and Carlos, which had existed before her betrothal to Philip. The Marquis of Posa is a minor figure in St. Réal and in Louis Sebastien Mercier's play *Portrait de Philippe II, Roi d'Espagne* (1785) that Schiller makes into the play's leading spokesman of Enlightenment humanism. Schiller also turned to Robert Watson's *History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain*, which gave a more detailed and accurate historical portrait of Philip. But Schiller's main interest was indeed not historical accuracy. He was keen to suggest parallels between the struggle for religious freedom in the sixteenth century and the surge towards liberty in his own age.

Schiller's starting point was the figure of the youthful Don Carlos with whose youthful ardour he identified. The father-son conflict and the love of the same woman is exacerbated by the conflict between different political attitudes. Philip II represents the Age of Despotism and is surrounded by intriguers, while the love-sick and melancholy Carlos, lacking friends at court, allies himself with the Marquis Posa, whose ideals are those of the liberal Enlightenment and closer to republicanism. But the focus of Schiller's interest changed in the course of writing and shifted more towards the figure of Marquis Posa. The political themes became more important to him, but the crisis which emerges was to show, ironically, how difficult it was to achieve those political aims in Schiller's lifetime. In the middle of the main writing period Schiller was deeply interested in political idealism. He writes the *Ode of Joy* in 1785, proclaiming the brotherhood of man and endorsing the notion of a higher force guiding humanity towards freedom. He studies Montesquieu and Adam Ferguson. When Posa first greets Carlos, it is in the spirit of the brotherhood of man, intoxicated with joy: 'A delegate of all humanity /Embraces you in me.' Posa is guided by the liberal cosmopolitan ideals of the Enlightenment. In one of the most famous set-pieces in German drama, the central audience scene with King Philip (Act III, scene 10), freely invented by Schiller, he demands freedom of thought and religious tolerance. The King pricks up his ears

and listens. King Philip is a lonely and proud despot who lacks a friend in whom he can confide. Philip is not inhuman and Schiller does not disparage the institution of monarchy as such, but he will be betrayed by the Posa who has gained his trust. Posa's plan is complex and dangerous: it is to have his friend Carlos imprisoned and then sacrifice himself so that Carlos can pursue his political aims. He has to pretend in letters that are discovered by his opponents that he is in love with the queen. He does not divulge this to Carlos and the plan predictably misfires. It is not that his political aims are intrinsically flawed or rely too much on abstract ideas, but rather because of the over-reliance on feeling, intuition and passion (*Schwärmerei*) which makes him an easy target for his opponents at court. His plans founder on the rock of circumstances and human weakness. The idea that Carlos will continue the struggle for freedom and contribute to the liberation of humanity is for the time being doomed to failure because the Spanish Inquisition will step in, suppress rebellion and restore the status quo. Thus the play ends in tragedy: Carlos's love for Elisabeth comes to nothing, Posa's political ideals are thwarted and he is killed, the King weeps for having been betrayed and the friendship which had seemed such a noble ideal and the seed of political freedom ends in death and despair.

The premiere of *Don Carlos* in Hamburg on 29 August 1787, with the leading actor Friedrich Ludwig Schröder playing Philip, was a great success. The play was performed in various versions during Schiller's lifetime, including a prose version which he devised for the stage in Riga. In the nineteenth century it became a staple of the repertoire and has held its place on the German stage into the twentieth-first century. In English-speaking countries *Don Carlos* has been seen on major stages and with leading actors. A 2005 version by Mike Poulton at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre transferred to London's West End. Poulton's adaptation was based on a literal prose translation. The present translation by Flora Kimmich is of the full text of the 1805 version. It preserves much of the original metre of Schiller's play at the same time as conveying its spontaneity and powerful theatrical qualities in modern English. It brings us closer to Schiller's original in English than ever before.

Friedrich Schiller. Steel engraving by Johann Leonhard Raab from a drawing by Friedrich Pecht. Friedrich Pecht, *Schiller-Galerie. Charaktere aus Schillers Werken, gezeichnet von Friedrich Pecht und Arthur von Ramberg. Fünfzig Blätter in Stahlstich mit erläuterndem Text von Friedrich Pecht* (F. A. Brockhaus, Leipzig, 1859), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Schiller-Galerie\_komplett\_Bild\_01.jpg

## DON CARLOS INFANTE OF SPAIN

Translation © 2018 Flora Kimmich, CC BY 4.0 https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0134.02

### Characters

PHILIP the SECOND, King of Spain ELISABETH of VALOIS, his wife DON CARLOS, the Crown Prince ALEXANDER FARNESE, Prince of Parma, nephew of the King INFANTA CLARA EUGENIA, a three-year-old child DUCHESS OLIVAREZ, chief lady-in-waiting MARQUISE MONDEKAR PRINCESS EBOLI COUNTESS FUENTES } ladies-in-waiting to the Queen MARQUIS POSA, a Knight of Malta DUKE ALBA COUNT LERMA, captain of the Bodyguard DUKE FERIA, Knight of the Golden Fleece DUKE MEDINA SIDONIA, admiral DON RAIMOND of TAXIS, postmaster general } grandees of Spain DOMINGO, the King's confessor the GRAND INQUISITOR of the KINGDOM the PRIOR of a Carthusian cloister a PAGE of the Queen DON LUIS MERCADO, the Queen's physician Ladies and Grandees, Pages, Officers, the Bodyguard, silent figures

