After practising the art of ridicule and self-mockery in The Young Scholar, Lessing turns to the conflicts with his parents and his experiences in “freethinking Berlin” (KGL 1, 81). He makes them the subject of a comedy that follows the tradition of the Captivi in demoting the love story to a side issue while introducing a serious element, namely the ideological conflict between rivalling groups. In the Contributions he had emphasised that, “one can indeed dramatise the most serious philosophical truths, even religious disputes” (B 1, 883). His comedy about the virtuous freethinker (Der Freigeist) puts this contention to the test.