Torquato Tasso

About “Torquato Tasso”

Torquato Tasso is a verse play written by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It focuses on the life of the sixteenth-century Italian poet and courtier Torquato Tasso, exploring his mental decline. Goethe began writing the play in Weimar in 1780, but most of it was composed between 1786 and 1788 during his time in Italy. He finished the play in 1790. The work is based on historical figures and events, though it is a dramatic interpretation rather than a factual account. Goethe's play presents the emotional and psychological struggles of Tasso, reflecting themes of creativity, madness, and personal conflict. (Summary adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.)