Frederick the Great discussion post 9

[cahn]

...I leave you guys alone for one weekend and it's time for a new Fritz post, lol!

I'm gonna reply to the previous post comments but I guess new letter-reading, etc. should go in this one :)

Frederick the Great links

Comments

Re: Émilie du Châtelet: (Judith P. Zinsser) - synopsis

[mildred_of_midgard]

re: Voltaire - the impression I got from the letters is that he grieved exactly like Fritz did. Which, yes, "woe is meeeeee!", but that doesn't mean the grief itself is faked or less valid than quiet grief.

Yep. And that's why Fritz and Voltaire's inability to recognize each other's emotions in a mirror...well, neither of them was known for being especially well-adjusted and mature.

Me: ...I don't know about that, it seems to me that if you had a portrait of someone in your bedroom --
The ghost of Fritz, in the back: *raises hand*

ROTFLOL. Ah, but him and MT were special.

Also ROTFLOL. Don't forget Joseph! Joseph the Rational Fanboy, and Fritz the A+ Troll. (What do you think Peter III had in his bedroom?)

Unless we're thinking Fritz never really grieved for Wilhelmine, his mother, Suhm, and, of course, his dogs. (Which btw at least one "Deconstructing Fritz" biographer totally does think, but I disagree.)

Have seen a biographer, probably a different one, claim that he got over Katte too quickly, and therefore his well-reported grief wasn't really anything but the initial shock or whatever, not *actual* ability to care for another person.

Wilhelmine: He was in a "profound melancholy" for a long time and wore the coat until it fell apart.
Biographer: Yeah, but he thought about other things and rebuilt a life and sometimes--gasp--even had good days! Blasphemy. He was obviously too self-centered to have ever cared about Katte or anyone else.

Me: If those are the standards, biographer, I suspect you live in a glass house, like most of the rest of us.