Grabbe, Christian Dietrich

Grabbe, Christian Dietrich krĭsˈtēän dēˈtrĭkh gräbˈə [key], 1801–36, German dramatist and journalist. Critical of “Shakespearomania,” Grabbe strove for a national German drama and wrote original, poetic historical tragedies. Hannibal (1835) and Hermannsschlacht [Hermann's battle] (1838) depict the genial individual shattered by others' lack of understanding. Napoleon (1831), Scherz, Satire, Ironie und tiefere Bedeutung (1822; tr. Comedy, Satire, Irony and Deeper Meaning, 1955), and Don Juan und Faust (1829) are among his other notable works.

See studies by R. A. Nicholl (1969) and C. D. Grabbe (1972).

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