Uri

Uri appears in the play as both a political community and a specific territorial setting: it is included among the cantons whose people receive a greeting, and it locates Bürglen at the entrance to Schächental.

A Community Addressed

Walter Furst reads a message from Queen Elizabeth addressed to the worthy men of the Canton of Uri, the Canton of Schwyz, and the Canton of Unterwalden. Uri is thus named as part of a three-canton community whose members are addressed together; the stage direction that many voices follow the reading marks a collective response without specifying its words.

A Local Setting

In a later exchange, the Monk tells Hedwig that she is at Bürglen, in the land of Uri, just at the entrance to Schächental. The statement identifies Uri not only as a name in a political greeting but as the territory that situates this particular place. Together, the two references give Uri both a communal presence in the public address and a precise function in the play’s geography.