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Excerpt from Sappho a Tragedy in Five Acts
Franz Grillparzer was born in Vienna, January 15, 1791. His father was a lawyer, and in comfortable circumstances until the disasters attendant on the invasion of Austria by Napoleon destroyed his property. At his death, in 1809, Franz found himself at the age of eighteen obliged not only to provide for his own support, but to contribute something towards the maintenance of his mother and three younger brothers. He obtained, first, a position as tutor in a nobleman's family, and, in 1813, a small post under government. For this the legal studies which he had pursued with zeal after the death of his father abundantly qualified him. His promotion was exceedingly slow and rather hindered than furthered by his literary works, notwithstanding the ardent patriotism and the loyalty to the House of Hapsburg which many of his dramas express.
The censorship was very severe in Austria at that time, and Grillparzer was condemned to feel the full rigor of it. Obstacles were put in the way not only of the success, but of the presentation, of his plays.
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