I guess Lavisse doesn't mention why, if Fritz only values his siblings according to their rank (and bringing in their husbands as allies, in the case of the Margrave), Queen Ulrike isn't his favourite?
Not his biddable spy? Idk, none of this is earth logic to me.
To be fair, he doesn't say that future queen of England was the only reason Fritz *ever* cared about Wilhelmine, but that losing that possibility sealed the deal on the loss of whatever closeness they'd had before Küstrin, which was where Fritz chose to abandon what little humanity he had left and learn to be the Great. (And Lavisse, unlike Preuss, does not think "the Great" was worth becoming.)
Sorry, I'll have to get back to you on that. Darth Real Life, also the absence of my best MT biography, which is excellent in presenting the political backfround for the previous generation.
Not to worry! You're churning out at a tremendous rate considering everything else you have going on. All hail the Royal Reader!
You got it. Fritz is the pincher/hold-tight-er, Suhm is hte one who can't move his arm afterwards. Which absolutely isn't saying either of them couldn't feel anything.
*nod* Thank you. Mind you, I assume Suhm was writing to August in French, so I hope the German translator got it right, but I think I trust someone doing a literal translation of documents over someone just summarizing.
Where Lavisse got "this was playacting" from is beyond me.
In Lavisse's defense, when I did the initial write-up of Suhm's account of that episode, I noted that the editor of Allergnädigster Vater (YouthDocuments in our library) had a footnote reading "Eyewitnesses expressed the not entirely unfounded opinion that Friedrich's performance was a cleverly calculated comedy."
That was before I knew FW had done this to multiple other people, that French envoys commented on how he liked seeing people drunk, and if you believe Lavisse, that FW had even done it to Fritz on another occasion!
So Lavisse isn't making this up about the comedy, but I wonder who those eyewitnesses are and what they said. It seems very in-character for FW to make someone get drunk and very out of character for Fritz to get drunk voluntarily.
One thing to note is that the eyewitnesses are present when FW is repeatedly insisting that Fritz is faking it. That's bound to influence their thinking. The guy sitting next to Fritz and paying the closest attention to him seems convinced he's really drunk (if he's not just covering for him, that is).
Now, if I had to make a case for FW to be pitied, I'd argue his tragedy is that he wanted to have not a typical "noble/royal" marriage but a normal one
Agreed, I would also point out his childhood, his massive health problems, and the fact that a lot of that drinking may have been meant as a coping device with physical and mental health problems. I would stop short of saying that this means his children are responsible for his moods!
Do we detect some subversiveness in loyal Prussian subject Hille?
He definitely seems to think the Potsdam giants are ridiculous! Which was a majority opinion, I have to say.
Fritz not loving Katte: sigh. Head. Desk.
But he did what Katte wanted, by trying to please FW and act interested in learning more about why predestination was wrong! And he pulled himself together and cracked a joke several weeks later! And he generally moved on and lived his life despite saying on November 6 that he would give his life for Katte! Would he do that if he loved Katte?
Is it not obvious that Fritz was incapable of love or friendship?
Re: Lavisse
Not his biddable spy? Idk, none of this is earth logic to me.
To be fair, he doesn't say that future queen of England was the only reason Fritz *ever* cared about Wilhelmine, but that losing that possibility sealed the deal on the loss of whatever closeness they'd had before Küstrin, which was where Fritz chose to abandon what little humanity he had left and learn to be the Great. (And Lavisse, unlike Preuss, does not think "the Great" was worth becoming.)
Sorry, I'll have to get back to you on that. Darth Real Life, also the absence of my best MT biography, which is excellent in presenting the political backfround for the previous generation.
Not to worry! You're churning out at a tremendous rate considering everything else you have going on. All hail the Royal Reader!
You got it. Fritz is the pincher/hold-tight-er, Suhm is hte one who can't move his arm afterwards. Which absolutely isn't saying either of them couldn't feel anything.
*nod* Thank you. Mind you, I assume Suhm was writing to August in French, so I hope the German translator got it right, but I think I trust someone doing a literal translation of documents over someone just summarizing.
Where Lavisse got "this was playacting" from is beyond me.
In Lavisse's defense, when I did the initial write-up of Suhm's account of that episode, I noted that the editor of Allergnädigster Vater (YouthDocuments in our library) had a footnote reading "Eyewitnesses expressed the not entirely unfounded opinion that Friedrich's performance was a cleverly calculated comedy."
That was before I knew FW had done this to multiple other people, that French envoys commented on how he liked seeing people drunk, and if you believe Lavisse, that FW had even done it to Fritz on another occasion!
So Lavisse isn't making this up about the comedy, but I wonder who those eyewitnesses are and what they said. It seems very in-character for FW to make someone get drunk and very out of character for Fritz to get drunk voluntarily.
One thing to note is that the eyewitnesses are present when FW is repeatedly insisting that Fritz is faking it. That's bound to influence their thinking. The guy sitting next to Fritz and paying the closest attention to him seems convinced he's really drunk (if he's not just covering for him, that is).
Now, if I had to make a case for FW to be pitied, I'd argue his tragedy is that he wanted to have not a typical "noble/royal" marriage but a normal one
Agreed, I would also point out his childhood, his massive health problems, and the fact that a lot of that drinking may have been meant as a coping device with physical and mental health problems. I would stop short of saying that this means his children are responsible for his moods!
Do we detect some subversiveness in loyal Prussian subject Hille?
He definitely seems to think the Potsdam giants are ridiculous! Which was a majority opinion, I have to say.
Fritz not loving Katte: sigh. Head. Desk.
But he did what Katte wanted, by trying to please FW and act interested in learning more about why predestination was wrong! And he pulled himself together and cracked a joke several weeks later! And he generally moved on and lived his life despite saying on November 6 that he would give his life for Katte! Would he do that if he loved Katte?
Is it not obvious that Fritz was incapable of love or friendship?
Head, meet desk, indeed.