A magnanimous act

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A magnanimous act from the latest history is a story by Friedrich Schiller . It appeared anonymously in Wirtembergisches Repertorium der Literatur in 1782 and was not included by the author in his smaller prosaic writings .

action

Two brothers, the Barons von Wrmb., Both secretly love the young Fraulein von Wrthr. and so get into “the dubious battle between duty and feeling”. When they become aware of this fact and the girl, “feeling the sad situation of these two unfortunate people”, does not dare to “choose only one” and “submit their inclinations to the judgment of brotherly love”, they meet an agreement. First the older brother goes to Amsterdam. If he manages to live apart from his love, then the younger brother should marry the woman, but he will soon come back sick. Now the younger brother travels abroad on the same condition. He chooses Batavia . He soon declares in a letter that he feels physically and mentally strong enough for a separation that is unnecessary and that he is renouncing the lady. The wedding takes place and a year later the woman dies. On her deathbed, she explains to a confidante that she loved her younger brother more. Her husband remarries, the lover keeps his vow to remain celibate.

background

Schiller's story is based on the story of Ludwig von Wurmb (1740–1812) and Friedrich von Wurmb (1742–1781), the brothers of Schiller's mother-in-law Louise von Lengefeld , née. von Wurmb, back. The older married Christiane von Werthern (1750–1778) in 1776, the younger went to Batavia.

Intertextual references

In his introduction, Schiller added the wish that his text would "leave his readers warmer than all the volumes of" Grandison "and" Pamela "." Reference is made here to the texts Sir Charles Grandison and Pamela or the rewarded virtue ("Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded ”) by the English writer Samuel Richardson .

rating

Bernhard Zeller says in the afterword that Schiller took up a popular motif of the time with the two brothers who love the same girl, but adds: “The anecdote lacks any dramatic effects; the poet restricts himself to the simple report of real facts, interrupted only by a few reflections and concerned with moral effect. "

Text output

  • Friedrich Schiller: A generous act. In: Ders .: The criminal from lost honor and other stories. Afterword by Bernhard Zeller . Stuttgart 2008 (RUB 8891), pp. 34-37.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Bernhard Zeller in the afterword to the text, Friedrich Schiller: A generous act. In: Ders .: The criminal from lost honor and other stories. Afterword by Bernhard Zeller . Stuttgart 2008 (RUB 8891), p. 71.

See also