Excerpt from Der Neuffe Als Onkel: Lustspiel in Drei AufzügenChiller's Neffe als Onkel, which is an adapta tion rather than a translation of Picard's Encore des Ménechmes for frequently the dialogue is entirely changed - forms one in the long list of comedies that have their point in the humorous situations brought about by the close resemblance of two persons in the play. This theme, from the time of Plautus's Menaechmi to Shakspere's Comedy of Errors, from Picard's and Schiller's plays to the weaker productions of our own day, never failed to amuse an audience. It goes without saying that the Shakspere comedy, including, as it does, certain superb pathetic elements, stands upon a higher plane than all the rest. The early popularity of this type of comedy in' Germany is attested by versions of the play of Plautus by Albrecht V. Eybe in 1511, and again in 1548 by Hans Sachs. An English translation of the Menaechmi was printed in England in 1595, but was circulated in manuscript prior to that time. Schiller's labors upon this field had their incitement in his own need of relaxation from more serious work, and the request of Duke Karl August of Weimar, who wished to-see some of the plays of L. Benoit Picard.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.