Florentin (novel)

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Dorothea Schlegel
(1764-1839)

Florentin is the only novel by Dorothea Schlegel , which was completed after a short time in 1800 and published anonymously by Friedrich Bohn in Lübeck and Leipzig in January 1801 by her husband, Friedrich Schlegel . Since the second planned volume never appeared, the Florentine is viewed as a fragment.

At the center of the novel is the figure of Florentin, an aristocratic vagabond from Italy who travels the world in search of friendship, love and home.

To the formation

Statements by the author about her novel and her literary activities can be found in letters from around 1800, especially in the collection of JM Raich and in the letters to Friedrich Schleiermacher .

The first part of the Florentine was created quickly and was originally intended to be published by Unger, but was rejected by the publisher because it was too immoral for the novel journal. After its completion on May 15, 1801, the novel was printed by the Lübeck and Leipzig publisher Bohn. Dorothea Schlegel wanted to follow the Florentin with a second part, which was planned for the Easter Mass in 1801, with the completion of which, as can be seen from several letters, she was very troubled. The other part did not follow and it remained with some drafts and notes, as well as the also unfinished novella Camilla , which should be added to the novel. Although the work was published anonymously, word quickly got around who could be considered the author.

One of the reasons why Dorothea Schlegel never made any further pieces could be related to the difficulties and discrimination women writing around 1800 were exposed to. Furthermore, it can be assumed that Florentin's negative relationship to monastic life and Catholicism, which is portrayed in the novel as negative, did not seem to be compatible with her changed moral and religious views:

"Incidentally, I have also done the Florentine again, but my heart is rather neglected with my current way of thinking, I am almost no longer satisfied with anything in it (except for the way of writing); I wish I had finished it right then, so I could now write an Anti Florentin much easier. "

The letters indicate that her husband also delayed the completion as he was responsible for the corrections:

"The Florentin is almost completely written off, the lazy person Friedrich always does not correct my mistakes from the last sheet, otherwise it would have been completely settled and I could send it to you;"

The novel remained a fragment, as was often the case in early Romanticism .

action

Florentin, on the way to the next port because he wants to fight as a soldier for the American colonies, saves Count Schwarzenberg from the attack of a wild boar. The deeply grateful gentleman invites him into his house and Florentin follows him into his property, where he is warmly received by his wife Eleonore, his daughter Juliane and his fiancé Eduard. He enjoys his stay in the harmonious circle, befriends Juliane and Eduard and postpones his onward journey until their marriage. On an excursion he tells the story of his life to the two cherished friends:

He is raised by his foster mother, which he only learns later, strictly Catholic to live in a monastery. The freedom-loving Florentin, who refuses to submit to this fate, fled with the help of his neighbor, the Marchese, and his son Manfredi at the age of fifteen. His stepsister, who is also destined for monastic life, cannot escape and submits to her fate. Florentin attended the military academy for two years and then began an exciting wandering life. He experienced numerous love adventures in Venice, but had to flee to Rome because he was involved in a murder through no fault of his own. There he begins to pursue artistic activities and even marries, but leaves the girl when she aborts his child and therefore almost becomes her own murderer. Her new husband learns of the attack and swears revenge on Florentin, whereupon he has to flee to France. He made his way as a painter in Paris, traveled to London for a short time, then back to France and ended up in Basel for a winter, where he studied German poets. Then he returns to Venice and lives there for some time among shepherds, as he reports.

At Eduard and Juliane's wedding party, Florentin suddenly leaves the property to travel to the Count's much-touted sister, Clementine. He saw a painting of her in the count's estate that deeply touched him. Eleonore gives him a letter for her sister-in-law to take with him, but he has to give it to Clementine's maid Betty for delivery on the spot, as the countess is uncomfortable and cannot receive Florentin herself. Only at a music performance, after Florentin has already gotten to know some people around the court, does he see Clementine for the first time. When they face each other, she passes out at the sight of him and has to be taken to her room. In the meantime, Florentin gets involved in a quarrel with the Rittmeister, Betty's future husband, and disappears without a trace before the others can come to his aid and the count's family, whom Clementine visits after the wedding, arrives.

structure

The structure of the novel is based on two opposing movements: on the one hand, the story is told into the future and, on the other hand, into the past. The present story, which describes Florentin's life from the excursion with the Count to his arrival at Clementina, progresses very slowly and is interrupted by looking back at his mysterious past.

