Bluebeard (Marlitt)

Bluebeard is a novella (family story, love story) that E. Marlitt published in 1866 in the family weekly Die Gartenlaube (Issues 27–31 / 32). After the story The Twelve Apostles and the novel Goldelse , the work was the author's third publication. The first book edition to contain the novella was the anthology Thuringian Stories published in 1869 by the editor of the "Gartenlaube", Ernst Keil .

The novella tells the story of young Lilli who, as a bystander, gets caught up in an old family feud and can help clear the matter two generations later and settle the enmity.

action

Anthonis van Dyck : Portrait of the painter's wife, Mary Ruthven (around 1638). The origin of the family quarrel in the novella is a "wonderful girl face" van Dyck.

The place of the action is the indefinite Thuringian town R., the time the 19th century. The cousins ​​Hubert and Erich Dorn live with their families property on property. Their understanding is so good that they share a pavilion that is just on the property line and where they eat together in summer. After both sides begin to collect works of art, a rivalry develops that escalates when Hubert inherits a painting by Van Dyck that Erich envies him greatly. The painting disappears without a trace, without it being possible to prove the theft to Erich.

Many years later - the hostile cousins ​​are no longer alive - the young Herr von Dorn, an ennobled great-grandson of Hubert Dorn, returns to one of the two houses. He is accompanied by a mysterious, always veiled young woman (Beatrice) and a “negro in livery”. The resident of the other house is Hofratin Falk, Erich's granddaughter and the only surviving descendant. They call their loved ones Basia. Basia has a handicap: she was born with only one arm. The father of young Herr von Dorn once cruelly insulted her when they were both still children because of this handicap. As a young woman, Basia had to undergo a painful lesson in honesty: the prosthetic arm, with which her well-meaning father tried to hide her disability, put the first man to flee who had shown an interest in Basia. Of course there was another applicant who then married the wealthy heiress. Basia is now a widow. Her favorite company is Lilli from Berlin, the daughter of a childhood friend and - as the reader will only find out later - the man who once passionately reached for Bachen's prosthesis and discovered that there was no arm.

The action begins with Lilli arriving at Basia for her annual summer visit. As always, Basia warns her not to worry about the neighboring property. Basia does not know the young Herr von Dorn, but has a dispute with him, partly because of the family dispute, partly because he has enforced the court to demolish the pavilion. The latter is particularly sensitive to her, because Erich Dorn's mysterious last words were: “The pavilion!” The opposing property is well hidden behind the fence and hedge; only one window of the pavilion still offers a clear view. Lilli has a romantic disposition, and the servants' talk that the neighbor, like a bluebeard , is hiding and imprisoning the mysterious veiled woman and has her guarded by the sinister African, irresistibly stimulates her imagination and curiosity. Of course, one evening she peeks out the forbidden window. There she hears Herr von Dorn playing the cello and sees the veiled Beatrice in the garden, who is terribly frightened at the sight of Lillis.

Herr von Dorn calls a bricklayer who starts demolishing the pavilion, but quickly breaks off this work at the behest of his client. Herr von Dorn discovered Lilli in the pavilion and also that the pavilion has not been cleared out, but rather contains a number of paintings. Lilli immediately takes great sympathy for Herr von Dorn, treats him with consideration for Basia, who had described him as a monster, but dismissively. Basia's house servant, Sauer, hides the pictures. He does not continue the demolition work for Herr von Dorn and uses a chance encounter with Lilli in the forest to ask her to mediate between the two families. He assures her that the hostility emanates from Basia alone, while he wants nothing but reconciliation. Lilli is confused and doesn't know whether to believe him or Basia.

A little later, Herr von Dorn observes an admirer forcing Lilli to kiss her hand. He loses his composure because he has long since loved her. When Lilli is invited to a friend's wedding and Mr. von Dorn expects the intrusive beau to accompany her there, he is so jealous that he tries to talk to Lilli. This confronts him with her supposed knowledge of his activities as "Bluebeard". The misunderstanding about Beatrice is quickly cleared up: she is Herr von Dorn's half-sister and suffers from a disfiguring illness; the siblings love each other deeply and Beatrice's seclusion corresponds to her own wish. The African servant is a loyal ally. Herr von Dorn only wanted to have the pavilion torn down to protect Beatrice from prying eyes. Herr von Dorn is relieved because he finally thinks he understands why Lilli treated him so negatively. In doing so, of course, he underestimates Lilli's loyalty to her beloved motherly friend Basia. When he now confesses his love to Lilli, she doesn't want to know anything about it.

Basia invites you to a large supper, for which the paintings recovered from the pavilion are to be hung. Due to the clumsiness of the house servant Sauer, one of the pictures is damaged, and behind the torn canvas the Van Dyck painting, believed to be lost, appears. Basia realizes that her grandfather Erich was actually the thief of the picture and that her prejudice against the Hubert family was unjustified. Ashamed, she decides to apologize to Herr von Dorn and return the picture to him. But before she can do that, Lilli discovers that the family quarrel cannot keep her away from her lover. Lilli and Herr von Dorn become a couple.

Expenses (selection)

• Bluebeard . In: Thuringian stories: schoolmaster Marie, the twelve apostles, bluebeard, bailiff's maid . Hofenberg, 2018, ISBN 978-3-7437-2576-8 , pp. 113-183 .

Web links

Wikisource: Bluebeard (Marlitt)  - Sources and full texts

Commons : Bluebeard (Marlitt)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Bluebeard with Zeno