Hegel’s Spiritual Beauty and Schiller’s Tragic Heroines

Abstract Despite Hegel’s great admiration for Schiller and Schiller’s influence on Hegel’s philosophy of art, Hegel rarely praises Schiller’s tragedies and is indeed often critical of Schiller’s dramatic works. These criticisms for the most part concern characters who fail to live up to Hegel’s criteria for tragic heroes, as they vacillate, come to an unheroic demise, or are inwardly conflicted about their aims or actions. Despite these criticisms, this article argues that some of Schiller’s tragic heroines are nonetheless beautiful by Hegel’s own lights. Using Schiller’s Mary Stuart (1800) and The Maid of Orleans (1801), I argue that a deep spiritual beauty is exemplified in Schiller’s Joan of Arc and Mary Stuart, who overcome an inner conflict to achieve spiritual reconciliation, affording us the experience of Hegel’s ideal. Schiller’s tragic heroines present the beautiful triumph of an individual’s subjective freedom over great spiritual conflict, which is Hegel’s definition of artistic beauty. It is hoped that this article offers a new perspective not only on Hegel’s philosophy of art, but also on the power and beauty of Schiller’s tragic heroines.