XIII. Theatre in Europe & the U.S. During Early 19th Century

In the early 19th century, a large theatrical movement known as Romanticism began in Germany. August Wilhelm Schlegel was a German Romantic writer who considered Shakespeare one of the greatest dramatists and translated seventeen of his plays. Another big fan of Shakespeare was Ludwig Tieck who was responsible for familiarizing Germans with the works of Shakespeare. One of Tieck's famous tragedies was the play Kaiser Octaveous.

Other German playwrights of the early nineteenth century were writers such as Henrich von Kleist who was known as the best playwright of the time, Christian Grabbe who wrote Don Jaun and Faust, Franz Grillparzer who was considered Austria's first serious playwright, and Georg Buchner who wrote Danton's Death and Leoce & Lena.

In England, the Romantic movement was fueled by the impressive works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Henry James Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley , and John Keats . With plays such as Remorse by Coleridge, Marino Fanceiro by Byron, and The Cinci by Shelley, England became a strong player in making popular the notion of Romanticism. Another English actor, dramatist, and writer was James Sheridan Knowles who gained popularity with Virginius and confirmed his place in theatre history with the popular play William Tell.

In France, the popular novelist Victor Hugo wrote the play Hernani which was produced in 1830 at the Comedie Francais. The Moor of Venice was a play written by Alfred de Vigny and was an adaptation of Othello. Henri III and his Court and Christine were written by Alexandre Dumas pere and were other very popular plays at the time. The French Romantic Alfred de Musset wrote A Venician Night and No Trifling with Love.