I had a weekend featuring a baptism and two birthday celebrations, sorry - but I adore your "Voltaire in Prussia" summary. BTW, there used to be an audiobook featuring two of our most eminent actors having a go at it as Fritz and Voltaire in excerpts from their correspondance. Sadly, it's not sold anymore. (And in German besides, quelle horreur, Fritz!)
And yes, verily, Carl August was a more sensible fellow in how to handle a poet bff than great-uncle Fritz. Mind you: he's not kidding in my summary when bringing up his favourite mistress getting leading roles. Since one of Goethe's tasks was running the Weimar theatre, the fact the female star was literally in bed with the Duke sometimes caused friction, since her NOT getting the best parts was a strict no. When, a few decades down the line, he wanted a change of theatre director but didn't want to tell Goethe outright, he instead insisted a funny dog should be put on stage. This was it for Goethe, as Carl August knew it would be, and old Johann Wolfgang resigned from that post. (BTW I always thought that was where Tom Stoppard got the bit with the dog in "Shakespeare in love" from.)
Generally, they handled each other's private lives well. Which was a big issue since when Goethe returned from Italy, he returned not just with erotic poetry in his luggage but with, none too long after his arrival, moving in with a local girl who worked at the manufacturary for artificial flowers (not quite working class as we understand it today, but definitely not middle class, let alone noble), Christiane Vulpius. The scandal here wasn't that they had sex but that they lived together, in the same house, sans marriage, with illegitimate children (all of whom but one died, and the surviving son was named August after CA)... for the next eighteeen years. And then they married. This was a big big scandal in stuffy little Weimar, both the living together (as opposed to the usual rich man has sex with the lower classes, moves on thing) and the eventual marriage, and if Carl August hadn't provided cover and withstood all demands to hand down an ultimatum to Goethe along the lines of "get rid of the low born slut or lose my patronage", who knows what would have happened. Once Christiane was officially Frau von Goethe, Carl August shocked the Weimar society by dancing with her at a court ball, which, together with Schopenhauer's mother Johanna offering a cup of tea ("if Goethe gives her his name, I can offer her tea") signalled the official acceptance of the quondam Demoiselle Vulpius in Weimar society. Which never stopped bitching about her until she died, sad to say, but Carl August was a champ throughout in this matter.
Carl August, Master of Chill
And yes, verily, Carl August was a more sensible fellow in how to handle a poet bff than great-uncle Fritz. Mind you: he's not kidding in my summary when bringing up his favourite mistress getting leading roles. Since one of Goethe's tasks was running the Weimar theatre, the fact the female star was literally in bed with the Duke sometimes caused friction, since her NOT getting the best parts was a strict no. When, a few decades down the line, he wanted a change of theatre director but didn't want to tell Goethe outright, he instead insisted a funny dog should be put on stage. This was it for Goethe, as Carl August knew it would be, and old Johann Wolfgang resigned from that post. (BTW I always thought that was where Tom Stoppard got the bit with the dog in "Shakespeare in love" from.)
Generally, they handled each other's private lives well. Which was a big issue since when Goethe returned from Italy, he returned not just with erotic poetry in his luggage but with, none too long after his arrival, moving in with a local girl who worked at the manufacturary for artificial flowers (not quite working class as we understand it today, but definitely not middle class, let alone noble), Christiane Vulpius. The scandal here wasn't that they had sex but that they lived together, in the same house, sans marriage, with illegitimate children (all of whom but one died, and the surviving son was named August after CA)... for the next eighteeen years. And then they married. This was a big big scandal in stuffy little Weimar, both the living together (as opposed to the usual rich man has sex with the lower classes, moves on thing) and the eventual marriage, and if Carl August hadn't provided cover and withstood all demands to hand down an ultimatum to Goethe along the lines of "get rid of the low born slut or lose my patronage", who knows what would have happened. Once Christiane was officially Frau von Goethe, Carl August shocked the Weimar society by dancing with her at a court ball, which, together with Schopenhauer's mother Johanna offering a cup of tea ("if Goethe gives her his name, I can offer her tea") signalled the official acceptance of the quondam Demoiselle Vulpius in Weimar society. Which never stopped bitching about her until she died, sad to say, but Carl August was a champ throughout in this matter.