Oberon is an

epic poem An epic poem, or simply an epic, is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. ...

by the German writer

Christoph Martin Wieland Christoph Martin Wieland (; 5 September 1733 – 20 January 1813) was a German poet and writer. He is best-remembered for having written the first ''Bildungsroman'' (''Geschichte des Agathon''), as well as the epic ''Oberon'', which formed the ba ...

. It was based on the epic romance ''

Huon de Bordeaux Huon of Bordeaux is the title character of a 13th-century French epic poem with romance elements. ''Huon of Bordeaux'' The poem tells of Huon, a knight who unwittingly kills Charlot, the son of Emperor Charlemagne. He is given a reprieve from d ...

'', a French medieval tale, and influenced by

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

'' and

Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...

's version of

Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He wa ...

's ''

The Merchant's Tale "The Merchant's Tale" ( enm, The Marchantes Tale) is one of Geoffrey Chaucer's ''Canterbury Tales''. In it Chaucer subtly mocks antifeminist literature like that of Theophrastus ("Theofraste"). The tale also shows the influence of Boccaccio ( ...

''. It first appeared in 1780 and went through seven rewrites before its final form was published in 1796.

Plot

For the slaying of Karl the Great's despicable son, Charlot, Huon duke of Guienne, is condemned to go to Babylon (or Bagdad) and demand four molars and a tuft of the beard of the kalif after kissing the latter's daughter and slaying her intended. This feat is accomplished through the friendship of

Oberon Oberon () is a king of the fairies in medieval and Renaissance literature. He is best known as a character in William Shakespeare's play ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', in which he is King of the Fairies and spouse of Titania, Queen of the Fair ...

and the magic power of his horn, a blast of which causes all wicked persons to dance, and of a certain ring, which had been abstracted from its owner, Titania, and to which all the spirit world was subject. Commanded to go to the Pope at Rome before consummating marriage with the kalif's daughter, Huon yields to temptation and the couple are thrown on a desert isle by Oberon, who had deserted his Titania with the vow never to return to her unless a human couple should be found who were absolutely faithful, since she had championed the faithless girl wife of an aged dotard. About the invented quarrel of Oberon and his queen, Titania, is centred the whole conception of Wieland's poem. Thrown by the instrumentality of Titania into captivity in Tunis, Huon and Rezia withstand the first test of temptation and, reunited, return to Paris and reconcile Karl.

Influence

It had a major influence on many musical and poetic works of the time, such as Schiller's ''

Don Carlos ''Don Carlos'' is a five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French-language libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle, based on the dramatic play '' Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien'' (''Don Carlos, Infante of Spain'') by Friedri ...

'', Goethe's '' Faust: The Second Part of the Tragedy'' and Mozart's ''

The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a ''Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that inclu ...

'', as well as on the Portuguese poet

Francisco Manoel de Nascimento Francisco Manoel de Nascimento (21 December 1734 – 25 February 1819), Portuguese poet, better known by the literary name of Filinto Elísio (in the old orthography ''Filinto Elysio''), bestowed on him by the Marquise of Alorna, was the rep ...

. An adaptation of the poem by

Sophie Seyler Friederike Sophie Seyler (1738, Dresden – 22 November 1789, Schleswig; née Sparmann, formerly married Hensel) was a German actress, playwright and librettist. Alongside Friederike Caroline Neuber, she was widely considered Germany's greatest ...

, titled '' Hüon und Amande'', was re-adapted by

Karl Ludwig Giesecke Carl Ludwig Giesecke FRSE (6 April 1761 in Augsburg – 5 March 1833 in Dublin) was a German actor, librettist, polar explorer and mineralogist. In his youth he was called Johann Georg Metzler; in his later career in Ireland he was Sir Charle ...

to provide a libretto for

Paul Wranitzky Paul Wranitzky (Czech: Pavel Vranický, 30 December 1756 – 29 September 1808) was a Moravian-Austrian classical composer. His half brother, Antonín, was also a composer. Life Wranitzky was born in Neureisch ( Nová Říše) in Habsburg Mora ...

, without crediting her. Its English translators include Matthew Lewis,

William Sotheby William Sotheby FRS (9 November 175730 December 1833) was an English poet and translator. He was born into a wealthy London family, the son of Col. William and Elizabeth (née Sloan) Sotheby, and was educated at Harrow School and the Military A ...

and

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States S ...

. The libretto of ''

'' by

Emanuel Schikaneder Emanuel Schikaneder (born Johann Joseph Schickeneder; 1 September 1751 – 21 September 1812) was a German impresario, dramatist, actor, singer, and composer. He wrote the libretto of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera ''The Magic Flute'' and was t ...

was evidently greatly inspired by Giesecke's and thus on Seyler's version of ''Oberon''.

David J. Buch David Joseph Buch (born 1950) is an American musicologist. Life and career Buch was born in Detroit and studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy. He received his PhD in Music Histor ...

, Magic Flutes and Enchanted Forests: The Supernatural in Eighteenth-Century Musical Theater, University of Chicago Press, 2008

Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (18 or 19 November 17865 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and critic who was one of the first significant composers of the Romantic era. Best known for his opera ...

used the poem as the basis for his last opera, ''

'', in 1826. The artist

Gustav Paul Closs Gustav Paul Closs (1840 – 1870) was a German landscape painter. Life Closs was born at Stuttgart in 1840, and received his first instructions in the School of Arts there under Funk, but afterwards studied in Rome, Naples, Munich, Paris, and othe ...

provided illustrations for it.

References

External links

*
''Oberon''
on

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a Virtual volunteering, volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the ...

{{Oberon media 1796 poems German poems The Magic Flute Works by Christoph Martin Wieland