Wilhelm Tell by Friedrich Schiller

Set in fifteenth century Switzerland this play is based on a legend characteristic of the Austrian domination period. Schiller exhibits enthusiasm for freedom and natural life in this historic play. The story unfolds on Lake Lucerne with the fateful enmity of the tyrant Gessler, Governor of the Swiss cantons, and William Tell, an obscure huntsman, trying to row to safety a peasant who is pursued by the Governor's horsemen.