Don Carlos. Steel engraving by Johann Leonhard Raab from a drawing by Friedrich Pecht. Friedrich Pecht, *Schiller-Galerie* (Leipzig, 1859), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Schiller-Galerie\_komplett\_Bild\_15.jpg

#### Act One

*The Royal Gardens at Aranjuez*<sup>1</sup>

#### Scene One

*Carlos. Domingo.*

DOMINGO. Our lovely days here at Aranjuez Are at an end. Your Royal Highness goes From here no happier. We have come here In vain. Do break this baffling silence, Prince; Open your heart to meet your father's heart. Never too dearly can the Monarch purchase Peace for his son, his one and only son.

*(Carlos gazes downward in silence.)*

Can there be yet a wish that Heaven would Deny the most beloved of its sons? 10 I stood as witness at Toledo when, As Crown Prince, Karl received the homage of His lieges, when the princes pressed to kiss His hand, and in *one* bending of the knee Six kingdoms laid themselves before his feet—2 I stood as witness, saw the proud young blood Color his cheeks, saw his breast rise with princely Decision taken, his enraptured eye sweep Over the gathered company, well up In joy. This gleaming eye, my Prince, confessed, 20 "I am content."

#### *(Carlos turns away.)*

 This still and solemn sorrow, Prince, that we read for eight months now in your Regard, this bafflement for all the Court,


A broken rumor reaches her. "The Prince?" She cries, and moves to throw herself from her High place. "The King himself!" one answers. She Sighs deeply, orders: "Send for doctors then."



#### Scene Two

#### *Carlos. Marquis Posa.*



Of Heaven, Roderick, don't send me away.

*(The Marquis, touched, bends over him in silence.)*

Imagine that I am an orphan child

That you picked up in pity at the Throne.

I still don't know what "father" means: I am






*(They go off to different sides.)*

*The Queen's Court at Aranjuez*

*A simple rural setting intersected by an avenue ending at the Queen's country residence*<sup>17</sup>

#### Scene Three

*The Queen. The Duchess Olivarez. The Princess Eboli and the Marquise Mondekar, who come up the avenue.*<sup>18</sup>





*(The Duchess goes off. The Queen signals the Page, who goes out.)*

#### Scene Four

*Queen. Princess Eboli. Marquise Mondekar and Marquis Posa.*




490 He comes! He sees! He loves! This new emotion

Drowns out the softer voice of Nature. Thus


QUEEN *(turning to Princess Eboli)*.

It's surely granted me now to embrace My daughter. Princess, go and bring her to me.

*(Eboli goes off. The Marquis signals a Page in the background, who disappears. The Queen opens the letters that the Marquis has given her and seems surprised. The Marquis meanwhile converses softly with Marquise Mondekar. The Queen has read the letters and turns to the Marquis with a searching gaze.)*

You've told us nothing of Mathilda? Perhaps She doesn't know how much Fernando suffers? MARQUIS. No one has ever plumbed Mathilda's heart. 520 But great souls suffer silently. QUEEN. You look about? What is it you are seeking? MARQUIS. I thought how happy one whom I can't name Would be here in my place. QUEEN. Whose fault that he Is not? MARQUIS *(in quick rejoinder)*. Am I free to construe this as I wish? He'd find forgiveness if he came now? QUEEN *(startled)*. Just now, Marquis? Now? What do you intend? MARQUIS. He's grounds for hope? He has? QUEEN *(in growing confusion)*. You frighten me, Marquis. He surely would not— MARQUIS. Here he is.

#### Scene Five

*The Queen. Carlos.*<sup>31</sup>

*Marquis Posa and Marquise Mondekar step into the background.*







690 QUEEN. The friendship of your mother. CARLOS. Friendship! Mother! QUEEN. And these tears sent me from the Netherlands.

> *(She gives him a handful of letters.*<sup>34</sup> *Carlos and the Marquis go off. The Queen, uneasy, looks about for her Ladies. None appears. As she is about to move into the background, the King arrives.)*

#### Scene Six

*King. Queen. Duke Alba. Count Lerma. Domingo.*<sup>35</sup> *A few Ladies and Grandees who remain in the distance.*




KING. Count Lerma, you speak well to soothe the father; The Duke remains the mainstay of the King. Enough of this. *(He turns to his Suite.)* I hasten to Madrid. My royal office calls me. Heresy

770 Is spreading like the plague among my peoples, Unrest is growing in my Netherlands. The time has come. A terrible example Is to convert those who have lost their way. Tomorrow I shall keep a solemn oath To which all Christian kings have sworn40 by an

*(He leads the Queen away; the others follow.)*

Assize without example, to which I

Now summon all the members of my Court.

