to abolish the estate-clause and criticized most dramatic characters of the time as flat. He demanded that characters be not stereotypical or polar but show the entire range of human emotions and thoughts. This makes the motives of a character psychologically understandable. Instead of the former focus on the relation of humans, their estates and god, he postulated that drama should focus on the psychological processes guiding the plot.

Lessing saw the purpose of tragedies in making the spectator a better person by allowing him to feel