The broken stagecoach
The broken stagecoach. Text for a comic operetta is a story by Achim von Arnim , which was published in 1818 in Hamburg's “Originalien aus dem Realien aus dem Realien, Kunst, Mune und Phantasie” (Georg Lotz (Ed.)). The text is a satire on the " Werther ".
content
A passenger dissatisfied with the travel comfort had nailed a rotten cancer in a hidden place in the passenger compartment of the stagecoach during the previous trip. With the foul smell of fish, the prankster infuriates the passengers who are crowded together and makes them want to attack each other. In a word - the comfort is really bad. None of the passengers gives the postilion the obligatory tip at the destination, especially since the stagecoach - having arrived at the destination with great difficulty - collapses at a standstill and the passengers slide out. During the subsequent disputes, the postmaster wants to keep the luggage as a deposit until the judge has decided on the obolus. The angry travelers are now feverishly trying to get parts of their luggage. A councilor gets to a Werther - and a student to a Lotte costume. Both stay in the same hotel and understand fun. The next day they actually play their roles. In addition to the two costumed people, the imposing one also came with us. He wants to visit the councilor and the town clerk embarrassingly.
Because it is about "Werther", two children of the Muses soon emerge from the staff, which is very extensive for a short text . They are the famous French lady and the poet of fortune. That "very adorned, curly-haired head with an elderly face" is deadly serious about the joke. Of course, the French woman also interferes in the fundamental dispute that arises. She plays the referee to resolve contentious issues. But her French is criticized. The French woman who had traveled to the country steadfastly declaimed “from Ossian according to Werther's translation”.
Self-testimony
- Originally, the satire must have been part of the story "Juvenis". Because Arnim wrote on February 20, 1818: "... I leave out the comic part of the Werthern entirely, it should become a little comedy."
reception
- Moering has examined the burlesque . According to this, the town clerk is said to have features of Goethe . The imposing one reminds of Goethe's son August . The famous traveling woman was modeled after Madame de Staël and the fate poet was, as it were, the image of Zacharias Werner .
literature
Quoted text edition
- Achim von Arnim: The broken stagecoach. Text for a comic operetta . Pp. 81-104 in 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
Individual evidence
Source means the quoted text edition