About the work
Blanka von Kastilien (Blanche of Castile) is a youthful drama that Franz Grillparzer wrote between the ages of sixteen and eighteen, in 1807-1809. The Burgtheater rejected it in 1810, and it was left out of Heinrich Laube's first edition of Grillparzer's works; the play did not reach the stage until 5 November 1958, in a heavily abridged version staged by Gustav Manker at Vienna's Volkstheater.
Plot
Princess Blanka is married off to King Pedro for political reasons, although she is secretly engaged to his half-brother Federigo. Pedro, devoted to his mistress María, has Blanka imprisoned and plans to have her killed. When he meets her, jealousy over Federigo flares up; intrigue and rebellion follow, and both lovers die in the end.
Cultural significance
As a work of youth, the play is not considered a literary success, but it holds historical significance for showing how strongly the young Grillparzer was initially shaped by Schiller before he found his own dramatic voice. Its 1958 Vienna premiere, staged almost 150 years after it was written, was well received by audiences and critics.