The disguises of the French court master and his German pupil
The disguises of the French court master and his German pupil is a novella by Achim von Arnim , which appeared in 1823 in the “Woman's pocket book for the year 1824” by Johann Leonhard Schrag in Nuremberg.
The entries in the pupil's diary provide information about the history of the court master , a Huguenot .
content
In Belgium , Paris and Amsterdam after October 18, 1685 during the reign of Louis XIV. The pupil, who is a German from Cologne, finished his law studies at the age of nineteen. At the father's request, he should now become French because the family is expecting an inheritance from France. So the pupil is supposed to go on an educational trip to Paris with the court master, that is the former jeweler Chardin. A damned nuisance - the pupil has to follow the example of the court master and write his own diary in French. However, he defies the master that he is not allowed to read the entries. In the unguarded moment the pupil looks more than once into the master's diary. It speaks of a dear Laura and an allegedly deceased woman. In Belgium the pupil proves to be inexperienced in dealing with money and goods. The court master bailed him out every time.
Chardin tells the pupil about his misfortune. Having made his fortune as a goldsmith in Lyon and known as a jeweler in Paris, he and his wife had to move from Lyon to Metz after the edict of Nantes was repealed . After returning from Paris on a business trip, Chardin learns that envious fellow believers have betrayed him to religious spies. He believes his wife dead. Her admirer, the Marquis G., a young dragoon rider, had looked after her. Chardin has accepted the position of court master because he wants to free his daughter from a monastery in Paris. The girl is being held there on behalf of Ms. von Maintenon .
A year has now passed since the Chardin family fled Lyon. Chardin has now seen his wife again and learned that she married the Marquis G. three weeks ago. Chardin wavers. First of all, he wants to give his wife the choice. If she prefers the marquis, he will stay dead. This consideration is rejected. Chardin then decides to examine his wife. He wants to introduce her to his second wife. The pupil has to play this, an expectant mother. The young legal scholar plays the part well. Chardin's wife has conversations with him from woman to woman: A year ago, Chardin should have fled with her, her daughter and his fortune to Holland or Berlin to the Great Elector . Chardin leaves the two "women" alone. The pupil looks up in the master's diary. It says how to proceed. Chardin wants to free his Laura. The pupil puzzles. Who is laura Chardin's mistress? Disguised as a German Magister Kellermann, Chardin roams Paris. He visits the wife of Sévigné and Ninon and even meets the well-known wife of Maintenon. This occurs in the king’s entourage. The Hofmeister is also planning a trip to India.
When the pupil woke up one morning, he was astonished to find a beautiful strange youth at his side. This resembles Mrs. Chardins. A veiled lady, escorted by armed men, enters the bedchamber, unmasked as the court master. He asks the astonished pupil in German to marry his daughter Laura, who is lying next to him. The pupil looks. Indeed - the beautiful young man has turned into a virgin. To make matters worse, the king also enters. Punishments are falling. Chardin is sent to the Bastille for the kidnapping of his daughter from the ministry of Ms. von Maintenon . There he is housed together with the Marquis. The Marquis is sitting because he is supposed to be a secret Huguenot. The pupil has to marry Laura on the spot and gets house arrest. In the library of Mrs. de Maintenon he continues his diary; but now in German - for security reasons. Since the pupil had to part from his Laura immediately after his marriage with just a single quick kiss, he now has a lot of time for the Maintenon library. He reads the "Comical Novel" written by P. Scarron , the Blessed Man of the Maintenon.
Finally the pupil tells about his escape from Paris. He frees his two fathers-in-law from the Bastille. On the way to Amsterdam, Chardin duly celebrates the wedding of his children in a tavern. The Marquis - one of the party - wants to give the woman back to Chardin. The court master refuses with thanks and sets off on a journey to India. Before that, he declares the pupil's upbringing over. Because the educational goal was achieved. The pupil was to be married to Laura at the request of his father. Laura is expecting a child from the pupil. In Amsterdam, the refugees meet the marquise, the pupil's mother-in-law. Amazed and ashamed, she recognizes in her son-in-law the supposed second wife of her first husband. When she learns that Chardin is leaving Europe, she is finally relieved. He was "a jester, a comedy player, a mask". The pupil and Laura disagree.
reception
- Moering mentions meetings
- on November 22nd, 1823 in the " Newspaper for the Elegant World " No. 229: "The presentation is clear, lively and attractive."
- E. Meyen writes on October 31, 1839 in the “ Hallische Jahrbuch ” No. 261: “Here, too, the naive emerges in a most charming way.”
- According to Funk, the diary - a comedy - hides the tragedy of the Huguenots. The wife of Chardins, the figure of the mother, transition from the diary to the novella with her appearance. The pupil learns how to handle secrets from the court master. By leaving the pupil alone with his wife, the court master also teaches the sexually unsuspecting person to desire.
literature
- Renate Moering (Ed.): Achim von Arnim. All stories 1818–1830. Vol. 4 in: Roswitha Burwick (Ed.), Jürgen Knaack (Ed.), Paul Michael Lützeler (Ed.), Renate Moering (Ed.), Ulfert Ricklefs (Ed.), Hermann F. Weiss (Ed.): Achim von Arnim. Works in six volumes. 1436 pages. Deutscher Klassiker Verlag Frankfurt am Main 1992 (1st edition), ISBN 3-618-60040-2
- Julika Funk: The art of travesty as a romantic undressing of gender. On Achim von Arnim's “The disguises of the French court master and his German pupil” in Elfi Bettinger (Ed.) Julika Funk (Ed.): Masquerades. Gender difference in literary staging . 366 pages, 17 illustrations, Erich Schmidt Verlag 1995. ISBN 978-3-503-03724-7
Quoted text edition
- Achim von Arnim: The disguises of the French court master and his German pupil. Novella . P. 433–491 in Konrad Kratzsch (Ed.): Achim von Arnim: Erzählungen. 635 pages. Aufbau-Verlag Berlin and Weimar 1968 (1st edition)
Web links
- The text at Gutenberg-DE
Individual evidence
Source means the quoted text edition
- ↑ Moering, p. 1143
- ^ More precisely, in Leuven , Brussels and Antwerp .
- ↑ Source, p. 451, 3. Zvo
- ↑ The Hofmeister is wearing features of Jean Chardin (Funk, p. 244).
- ↑ Moering, pp. 1136-1147
- ^ Eduard Meyen : Achim von Arnim's all works. Published by Wilhelm Grimm. In: Hallisches Jahrbuch für Wissenschaft und Kunst . Digital collections of the University of Cologne , November 1, 1839, p. 2095 , accessed on February 14, 2014 .
- ↑ Funk, pp. 233-253