Fluelen

Fluelen is the harbor from which William Tell is carried away under guard, making it the departure point for his forced passage across the lake. The scene also places the people who have followed him on the shore, where their sorrow and hesitation contrast with the armed authority aboard the ship.

Harbor and Setting

The Governor’s ship had been moored at Fluelen, a harbor about two miles from Kussnacht, which lay on the opposite side of the lake. The place is introduced through its practical role in the journey: it is where Hermann Gessler and his men bring their prisoner to embark.

Tell’s Departure

Early in the afternoon, Hermann Gessler and his men embarked at Fluelen with William Tell bound and unarmed. Once aboard, Tell was put at the bottom of the hold, where it was pitch dark and rats scampered over him. The ropes were cast off, the sails filled, and a favouring breeze carried the ship away from the harbor and across the lake.

The People on the Shore

A large number of the Swiss people had followed Tell and his captors to Fluelen. They watched sorrowfully as the ship diminished in the distance. Whispers of a rescue had come to nothing: few people carried weapons, while the soldiers wore armour and bore long pikes or sharp swords. The people judged an attack against such a well-defended force useless; they looked on and groaned, but did nothing. Fluelen thus marks both Tell’s removal from the crowd and the crowd’s failure to intervene.