Interpretation of history

What is the Italian Florentin looking for in Germany with Count Schwarzenberg? One answer could be: Florentin is looking for Countess Clementina. Because after a long stay in Basel Florentin spends a night in Venice with a beautiful young woman. She confesses her love to him. The beautiful woman is married to a man who could very well be her grandfather. When Juliane, Eduard and Florentin find shelter from a storm in a mill, Juliane tells a story that supposedly happened to a friend of her aunt Clementina. That friend who gives birth to a daughter at the end of the story could be Clementina and the newborn could be Betty. So Florentin would be Betty's father. Thus, the following strange passages could be explained: Clementina asks Juliane and her sister-in-law, Countess Eleonore, about Florentine - apparently by letter. The reader only learns of this through letters of reply from Julian's and Eleanor's pens. Although invited several times to Juliane's wedding with Eduard, the aunt stayed away for health reasons. When Florentin leaves the Schwarzenbergs' estate at the most inopportune moment, unannounced, Countess Eleonore guesses the destination: “My God! Of course, you are traveling to see Clementines. ”Clementina passes out when Florentin see her. Before that, the countess blushes and pales. When she saw Clementina, Florentin remembers the time in Venice.

It would also fit into this interpretation that Florentin is spoken to deeply when looking at the picture of the young Clementina in the Count's house and that Clementina passed out when she first saw Florentin. The declaration that Clementina would try to forget past love pains and mistakes with her humanitarian work supports this interpretation. However, since the work will not be continued and the author, as her legacy notes show, has pursued different, divergent and contradicting concepts, concrete speculations lead nowhere.

Shape and style

The author designed the form of the 18-chapter novel entirely according to the criteria of romantic poetics. There are letters, conversations, stories and poems inserted. The language is less influenced by romantic elements, such as wit or irony, as they are in z. B. Lucinde can be found, and is presented as very simple and clear.

The narrative of the present level shows little external events and consists mainly of observations and reflections. In this context, mention should be made of the aesthetic, social, and moral discussions that are woven into the story. On the plot level, there is the triangular relationship between Florentin, Juliane and Eduard, but this becomes less important in the course of the story and is no longer pursued. The story of Florentin's youth has a more eventful storyline, but it is told only cursory and hardly goes into depth. The figures also remain superficial and sketchy and cannot stand out through their personality or motivation.

Influences

The influence of enlightenment thinking, which is clearly noticeable in the Florentin, should be emphasized . In the extensive discussions of religious and social reform issues, of social welfare and education, one can recognize Schlegel's father, the social reformer Moses Mendelssohn .

Literary references

Relationships and parallels can be seen with Goethe's Wilhelm Meister years of apprenticeship , with which he shares both the form of the development novel and some details relating to the figures. Among other things, the novel connects with Tiecks Franz Sternbald's wanderings the union of adventure and artistry, the search for one's own origin, the reflections of the two main scenes Germany and Italy, the combination of romantic freedom and love motifs and the attempted kidnapping for the monastery certain sister. With Friedrich Schlegel's Lucinde , the novel shares youth history that has been caught up and the discussion of the subject of true love and marriage. In the descriptions of Florentin's state of mind, Tiecks seem to echo William Lovell and sensitivity. References to Jacobis Woldemar can be seen in the triangular relationship between Florentin, Juliane, and Eduard .

genre

The novel stands entirely in the tradition of romanticism , in whose circles it was of particular importance. Central themes of the Florentin are love and marriage, but above all the hero's search for his origin and identity. The choice of a male main character was very rarely made by female authors at the time. In doing so, Dorothea Schlegel distances herself from portraying a female world, as was customary in classic romantic women's novels. At the same time, it gives her the opportunity to expand her own female scope and break through the fixed gender roles.

