3 h 40 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when a man who wants only peace faces a ruler who demands submission?
Around Lake Lucerne, Swiss mountain communities live under Habsburg bailiffs who govern through insults, taxes and cruelty. William Tell, a hunter and skilled archer, loves his family and keeps out of politics. But Hermann Gessler rules through humiliation and fear. In Friedrich Schiller’s five-act play, the wish to be left alone meets power that will not leave anyone in peace.
The drama opens beside a lake as a frightened fugitive arrives and a storm rises. Beyond Tell’s struggle, Werner Stauffacher helps organize a secret alliance, while the young noble Ulrich von Rudenz faces a choice between ambition and his people. From the oath on the Rütli meadow to the famous apple scene, private conscience becomes a question for a whole community.
What you’ll discover
- A reluctant man of action Meet a hunter whose love of peace does not mean surrender to arbitrary power.
- An oath in secret Follow farmers as they turn shared anger into a plan for resistance.
- The apple and the arrow Encounter the famous scene within a wider struggle over obedience and fear.
- Loyalty under pressure Watch nobles weigh the pull of Habsburg favor against duty to their people.
- The cost of freedom Consider when law becomes tyranny, and who has the right to resist.
Who will love it
For readers who love political drama, history told as story, and plays about conscience and duty. It also suits anyone curious about the legend behind the apple and the arrow.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A fugitive and a storm on the lake
- The oath on the Rütli meadow
- Nobles who must choose a side
- The hat on the pole and the apple
- What the play says about freedom and violence
- How Schiller builds the drama
Who’s who
- William TellA hunter and skilled archer from Bürglen who loves his family and keeps out of politics, yet will not bend to arbitrary power.
- Hermann GesslerThe proud Austrian governor of Uri, who rules by humiliation and fear and tests the people's obedience.
- Werner StauffacherA respected farmer of Schwyz who helps organize the secret alliance of the three forest cantons, with his wife Gertrud urging him on.
- Arnold of MelchtalA young man from Unterwalden whose father has been blinded by the bailiff's men, and who longs to avenge him.
- Walter FürstAn older man from Uri and a steady leader among the conspirators, who is also Tell's father-in-law.
- Ulrich von RudenzA young noble and nephew of Attinghausen, tempted by Habsburg favor and torn between ambition and his people.
- Bertha von BruneckA rich noblewoman at the Austrian court who believes in justice and urges Rudenz to stand with his own countrymen.
- Baron AttinghausenAn old Swiss lord who loves his land and warns his nephew not to abandon his people.
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 3 h 40 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 8 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Wilhelm Tell
by Friedrich Schiller · 1804
On Lake Lucerne, a hunter rows a fugitive through a storm as mountain communities struggle against tyranny.
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In short
William Tell is a play in five acts by Friedrich Schiller, the German poet and dramatist. He finished it in 1804, a year before he died, and it was staged that same year in Weimar.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A fugitive and a storm on the lake
The play opens on the shore of Lake Lucerne. A fisherman, a herdsman and a hunter sing as the weather darkens, and the scene sets up the beauty of the land that is about to be fought over. Then Konrad Baumgarten rushes in, begging for a boat. He has killed the Austrian bailiff Wolfenschiessen with an axe, because the man tried to force himself on his wife while he was away.
The fisherman refuses to cross, since the storm is far too fierce. Into this standoff walks William Tell, a hunter from the village of Bürglen. He has little interest in politics. He is a skilled archer, a loving father and a man who trusts his own hands. Without argument he takes the oars and carries Baumgarten across through the waves, saying that God helps whoever helps himself.
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What is William Tell by Schiller about?
It is a five act play about the people of the Swiss forest cantons rising against their Austrian governors. It follows the hunter William Tell, a secret oath on the Rütli meadow, and the cruelty of the governor Gessler.
Is the story of William Tell true?
Historians regard Tell as a legend and doubt that he existed. The tale was recorded in Swiss chronicles in the fifteenth century. Schiller wrote his play in 1804, drawing on Tschudi's chronicle.
What is the apple scene in William Tell?
The governor Gessler orders Tell to shoot an apple from his own son's head as punishment for not bowing to a hat on a pole. It is the best-known scene and the one that most shows Tell's skill and his love for his child.
The author
Friedrich Schiller
1759–1805 · German playwright and poet
Friedrich Schiller was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. He was born in Marbach in 1759 and died in Weimar in 1805. He also lived in Jena, where he taught history at the university. His plays include The Robbers, published in 1781, and William Tell, first performed in 1804.
More by Friedrich Schiller
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