#### Scene Seven

*Don Carlos, carrying letters;*<sup>41</sup> *Marquis Posa from the opposite side.*


#### Scene Eight

*As above. Count Lerma.*


*(Lerma goes off.)*

#### Scene Nine

*Don Carlos. The Marquis.*




*(They go off.)*

Philip II. Steel engraving by Johann Leonhard Raab from a drawing by Arthur von Ramberg. Friedrich Pecht, *Schiller-Galerie (*Leipzig, 1859), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Schiller-Galerie\_komplett\_Bild\_13.jpg

#### Act Two

*In the Royal Palace, Madrid*

#### Scene One

*King Philip under a baldachin. Duke Alba at some distance from the King, hatted.*<sup>44</sup> *Carlos.*


PHILIP *(leaves his seat with an angry glance at the Prince)*. Remove yourself, Duke!

> *(The Duke turns to the main doors, where Carlos entered; the King indicates another door.)*

Into my private study,

Until I call you.

#### Scene Two

*King Philip. Don Carlos.*




In Spain, Spain's own Crown Prince was made a stranger,




*(He goes off, beside himself.)*

#### Scene Three

*Philip stands a while, reflecting darkly, then takes a few steps. Alba approaches, ill at ease.*


Yourself and seem to be affected deeply. Perhaps the content of your conversation? PHILIP *(having walked up and down)*. The content was Duke Alba. *(Fixing Alba darkly.)* Gladly I Would hear that Carlos *hates* my counselors, with 1080 Annoyance, though, that he *despises* them. ALBA *(blanches; about to fly into a rage)*. PHILIP. No need to answer now. You have my leave To reconcile the Prince. ALBA. Sire! PHILIP. Tell me, now, Who was it warned me first of my son's treachery? I listened then to *you* and not to *him*. I'll risk a trial. Henceforth, Duke Alba, Carlos Stands closer to my throne. You are dismissed.

*(The King retires to his study. Alba goes out by another door.)*

*An antechamber to the Queen's apartment*

#### Scene Four

*Don Carlos comes through the center door in conversation with a Page.*<sup>47</sup> *The Courtiers in the antechamber scatter into adjacent rooms.*


*(He tears off the seal and goes to the far end of the hall to* 



PAGE. And I, my Prince, I'm going to be proud To know I have a secret that the King







*(They fence.)*

#### Scene Six

*The Queen. Don Carlos. Duke Alba.*

QUEEN *(emerging from her rooms, alarmed)*. Bare swords here! *(To the Prince, unwilling and commanding.)* Carlos! CARLOS *(transfixed by the sight of the Queen, lets his arm sink, stands motionless, stupefied, then rushes to the Duke and kisses him)*. Peace, Duke! We'll forgive all! *(He throws himself at the Queen's feet, stands up, and plunges out.)* ALBA *(staring after him, astonished)*. What in God's name! Is that not strange! QUEEN *(stands for a moment, anxious and uncertain, then goes slowly toward her door; on the threshold, she turns)*. Duke Alba!

*(The Duke follows her through the door.)*

*Princess Eboli's boudoir*

#### Scene Seven

*The Princess, beautifully and simply dressed, in keeping with her fancy, playing a lute and singing. Then the Queen's Page.*



Princess Eboli. Steel engraving by Conrad Geyer from a drawing by Arthur von Ramberg. Friedrich Pecht, *Schiller-Galerie* (Leipzig, 1859), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Schiller-Galerie\_komplett\_Bild\_17.jpg

With my untold desires? Why, he could walk Away! Send *him* away! Who can't one? Truly, This Prince of yours—he understands the ways 1320 Of love as badly as he understands The ways of ladies' hearts. He doesn't know How minutes count— Still! Footsteps. It's the Prince!

*(The Page slips out.)*

Yes, go. Now where's my lute? He's to surprise me. My song will be a signal for him.

#### Scene Eight

*The Princess. Then Don Carlos. The Princess has thrown herself on an ottoman and is playing.* CARLOS *(bursts in. He recognizes the Princess and stands thunderstruck)*. God! Where am I? PRINCESS *(lets her lute drop and rises to meet him)*. Why, Prince Carlos? Yes. In truth! CARLOS. What is this? Where am I? Is this a trick? I've missed the room.

PRINCESS. My! How well Carlos knows To find where ladies are alone.

CARLOS. Princess—

Forgive me, Princess— I just found—I found

1330 The entry open.

PRINCESS. How can that be? I

Thought I myself had closed it and locked up.

CARLOS. You only thought that. Yes. You thought. For sure,

You're wrong. You wanted to lock up. Yes, quite.

That I admit. I believe it, too. But locked up?

No. Not locked up. No, truly not. I hear




It knows, is none of all the knights at Court,









a priceless, weighty, costly letter

That all the crowns of Philip are too light, Too trivial to redeem. *This* letter I Shall keep. *(He goes off.)* PRINCESS *(trying to block his way)*. Dear God in heaven! I am lost!

