Steinen

Steinen is both a domestic setting and a point of orientation on the public road: a lime tree stands before Werner Stauffacher’s house, while a later exchange identifies the road through Steinen as part of the way toward Arth and Küssnacht.

Setting and Dramatic Use

The play places Werner Stauffacher’s house in Steinen, in Schwyz, beside a public road near a bridge. A lime tree marks the space in front of the house, where Werner Stauffacher and Pfeiffer of Lucerne enter into conversation. The location thus frames a meeting at the edge of private domestic space and a route used by travelers.

A Landmark on the Road

Steinen recurs when Wilhelm Tell asks which way is nearest to Arth and Küssnacht. The Fisherman directs him to the public road, which leads by way of Steinen. The place is thereby given a practical function beyond the earlier house-front scene: it is a recognizable point in the landscape through which the play’s characters orient their journeys.