Heinrich Theodor Rötscher

Heinrich Theodor Rötscher (20 September 1803 – 9 April 1871) was a German theatre critic and theorist. One strong influence on his writing was Hegel.

Biography Rötscher was born in Mittenwalde, and studied philology and philosophy at the University of Berlin. From 1828 he was a gymnasium teacher in Bromberg (modern-day Bydgoszcz, Poland). In 1842 he moved back to Berlin and dedicated himself to writing and theorizing about theatre. In Berlin, he was the dramatic critic for the Spenersche Zeitung.

Selected works Aristophanes und sein Zeitalter, an attempt to understand the ancient Greek comedian Aristophanes in light of Hegel's philosophy (1827) Abhandlungen zur Philosophie der Kunst, also strongly tinged with Hegelianism (1837–47) Die Kunst der dramatischen Darstellung, his principal work: an attempt to treat theatre criticism in a scientific manner (1841–46; 2nd ed. 1864) Das Schauspielwesen (1843) Über Byrons Manfred (1844) Seydelmanns Leben und Wirken (1845) Shakespeare in seinen höchsten Charaktergebilden (1864) Dramaturgische und ästhetische Abhandlungen (1864, 1867) Dramaturgische Blätter (1865) Entwickelung dramatischer Charaktere aus Lessings, Schillers und Goethes Werken (1869)