#### Scene Nine

*The Princess alone*

*She stands still stunned, beside herself; when he has left, she hurries after, to call him back.*



*A room in the Royal Palace*

#### Scene Ten

#### *Duke Alba. Father Domingo.*





*(Duke Alba goes off.)*

#### Scene Eleven

*The Princess. Domingo.*


Service, my Gracious Princess. PRINCESS *(with curiosity, following the departing Duke with her eyes)*. Are we not Alone? You've brought a witness? DOMINGO. How so? PRINCESS. Who is It has just left you? DOMINGO. It's Duke Alba, Princess, Who asks leave also to be heard. PRINCESS. Duke Alba? What's *he* want? What *can* he want? You'd know?63 DOMINGO. I? Without Knowing what weighty change of fortune secures For me at last the privilege of approaching



#### Scene Twelve

*The Princess. Duke Alba. Domingo.*




*(She hurries out.)*

#### Scene Thirteen

*Alba. Domingo.*

DOMINGO *(after a pause in which his gaze follows the Princess)*. These roses, Duke, your battles— ALBA. And your God— Thus I await the bolt that'd topple us!

*(They go off.)*

*In a Carthusian cloister*

#### Scene Fourteen

*Don Carlos. The Prior.*



*(The Prior goes off.)*

#### Scene Fifteen

*Don Carlos. Marquis Posa enters.*



Had I not fallen into an angel's hands.



*(Karl looks down in silence.)*




CARLOS. Straight to town? MARQUIS. To town. CARLOS. Just one word more. How easily Forgotten! Most important: Letters to Brabant are opened by the King. Be careful! The imperial post has secret orders— MARQUIS. How Do you know this? CARLOS. Don Raimond Taxis is My friend. MARQUIS *(after a silence)*. That, too! They'll go by way of Germany.

*(They go off by different doors.)*

Marquis Posa. Steel engraving by Albrecht Fürchtegott Schultheiss from a drawing by Friedrich Pecht. Friedrich Pecht: *Schiller-Galerie (*Leipzig, 1859), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Schiller-Galerie\_komplett\_Bild\_16.jpg

### Act Three

*The King's bedroom*

#### Scene One

*Two lights burn on a night table. In the background, Pages on their knees, fast asleep. The King, half undressed to the waist, stands at the table, one arm braced on a chair, in an attitude of reflection. A medallion lies before him and some papers.*<sup>67</sup>

2060 No one awake here but the King? What's this? The candles all burnt down and not yet day? I've lost the night. It belongs to you now, Nature. A king has no time to retrieve lost sleep. Now I'm awake; let it be day.

*(He puts out the candles and opens a curtain. As he walks up and down, he notices the sleeping boys and stops to consider them; then he pulls the bell.)*

Asleep,

Too, in my anteroom, perhaps?

#### Scene Two

*The King. Count Lerma.*

LERMA *(startled on seeing the King).* Why, is Your Majesty not well? KING. Fire in the left Wing. You heard the alarm? LERMA. No, Majesty.



*(He offers his hand for Lerma's kiss; Lerma opens to the Duke and goes off.)*

#### Scene Three

#### *The King and Duke Alba*

ALBA *(approaching the King uncertainly)*. 69 An order so surprising for me at This unaccustomed hour, my Liege? *(Taken aback on observing the King more closely.)* What a sight! KING *(has sat down and picked up the medallion on the table. He regards the Duke silently)*. It's true? I have no faithful servants? ALBA *(stops short, shamed)*. How's that?





KING *(injured and bitter)*.

 Distinctions you make—wisely, Duke. I admire your eloquence. And thank you. *(Getting to his feet, cold and proud.)* You're right. The Queen was much in error to Conceal such letters from me, to make secret The Prince's presence in the garden. It was 2200 False magnanimity.72 I'll find meet punishment. *(He pulls the bell.)* Who else is in the antechamber? I've No further need of you, Duke Alba. You May go. ALBA. I'd have offended once again, Your Majesty, by eagerness to serve? KING *(to an entering Page)*. Send for Domingo. *(The Page goes off.)* I forgive you that for Almost two minutes you'd have made *me* fear a Crime that can be committed against *you*.