Love concept

By demonstrating different pair structures, Dorothea Schlegel illuminates love from different perspectives and in different constellations.
It describes the harmonious marriage between the count and the countess, the conflict-laden relationship between Juliane and Eduard and the broken relationship between Betty and the Rittmeister. Florentin's amicable love for Eduard and the relationship between Florentin and Juliane, which fluctuates between friendship and love, also become subjects of the novel. The author draws different forms of relationships and also addresses the problems and difficulties that can arise. Eduard has a sensual desire for Juliane, to whom she does not want to give in, Betty is obliged to marry the Rittmeister and Clementine tries to distract herself from a love accident she once experienced. Florentin does not find his lover in Juliane and remains alone: ​​“Countess Juliane, heiress of a great name, of great wealth, coming from the hands of the highest culture, used to the circle of the fine world, and Florentin the poor, lonely, outcast, the child of chance. "

Dorothea Schlegel presents a realistic picture of love that can contain negative as well as positive and whose goal is not necessarily the connection to a perfect whole.

Feminist interpretation

Figure of the Florentine

In Florentin, “masculine” and “feminine” characteristics are very blurred. He is a difficult individual to assess and does not allow any clear statements about his identity. His origin is indefinite, he has no wife and no permanent address. He has not yet found his place in society and therefore travels around the world. It seems as if Florentin does not want to fit into rigid attributions and fixed patterns. He unwillingly accepts the Count's invitation to his castle: “It is the most ridiculous thing in the world, except for myself, whom I allow myself to be tempted to follow them and perform in processions… What do I want there? [...] I have always been my own fool. ”For a short time, Florentin can fit into the family and feels comfortable and in good hands. In the course of the novel, however, he becomes more and more alienated, until in the end he is “nowhere to be found” and seems to have dissolved. This ultimately denies any assignment and Florentin disappears into nothing.

In the novel, Florentin has the outward characteristics and privileges of a man, but the vagueness of his origin and his character draw a more "feminine" figure. The name "Florentin" itself offers some scope for interpretation and is viewed in literature as an indication of the figure's femininity. According to its sound, “Florentin” can denote a man and a woman, as the “e” of the female form is not pronounced in the original languages ​​of the name, Italian and French. His name is kept secret in the text and it seems as if Florentin is trying to hide something. In this context, the exchange of words is also interesting, in which the count investigates more closely and describes Juliane to her aunt in a letter:

“'From Florentin?' asked the father. [...] 'If my name alone is not enough,' he said, 'then add Baron, at least originally that describes what I wanted to be, namely a man.' "

The “femininity” of Dorothea Schlegel seems to be expressed in the Florentin. Since women were excluded from self-determination during this time, this overwriting of “feminine” traits in her figure is to be seen as a necessary consequence for the literary scholar Inge Stephan. It can be read as a rebellion and revolt against rigid role assignments by Dorothea Schlegel. The result is a figure that is vague in terms of gender and cannot be summed up in the categories “female” and “male”. With this the author succeeds in crossing the gender lines and dissolving the separation between “femininity” and “masculinity”.

The female figures

Dorothea Schlegel transferred her female ideas and wishes to her main character and thus expanded her scope as an author and questioned the gender dichotomy with the figure of Florentin. At the same time, however, she transfers the ideas of a patriarchal environment about her own gender to the other characters in the novel. Most of them are portrayed as weak and dependent. For example, Florentin's sister , in whom these characteristics emerge most clearly: “The poor child was now left entirely to the people who made use of the weakness of their character in order to guide them according to their whims. She felt her dependency, but it didn't depress her like me; "

Betty , too, cannot avoid marrying the Rittmeister on her own: "So the poor must be lost forever from weakness to weakness?"

For the interpretation of Julian's character , the scene on the wandering is interesting in which she slips into men's clothes. It is implied that she can follow suit by joining them on the outing. Even the parents' concern for their beloved daughter, who they hardly want to share in the company, shows how dependent and dependent Juliane is. Julian's short-term equality with Eduard and Florentin is destroyed again when the thunderstorm breaks over them and Julian's “weakness” emerges. The thunderstorm scared her so much that she almost passed out from fear. At the same time she falls back into the clichéd role of the spoiled princess when she asks the miller and his wife to stay up for the night, because "she would be so afraid that she would certainly not be able to sleep unless everything in the house was awake". Juliane is completely hysterical, demands that a car be sent home to her parents and “was in an indescribable fear because of the fear of her parents. She trembled and cried, her imagination filled the most terrifying ideas ”.

