Nathan the Wise

Nathan the Wise (Nathan der Weise)

    Author: Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

    First Performance: 1783, Berlin

    Published: 1779

    First English Translation: 1868

    Genre: Drama in 5 acts; German blank verse

    Setting: Nathan's house, a town square, the Sultan's palace, monastery, and Sittah's harem, Jerusalem, c.1190

    Cast: 7m, 3f, extras

Nathan, a rich and virtuous Jewish merchant, adopted a Christian orphan Recha, after his seven sons had been murdered by the Crusaders. Recha, unaware that she is adopted, is saved from a fire by the bravery of a young German Knight Templar, who has been captured by the Saracens. All attempts by the old Jew to reward the Templar by inviting him to his house are spurned, until a chance encounter moves the Templar to a more tolerant attitude. Meanwhile the...

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