*(Alba goes off.)*

#### Scene Four

*The King. Domingo.*







*(They both go off.)*

#### Scene Five

*The King alone*<sup>75</sup>



*(He goes off.)*

*The presence chamber*

#### Scene Six

*Don Carlos in conversation with the Prince of Parma. Dukes Alba, Feria, and Medina Sidonia. Count Lerma and other Grandees carrying papers. All waiting for the King.*


#### Scene Seven




*(All go off.)*

*The King's private study*

#### Scene Eight

#### *Marquis Posa and Duke Alba*

MARQUIS *(entering)*. 2430 It's me he wants? Me? That's not possible. You have the name wrong. What can he then want Of me? ALBA. He wants to get to know you. MARQUIS. That's Mere curiosity. So much for these lost Moments. Life runs its course so quickly. ALBA. I Deliver you to your good stars. The King Is in your hands. Avail yourself now of this Moment as best you can, and blame yourself If it is lost. *(He goes off.)*

#### Scene Nine

#### *The Marquis alone*



*(He walks up and down, then pauses calmly before a painting. The King appears in an adjacent room, gives a few orders, and enters. Unnoticed, he pauses on the threshold to observe the Marquis.)*

#### Scene Ten

*The King and Marquis Posa*

*The Marquis notices the King and approaches. He bends one knee and stands again, giving no sign of confusion.*

KING *(with a look of astonishment)*. Already come before me? MARQUIS. No. KING. You made Yourself deserving of the Crown. Why then Evade my thanks? There're many men who crowd My memory. There's but One knows all. It was Your place to seek the notice of your King. Why did you not? MARQUIS. I've been but two days in The Kingdom, Sire. KING. I'm of no mind to stand Indebted to my subjects. Beg a favor Of me. MARQUIS. I have protection of the laws. 2470 KING. So does the murderer.

III/10 *Don Carlos Infante of Spain 109*



KING *(expectantly)*. And so? MARQUIS. I am not one to serve a prince.

*(The King regards him with astonishment.)*











MARQUIS *(surprised and shocked)*. Me, Sire? KING. You stood before your master and Requested nothing for yourself. That's new To me. You will be just; no passion will Obscure your gaze. Gain access to my son, Explore the Queen's heart. I'll send you a warrant To see her privately. Now leave me. *(He pulls the bell.)* MARQUIS. Can I With *one* hope answered? This then is the finest Day in my life. KING *(extending his hand to be kissed)*. In mine it is no lost one. *(The Marquis stands up and goes off. Count Lerma enters.)*

Henceforth the Knight's admitted unannounced.

Elisabeth of Valois. Steel engraving by Moritz Lämmel from a drawing by Arthur von Ramberg. Friedrich Pecht, *Schiller-Galerie* (Leipzig, 1859), https://commons. wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arthur\_von\_Ramberg\_gez,\_Schiller-Galerie,\_Friedrich\_ von\_Schiller,\_Sammelbild,\_Stahlstich\_um\_1859,\_Elisabeth\_von\_Valois\_aus\_Don\_ Carlos,\_M\_Lämmel\_Carl\_Karl\_Moritz\_Lemmel.jpg

#### Act Four

*Hall in the Queen's apartments*

#### Scene One

*The Queen. The Duchess Olivarez. The Princess Eboli. The Countess Fuentes and other Ladies.*


OLIVAREZ. The Marquis Posa, Your Majesty. He comes here from His Majesty the King. QUEEN. Say I await him.

*(The Page goes off, opening the door to the Marquis.)*

#### Scene Two

*Marquis Posa. As above.*

*The Marquis drops to one knee before the Queen, who signals him to stand.*

QUEEN. What orders from my Lord? I'm openly to— MARQUIS. My errand intends Your Majesty alone.

*(The Queen signals her Ladies, who remove themselves.)*

#### Scene Three

*The Queen. Marquis Posa.*







#### Scene Four

#### *Carlos and Count Lerma*



*(Lerma goes off.)*

#### Scene Five

*Marquis Posa comes through the gallery. Carlos.*




#### Scene Six

*The Marquis looks after him, astonished.*

It's possible? Could this be? I'd have known him But incompletely? Not entirely? In His heart I'd missed this wrinkle? Truly missed it?


*The King's private study*

#### Scene Seven

*The King, seated in a chair; beside him, the Infanta Clara Eugenia.*

KING *(after a deep silence)*.

No. It is nonetheless my daughter. How Can Nature lie with such a show of truth? Blue eyes like these are mine. Do I not see Myself expressed in each one of these features? Child of my love is what thou art. I press Thee to my heart. Th'art my own blood. *(He stops suddenly.)* My blood! Is that not what I fear the most? My features, Are they not *his* no less than mine? *(He has picked up the medallion and looks from it into a mirror opposite. He finally throws it on the floor, stands up, and pushes the Infanta away.)* Off! Off!

3030 In this abyss I'll founder.

#### Scene Eight

*Count Lerma. The King.*


#### Scene Nine

*The King. The Queen enters. The Infanta.*

*The child flies to embrace her mother. The Queen falls to her knees before the King, who stands silent and confused.*



*one another long and steadily. A great silence.)*





*(She gets up, helped by the King.)*

#### Scene Ten


#### Scene Eleven

*Marquis Posa. As above.*

KING *(rising quickly on hearing the Marquis's voice and going toward him)*. Ah! There he is! I welcome you, Marquis. Duke Alba, I've No further need of you now. Leave us.

