Friedrich Hartwich's Globus Fortunae (1617): A Dramatization of the Amadis

Authors

Steven R. Huff, Oberlin College

Abstract

In lieu of an abstract, the first paragraph of the essay follows:

Tracing the transmission of a literary tradition can be tricky business. Any set of criteria designed to assist in the evaluation of specific sources and their suspected influence . on a given text will always run the risk of arbitrariness, and the line separating borrowed from original genius is often notoriously blurred. Nevertheless, scholars are inclined to pursue such a venture-despite the inherent risks-when there is more at stake than simply the confirmation of an alleged borrowing. German dramatizations of the courtly romance Amadis de Gaula constitute one such case. Not only are baroque dramatizations of novels of any kind rare and therefore prized specimens, but also the Amadis dramatizations offer singular incentives because of the light they shed on the transition from sixteenth-century vernacular drama to the highly stylized courtly drama of the seventeenth century.¹If a connection between the Amadis plays and· the ''Englische Komödianten" could be established, the rewards would be all the greater, two notable authorities have observed.² Indeed, such a convergence of literary traditions is bound to spark the interest of Romance, English, and German historians of drama.

Recommended Citation

Huff, Steven R. (1990) "Friedrich Hartwich's Globus Fortunae (1617): A Dramatization of the Amadis," Comparative Drama: Vol. 24: Iss. 4, Article 2.
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/compdr/vol24/iss4/2