Re: Prussian sibling correspondance

Date: 2019-10-13 11:17 am (UTC)
selenak: (Default)
From: [personal profile] selenak
So, I've been wondering for a long time now: after 1740, was anything stopping him except his own priorities?

Consciously? Nothing. Subconsciously, I think in later years, he was scared, precisely because he always wanted to go, it was a dream of youth, and he'd built it up in his mind as wonderful so very much. He was afraid if he went, he'd be disappointed, and then he wouldn't have those dream countries in his head anymore, either. (I'm influenced here by the fact that two German writers I've read a lot of, Karl May and Lion Feuchtwanger, both avoided visiting their dream countries even once they could; in May's case, once he finally did, it was a terrifying experience, and in Feuchtwanger's case, he frankly wrote "I don't want the reality of the moment spoil the country of my imagination" and never went.) All those "here's why current day Italy and the Italians must suck and you can't enjoy them, tell me they suck" comments hail from that, too, imo.

I mean: just think how his meeting with Voltaire went - never meet your heroes or your dream countries? BTW, I've now read the footnotes of some of the letters I already read, too, and the ones to Wilhelmine's report on her meeting Voltaire and how very sorry he is for all he's done wrong and how he sends Fritz his love are priceless, because Voltaire, of course, presented the whole visit very differently in his own letters: "The Margravaine visited me yesterday, trying her best to make up for the damage her brother the king did to our relationship. From this, you can conclude women are better than men."
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