*(Alba and Domingo look at one another in wonderment and leave the scene.)*

#### Scene Twelve

#### *The King and Marquis Posa*




MARQUIS. A secret warrant for arrest In my possession, to be used in an Emergency, a royal warrant—

*(The King seems to hesitate.)*

It

3230 Would be state secret until—

KING *(going to his writing desk)*. The whole realm Is now at risk. Extraordinary measures In face of urgent danger. Here, Marquis. I needn't tell you to use caution— MARQUIS *(receiving the warrant)*. In Extremis, Majesty.

KING *(laying a hand on his shoulder)*. Now go, Marquis, Restore peace to my heart, sleep to my nights.

*(They go off to different sides.)*

#### Scene Thirteen

*A gallery*

*Carlos enters in great anxiety. Lerma comes to meet him.*




Must warn her, must prepare her. Who to send? Do I have no one anymore? Aha! There *is* someone. Thank God for that! *One* friend. And I have nothing more to lose. *(He rushes off.)* LERMA *(follows him and calls)*. Prince! Where to? *(Exit.)*

#### Scene Fourteen

*A room in the Queen's apartments The Queen. Alba. Domingo.*




*(She bows to them and goes off. They go off to the other side.)*

*Princess Eboli's room*

#### Scene Fifteen

*Princess Eboli. Then Carlos.*



#### Scene Sixteen

*As above. Marquis Posa bursts into the room, followed by two Officers of the Royal Bodyguard.*

MARQUIS *(throwing himself between them, breathless)*.

What has he

Admitted? Do not believe him. CARLOS *(still on his knees, raising his voice)*. I entreat you By all—

MARQUIS *(vehemently)*. He's mad! Don't listen to this madman.

CARLOS *(louder and more urgent)*.

3380 It's life or death. Just bring me to her. MARQUIS *(pulling the Princess away with force)*. If You hear him, I shall murder you. In the Name of the King. *(He shows the warrant.) (To one of the Officers.)* Count Cordua, the Prince is Your prisoner.

> *(Carlos stands thunderstruck. The Princess screams and tries to escape. The Officers show astonishment. A long pause. The Marquis, trembling and hardly in command of himself, turns to the Prince.)*

 I request your sword. You, Princess, Must stay. *(To the Officer.) You* warrant that His Highness speaks To no one—even you—on pain of death! *(He speaks a few words with the Officer, then turns to the others.)* I go to give account before the King *(to Carlos)* And you. Expect me in an hour, my Prince.

*(Carlos, wordless, lets himself be led away. He casts one dying glance at the Marquis, who conceals his face. The Princess tries once more to escape; the Marquis leads her back by the arm.)*

#### Scene Seventeen

*Princess Eboli. Marquis Posa.*



*(He drops the dagger and rushes out. The Princess rushes through another door.)*

*A room in the Queen's apartments*

#### Scene Eighteen

*The Queen to Countess Fuentes.*

Oh, what is all this uproar in the palace? This clatter here today makes me uneasy. Countess, do go. See what's the matter and Come tell me what it means.

*(Countess Fuentes goes out and Princess Eboli plunges into the room.)*

#### Scene Nineteen

*The Queen. Princess Eboli.*

EBOLI *(breathless, pale, disfigured, kneeling before the Queen)*. My Queen, oh, help!




*(She presses her glowing face against the floor. The Queen goes off. Long pause. Duchess Olivarez comes from the adjoining room, where the Queen has gone, and finds the Princess in her same position. She approaches her without speaking. Hearing her approach, the Princess straightens up, then leaps wildly to her feet when she does not see the Queen.)*

#### Scene Twenty

*Princess Eboli. Duchess Olivarez.*


#### Scene Twenty-One

*The Queen. Marquis Posa.*








*The Queen goes into the adjoining room.)*

*The King's antechamber*

#### Scene Twenty-Two

*Duke Alba and Domingo stand apart and walk silently up and down. Count Lerma emerges from the King's private study. Then Don Raimond Taxis, postmaster general.*




DOMINGO *(moving back from the door)*. All's so tense and still— This moment will decide some—

#### Scene Twenty-Three

*The Prince of Parma, Dukes Feria and Medina Sidonia, with other Grandees, enter. As above.*



Count, one more word. One moment, please. He's gone!

DOMINGO *(after him, to hold him back)*.



### Oh, he's been lied to. I can prove it. Lied

#### 3680 To!

DOMINGO *(signaling her from a distance)*. Princess Eboli! EBOLI *(approaching him)*. You here? Priest, you're The one I need. You'll vouch for me. *(She seizes his hand to pull him with her into the study.)* DOMINGO. Me, Princess? Are you in your right mind? FERIA. Stay back. The King will Not hear you. Not now. No. EBOLI. He *must* hear me. He *must* hear truth—hear simple truth, and be he Ten times a god. DOMINGO. Stay back! Stay back! Or you Put everything at risk. Keep yourself back! EBOLI. Look! You can tremble at your idol's rage. I

Myself risk nothing.

*(As she is about to enter the study, Duke Alba plunges out.)*

ALBA *(his eyes shining, his gait triumphant, hurrying to Domingo and embracing him)*.

