Act I

E926238

Act I is the opening section of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s comedy "Minna von Barnhelm," where the main characters and central conflicts of the play are first introduced.

Jump to: Statements Referenced by

Statements (46)

Predicate Object
instanceOf act of a play
associatedMovement Enlightenment literature
countryOfOrigin Germany
creator Gotthold Ephraim Lessing NERFINISHED
dramaticFunction establishment of central conflicts
exposition
introduction of main characters
followedBy Act II NERFINISHED
follows no previous act
genre comedy
hasDramaticConflict Tellheim’s wounded honor versus Minna’s loyalty
hasLanguageStyle 18th-century High German
intendedAudience theatergoers
introducesCharacter Franziska NERFINISHED
Innkeeper
Just
Major von Tellheim NERFINISHED
Minna von Barnhelm NERFINISHED
introducesMotif financial hardship of soldiers
misplaced suspicion
introducesWork Minna von Barnhelm NERFINISHED
literaryForm dramatic dialogue
locatedInWork opening of Minna von Barnhelm’s printed editions
medium theatrical text
narrativeRole opening section of the play
originalTitleOfWork Minna von Barnhelm oder Das Soldatenglück NERFINISHED
originalWorkPublicationYear 1767
partOf Minna von Barnhelm NERFINISHED
partOfGenreDefiningWork German Enlightenment comedy
positionInSeries first act
precededBy none
primaryMediumOfPerformance stage
setsUp central conflict between honor and love
misunderstandings between Minna and Tellheim
setting an inn in post–Seven Years’ War Germany
structureFeature comic misunderstandings
dialogue-driven scenes
theme honor
love
misunderstanding
social status
timePeriodDepicted shortly after the Seven Years’ War
tone comic
lightly satirical
workLanguage German
workOfAuthor Gotthold Ephraim Lessing NERFINISHED

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.