Juliane's apparent emancipation and short-term equality with men are withdrawn again at the end: “Juliane had experienced her dependence and had to admit to herself that she should not dare to do it so unconditionally, beyond her limits, and without her ties and hers to cope with artificial conveniences. "

Even if Julian's emancipation only succeeds for a short time and this scene seems to portray her as dependent and weak, Dorothea Schlegel plays with the concepts of “masculinity” and “femininity”. She lets a woman slip into men's clothes, breaking out of unambiguous classifications and blurring the boundaries. Julian's exaggerated behavior could be read as an ironic comment by the author on societal ideas about the “female sex”.

Schlegel depicts Countess Eleonore , who is less weak than more embedded in a conservative structure , who is primarily concerned with looking after the house and carrying out related activities. However, the relationship with her husband is described as almost equal and the commitment to the domestic role is also relativized by the author:

“'[…] The man is preoccupied with the war, and in times of peace hunting, the woman owns the house and the internal economy.' - 'You just believe,' said Eleanor, 'The man who is now speaking warlike and wildly has to take on a lot of domestic care.' - 'Of course it is fitting for the man,' replied the count, 'to be the assistant to a woman who dares to be her husband's companion in the field.' "

Countess Clementina appears conventional, but neither weak nor dependent . The author places it in a charitable and artistic environment. She has dedicated her life to charity because of a love affair she suffered and takes care of children and poor people by making her garden available to the public and providing them with housing and supplies. Her generosity and benevolence towards the poor and the sick make her appear as a saint or a martyr: “The sublime, unhappy Clementine breathes out her own pain in divine harmony, and feels the pain of others more deeply in order to give consolation and help. It is love and nothing but this that comforts here as it pleases there. ”Numerous religious elements underline her high dignity and so the painting of Saint Anne that hangs in the castle bears her features. She devotes herself to art and music and composes herself. The author draws a female composer, a role that shows her outstanding status. In contrast to the other women, Clementine is ranked higher; she shows neither weakness nor dependence.

Nonetheless and understandable, the author was not uninfluenced by the conservative ideas and outdated role ascriptions that shaped the worldview at the time. So it says in the text:

“'Only from loving women,' said Florentin, 'should all charity come. Women also understand best the needs of a weak nature; the man would rather wipe out weakness from the earth than support it in suffering! '"

Dorothea Schlegel cannot completely free herself from gender stereotypes, but by demonstrating various concepts of “femininity” and she does not limit her characters to a few roles.

Testimonials

  • Around 1802 to Schleiermacher : “You wrote me a lot of delightful things about my good son Florentin. The poor man has to put up with a lot again that he dreamed nothing of as long as it was haunted as an idea. "
  • To Brentano : "It is a very friendly, enjoyable, delightful book that strives with all its might towards the weeping."

reception

  • While Jean Paul welcomed the novel, Schiller , Goethe and Brentano rejected it .
  • Johann Michael Raich held the book for successful than the " Lucinda " of the spouse.
  • Florentin, constantly on the lookout, wanted to go to America because he couldn't find his place in Europe. Florentin's search is directed backwards.
  • Dorothea Schlegel had looked through Eichendorff's novel manuscript " A Glance and Present " . Eichendorff designed Friedrich's brother Rudolph after the Florentin.
  • Weissberg calls the work a novel of development and gives further leading works: Franz Deibel (1905), Marie Joachimi (1907), Ludwig Geiger (1914), Heinrich Finke (1918, 1923), Hans Eichner (1965) and Karin Stuebben Thornton (1966 ).

literature

Text output

  • Dorothea Schlegel: Florentin. A novel. Edited by Wolfgang Nehring . Stuttgart: Reclam, 1993.
  • Dorothea Schlegel: Florentin. Novel. Fragments. Variants. Edited and with an afterword by Liliane Weissberg. 244 pages. Ullstein Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-548-37053-5
  • Dorothea Schlegel: Florentin . 144 pages. Zenodot Verlagsgesellschaft 2007. Zenodot Collection, ISBN 978-3-86640-265-2
  • Paul Kluckhohn (Ed.): Early Romantic Stories. Second volume. Pp. 89-237 (Commentary pp. 305-307) Verlag von Philipp Reclam jun. Leipzig 1933. 309 pages