 Order a Te Deum In all the churches. Victory is ours. DOMINGO. Ours? ALBA *(to Domingo and the other Grandees)*. 3690 You'll yet hear more from me. Now to the King.

Duke Alba. Steel engraving by Georges François Louis Jaquemot from a drawing by Arthur von Ramberg. Friedrich Pecht, *Schiller-Galerie* (Leipzig, 1859), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Schiller-Galerie\_komplett\_Bild\_18.jpg

#### Act Five

*A room in the Royal Palace, separated by an iron grating from a large courtyard in which Guards walk up and down*

#### Scene One

*Carlos sitting at a table, his head resting on his arms, as if he were asleep. In the background, a few Officers locked in with him. Marquis Posa enters quietly and speaks with the Officers, who remove themselves. He approaches Carlos, who is unaware, and observes him silently and sadly. He finally makes a motion that rouses Carlos.*




#### Scene Two

*Duke Alba. As above.*



I'll not appear to owe to royal grace.

I'm quite prepared to go before the Cortes.

I'll not accept my sword from such a hand.

ALBA. The King will have no scruple to admit Your justified desire, if you will grant that 3760 I might accompany you— CARLOS. I shall stay here

Until the King—or his Madrid—conduct

Me from this jail. Bring him this answer from me.

*(Alba removes himself. One sees him in the courtyard giving orders to the Guard.)*

#### Scene Three

*Carlos and Marquis Posa*





Was mine.

CARLOS *(takes him by the hand, deeply moved)*.

 Oh, no. He can't, he won't resist a Deed so sublime. We'll go together to him. Father, I'll say, see what a friend's done for His friend. And he'll be touched. He's not without Humanity, my father isn't. He'll shed Warm tears, and he'll forgive us.

*(A shot through the grating. Carlos leaps up.)*

Who was that for?

MARQUIS. I think for me. *(He collapses.)* CARLOS *(with a shriek of pain, falls next to him)*. Oh, merciful God! MARQUIS *(his voice breaking)*. He's swift, The King— I'd hoped for longer— Save yourself— 3860 You hear? Your mother knows of all— It's over—

> *(Carlos remains lying beside the body. After a while the King enters, accompanied by many Grandees. He starts back at the sight.*<sup>108</sup> *A long pause. The Grandees stand in a semicircle around father and son, looking from one to the other. Carlos lies without a sign of life. The King observes him thoughtfully.)*

#### Scene Four

*The King. Carlos. The Dukes Alba, Feria, and Medina Sidonia. The Prince of Parma. Count Lerma. Domingo and many Grandees.*

KING *(speaking kindly)*.

Your wish is met, Infante. I've come, myself, With all the Grandees of the realm, to set You free.

*(Carlos looks up and around as if waking from a dream. His eyes rest on the King, then on the body. He does not answer.)*

 Receive your sword back. One was hasty. *(He offers Carlos his hand and helps him stand up.)* My Son's not in his right place. Stand up. Come into Your father's arms.



Of men sink down in shame that a smart youth


For me.

*(The King stands motionless, staring at the floor. The Grandees look toward him, frightened and uneasy.)*


*(He sinks down on the body and takes no part in what now follows. One hears a distant tumult: voices and a mob. All is still around the King. He surveys the circle and no one meets his gaze.)*

KING. Well? No one speaks? Averted eyes! Veiled faces! My judgment's pronounced. My subjects all condemn me.

> *(Silence still. The tumult comes nearer. A murmur and exchange of gestures courses through the Grandees; Count Lerma finally goes to Alba.)*

LERMA. In truth! We're stormed! ALBA *(softly)*. That's what I fear. LERMA. They're up The stairs. They're coming in.

#### Scene Five

*An Officer of the Bodyguard. As above.*



*(He goes off. The King is carried off, accompanied by all Grandees.)*

#### Scene Six110

*Carlos remains alone with the body. Luis Mercado appears, looks about timidly and remains standing behind the Prince, who does not notice him.*



CARLOS. Your Mistress may expect me at that hour.

*(Mercado goes off.)*

#### Scene Seven

*Carlos. Count Lerma.*

LERMA. Save

Yourself, my Prince. The King is raging at you. Your freedom's threatened, or your life. I've stolen Away to warn you. Ask no questions. Take flight!


*(He goes off quickly. Carlos is about to go off to another side. He turns and throws himself on the body once more, then goes off quickly.)*

*The King's antechamber*

#### Scene Eight

*Duke Alba and Duke Feria enter, in conversation.*



#### Scene Nine

*The King to join the others. All shrink back at the sight of him and respectfully let him pass among them. He moves in a waking dream, like a sleepwalker. His figure and his dress reflect the disorder in which his faint has left him. He walks slowly past the Grandees, stares at each without seeing. He stops, gazing downward, until his feelings frame themselves in words.*





*join them, a murmur rises.)*


*(The Officer goes off. A Page enters.)*

PAGE. The Cardinal Inquisitor, Sire! KING *(to those present)*. Leave us.

