The youth of King Henri Quatre
The youth of King Henri Quatre is the first volume of Heinrich Mann's two novels about the French King Henry IV , published in 1935. It was followed in 1938 by the second volume, The Completion of King Henri Quatre . Together they are considered to be an important work by Heinrich Mann.
background
The intellectual foundations of the novels go back at least to the essay Geist und Tat from the beginning of the 20th century. Furthermore, the ideas and thoughts of Friedrich Nietzsche and Immanuel Kant play an outstanding role. After all, these novels are archetypal representatives of German exile literature during the Third Reich . In an attempt to spiritually unite his German fatherland with his French exile, Heinrich Mann inserted so-called “moralités”, summarizing conclusions in classic French, at key points in the German-language text.
Emergence
The two-part novel, which was written in France and is completely permeated by the French spirit and French zest for life, is about the youth, the rise, the government and the end of King Henri IV of France. In these books Heinrich Mann presumably had expressed his innermost attitude to life, such as the joy of the good things in life, of beauty, friendship, carnal love, good food, honest work and educated conversation in a language that was freed from youthful pomp and purified to simple conciseness like leaving a legacy for posterity. The novel is also a declaration of love for France. The two novels about the life of Henry of Navarre are historical novels and contain numerous details from French history in the late 16th century . Among other things, the events of St. Bartholomew's Night and the siege of La Rochelle (1573) are depicted in dramatic pictures . In doing so, Heinrich Mann succeeded in depicting the uniqueness of a situation and its specific atmosphere with just a few apt words in such a way that the reader feels directly drawn into the action and experiences the action emotionally. At the appearance of the scheming Duke of Guise, who arrives in Paris on horseback on horseback, Heinrich Mann describes the enthusiasm of the cheering crowd stirred up by the agitators of the Catholic League with simple snapshots and the concluding emphatic , actually sarcastic words “Boots, die hanging from the horse, you can just kiss ”. In just a few words, the reader can find out what the author thinks about the character of the Duke of Guise and his political intentions.
Content
The novels themselves play on three time levels. Firstly on the level of the narrative in the age of the Renaissance and the wars of religion in France, secondly in the age of the Enlightenment through the numerous allusions to reason and the demands for humanity, and thirdly, numerous other scenes point to the time of the creation in French and American exile . The narrative level is based on various historical representations and largely adheres to the course of historical events such as St. Bartholomew's Night , Henry IV's various religious changes, the connection to the Medici family , the Edict of Nantes and the murder of Henry IV.
References and Examples
The references to the ideals of reason and thus to the Enlightenment are expressed, for example, in the following passages. In the section “With his head down”, Henri ponders his escape plans and says: “But it should be decided by my intellect, and where did I have it?” (Youth, With his head down); later it says of the narrator “The glow of his speech (of Mornay, an ally of Henri) was preserved in Henri. Because knowledge is a light and is radiated by virtue. Rogues know nothing. ”(Youth, Mornay or virtue). Towards the end of the novel it says “My cause became the hour that the peoples should and should not suffer from bad dreams instead of living reason in the bloated belly of the universal power which has swallowed them all up. This is the true rule of my Great Plan. Not very realistic; Every enlightenment finally becomes sober. Now Mr Grotius (Henri's Minister of Justice) puts them in paragraphs and Mr Rosny (Henri's Minister of Finance) calculates them. ”(Perfection, fatherly joys). This high assessment of reason also has a significant influence on the view of fascism such as “The total monster basically consists of at most one tenth of angry and one tenth of cowards. Between these two kinds of people - nothing. ”(Youth, Second Book of Samuelis, Chapter I, verses 19 and 25).
The references to the real level and Heinrich Mann's outstanding position within the various groups in exile is made clear, among other things, in the following passage, when one of Henri’s envoy arrives in England and tells of Bartholomew's Night. There are some possible parallels there to experiences that may have happened to some exiles in this way or similar. Regarding the inhuman excesses on Bartholomew's Night, a woman, whose name is not mentioned, but who hears about the events, said: “Certainly everything happened, as you report, but very far from here. I don't know a single woman who would be crazy enough to drink blood ”(Consummation, The Mystery of Injustice). This is the disbelief exiles occasionally find when they talk about the events of a tyranny.
Mornay, Henri's envoy, or the narrator comment: “Experiences which seem to raise the whole world, they are so terrible and cry out to God so loudly: A hundred miles further, it is the same Christianity, they cause at most as much attention as an invention and it could be better. ”(Consummation, The Mystery of Injustice).
criticism
In the novel, countless people crowd around the main character Henri, who above all illuminate this more closely. But Henri is by no means portrayed only positively. He is a learner who surrenders to his feelings and love and who has a basic humanistic attitude. Henri's humanism, generosity, justice and humanity are essential traits that are depicted in many scenes. And in these stories the intense preoccupation with human characters based on Nietzsche's psychology, as in his early work, appears again and again. The narrative is occasionally picturesque, some scenes are overdrawn and form a kaleidoscope of a life that is dedicated to a good cause - including the title of an essay.
[They are] novels by a true people's leader, a humanist, servant of justice and admirer of reason (as a counterpart to the subject with his negative features of the Wilhelmine spirit ). He stands up for a new Europe.
expenditure
- Heinrich Mann: The youth of the king Henri Quatre, Fischer Klassik, 2nd edition Frankfurt am Main 2012 ISBN 978-3-596-90151-7 .
- Heinrich Mann: The completion of the king Henri Quatre, Fischer Klassik, Frankfurt am Main 2010 ISBN 978-3-596-90161-6 .