Secondary literature

  • Becker-Cantarino, Barbara: writers of the romantic. Epoch - works - effect. Edited by Wilfried Barner and Gunter E. Grimm with the assistance of Hans-Werner Ludwig and Siegfried Jüttner . Munich: Beck 2000 (work books on the history of literature).
  • Brandstädter, Heike / Jeorgakopulos, Katharina: Dorothea. Schlegel. Florentine. Reading a forgotten text. Hamburg: Argument 2001.
  • Frank, Heike: … the disharmony that was born with me and will never leave me…. The life of Brendel / Dorothea Mendelssohn-Veit-Schlegel (1764–1893). Frankfurt am Main, Bern, New York, Paris: Peter Lang 1988 (European University Theses: Series 1, German Language and Literature, Vol. 1040).
  • Nehring, Wolfgang (Ed.): Afterword. In: Dorothea Schlegel: Florentin. A novel. Stuttgart: Reclam 1993.
  • Schulz, Gerhard : The German literature between the French Revolution and restoration. Part 1. The Age of the French Revolution: 1789–1806. 763 pages. Munich 1983, ISBN 3-406-00727-9
  • Stephan, Inge: Staged Femininity. Coding of the sexes in 18th century literature. Cologne, Weimar, Vienna: Böhlau 2004.

Letters

  • Letters from Dorothea and Friedrich Schlegel to the Paulus family. Edited by Rudolf Unger. Berlin: 1913.
  • Letters from Dorothea Schlegel to Friedrich Schleiermacher. (Messages from the literature archive in Berlin. New series. Vol. 7.) Berlin 1913.
  • Dorothea von Schlegel, b. Mendelssohn, and their sons Johannes and Philipp Veit: Correspondence. Edited by JM Raich. 2 vols. Mainz 1881.

First printing

  • Florentine. A novel edited by Friedrich Schlegel. First volume. Lübeck and Leipzig, by Friedrich Bohn. 1801. 388 pages. Half leather with gold-embossed title on the back ( digitized and full text in the German Text Archive )

Web links

Individual evidence

Source means the quoted text edition by Weissberg Florentin means the text edition by Nehring

  1. Weissberg, p. 239 above
  2. Dorothea von Schlegel, b. Mendelssohn, and their sons Johannes and Philipp Veit: Correspondence. Edited by JM Raich. 2 vols. Mainz 1881.
  3. cf. Afterword by Nehring, pp. 304-306.
  4. Dorothea Schlegel to Karoline Paulus, letter of July 13, 1805. In: Rudolf Unger (Hrsg.): The exchange of letters from Dorothea and Friedrich Schlegel to the Paulus family. Berlin: 1913. p. 63.
  5. ^ Letter of June 2, 1800 to Schleiermacher, p61.
  6. cf. Florentin, pp. 11-191.
  7. cf. Afterword by Nehring, p. 311.
  8. ^ Edition by Weissberg, p. 125, 11. Zvo
  9. cf. Afterword by Nehring, p. 312.
  10. cf. Frank (1988), p. 132.
  11. cf. Afterword by Nehring, p. 313.
  12. vlg. Afterword by Nehring, p. 310.
  13. cf. Afterword by Nehring, pp. 309-310
  14. cf. Inge Stephan (2004), p. 237.
  15. Florentin, p. 117.
  16. Florentin, p. 16.
  17. cf. Heike Brandstädter, Katharina Jeorgakopulos (2001), p. 16.
  18. Florentin, pp. 40, 41.
  19. cf. Stephan (2004), pp. 241, 242.
  20. Florentin, p. 69.
  21. Florentin, p. 163.
  22. Florentin, p. 114
  23. Florentin, p. 110
  24. Florentin, p. 131
  25. Florentin, p. 22
  26. Florentin, p. 170
  27. Florentin, p. 169.
  28. quoted in Weissberg in the afterword of the source, p. 235, 16. Zvu
  29. quoted in Weissberg in the afterword of the source, p. 228, 22. Zvo
  30. Weissberg in the afterword of the source, p. 227, 3rd Zvu
  31. Weissberg in the afterword of the source, p. 228, 10th Zvu
  32. Schulz, pp. 400–401
  33. ^ Weissberg in the afterword of the source, p. 235, 16. Zvo
  34. Weissberg in the afterword of the source, p. 236, 6th Zvu
  35. Source, pp. 242–244
  36. Source, p. 235, 13. Zvo
  37. Weissberg in der Quelle, p. 239 above