*(The Cardinal Inquisitor, ninety years old and blind, leaning on a staff and led by two Dominicans. As he goes through the rows, all Grandees kneel and touch his hem. He blesses them. They all go off.)*

#### Scene Ten

*The King and the Grand Inquisitor*

*Long silence.*





KING. All or nothing. GRAND INQUISITOR. "All" is— KING. To let him flee if I cannot condemn him. GRAND INQUISITOR. Yes? KING. Can you found a new religion for me That justifies the murder of one's child? GRAND INQUISITOR. To reconcile eternal justice God's own Son died upon the Tree. KING. You'll spread this notion Throughout all Europe? GRAND INQUISITOR. As far as the Cross 4260 Is honored. KING. I commit a crime against all Nature. This fearsome voice you'll silence? GRAND INQUISITOR. There's No voice of Nature where there's faith. KING. I lay My judge's office in your hands. May I Step back entirely? GRAND INQUISITOR. Give him to me. KING. He is My only son. For whom have I then gathered? GRAND INQUISITOR. For putrefaction better than for freedom. KING *(rising)*. We are at one. Come. GRAND INQUISITOR. Where to? KING. To receive The sacrifice now from my very hands.

*(He leads him away.)*

#### Final Scene

*The Queen's apartments*

*Carlos. The Queen. Then the King with retinue. Carlos in monk's habit, behind a mask that he removes; an unsheathed sword under his arm. It is very dark. He approaches a door, which opens. The Queen emerges, in night dress, carrying a light. Carlos drops to one knee.*

CARLOS. Elisabeth! QUEEN *(contemplating him with quiet sadness)*. It's thus we meet again!

4270 CARLOS. It's thus we meet again.

*(A silence.)*


I believe of him. And never shall I let My heart—

CARLOS. You needn't finish, Queen. I've lain In a deep sleep, a dream. I loved. And now I have awakened.120 We'll forget what's past. Here are your letters back. Destroy my own. You needn't fear my feelings. It is over. A purer fire has purged my being. My Passion lies in the grave beside the dead. No mortal longing can divide my heart. *(After a silence, taking her hand.)* 4300 I've come to take my leave. I see at last, Mother, there is a higher good than to Possess you. One short night gave wings to my Slow run of years, made me so soon a man. I have no further task in life than memory Of him! My harvests are all done.

*(He approaches her; she covers her face.)*

You're silent,

Mother?

QUEEN. Pay no attention to my tears, Karl. There is no help for them. But I admire you, Believe me.

CARLOS. You were our league's sole confidante. *This* name makes you my dearest in the world. 4310 My friendship's yours alone, as yesterday My love. And I shall deem the royal widow Sacred, should Providence lead me to take The Throne.

> *(The King, accompanied by the Grand Inquisitor and by his Grandees, appears in the background, unnoticed.)*

 I now go out of Spain. My father I'll never see again, not in this life. I value him no more. My heart is dead To Nature. Be a wife to him again.


*(He goes off.)*


### Act Two


### Act Three


### Act Four


#### Act Five


## This book need not end here...

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### **Don Carlos Infante of Spain** A Dramatic Poem

### Friedrich Schiller

### Translated by Flora Kimmich Introduction by John Guthrie

Schiller's *Don Carlo*s, written ten years before his great *Wallenstein* trilogy, testifies to the young playwright's growing power. First performed in 1787, it stands at the culmination of Schiller's formative development as a dramatist and is the first play written in his characteristic iambic pentameter. *Don Carlos* plunges the audience into the dangerous political and personal struggles that rupture the court of the Spanish King Philip II in 1658. The autocratic king's son Don Carlos is caught between his political ideals, fostered by his friendship with the charismatic Marquis Posa, and his doomed love for his stepmother Elisabeth of Valois. These twin passions set him against his father, the brooding and tormented Philip, and the terrible power of the Catholic Church, represented in the play by the indelible figure of the Grand Inquisitor.

Schiller described *Don Carlos* as "a family portrait in a princely house." It interweaves political machinations with powerful personal relationships to create a complex and resonant tragedy. The conflict between absolutism and liberty appealed not only to audiences but also to other artists and gave rise to several operas, not least to Verdi's great *Don Carlos* of 1867. The play, which the playwright never finished to his satisfaction, lives on nonetheless among his best-loved works and is translated here with flair and skill by Flora Kimmich. Like her translations of Schiller's *Wallenstein* and his *Fiesco's Conspiracy at Genoa*, this is a lively and accessible rendering of a classic text. As with all books in the Open Book Classics series, it is supported by an introduction and notes that will inform and enlighten both the student and the general reader.

As with all Open Book publications, this entire book is available to read for free on the publisher's website. Printed and digital editions, together with supplementary digital material, can also be found at www.openbookpublishers.com

Cover image: Scene from *Don Carlos*: Carlos kneels in front of the queen, from Bernhard Neher, *Illustrationen zu verschiedenen Werken Schillers*. Photo R.W. Nehrdich © Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte, Farbdiaarchiv. Cover design: Anna Gatti