Frederick the Great discussion post 11

[cahn]

In our last installment, our heroes found that Henri de Catt's memoirs, a major source for current biographers of Frederick the Great, are not to be trusted!!

rheinsberg

Comments

Re: Zimmerman setting the record Straight

[selenak]

Well, in all fairness, the Barbarina portrait was actually behind Fritz' desk in his study, as detailed here. It was one of Pesne's more famous paintings, all the more so since unlike his paintings of royalty, the depicted subject didn't pay for it herself. But why would such a detail stop Zimmermann in his defense of the utter straight manliness of his hero?

(Incidentally, I wonder whether Barbarina was the Barbara Streisand/Judy Garland of her day in how gay men might have related to her...)

(MT: definitely not the Judy Garland of her day. Otoh, Graf von Sacher-Masoch, he after whom a certain sexual tendency got named, did have fantasies of her dominating him.)

Anyway, all credit to Mildred for making Zimmermann's hilarious musings available. I did but provide a summary, I swear!

Re: Zimmerman setting the record Straight

[mildred_of_midgard]

Arguably, Fritz would spend far more time looking at a painting in his study than in his bedroom, so there's that. :P

Otoh, Graf von Sacher-Masoch, he after whom a certain sexual tendency got named, did have fantasies of her dominating him.)

Ahahaha, wow.

Anyway, all credit to Mildred for making Zimmermann's hilarious musings available. I did but provide a summary, I swear!

We make such a perfect team! cahn really does have front-row seats to the sensationalist scholarship. :D

Re: Zimmerman setting the record Straight

[selenak]

In the far, far future where I have endless amounts of time, I might take a look at the late 19th century novella Sacher-Masoch wrote about MT which is in digital form at the Bayrische Staatsbibliothek, but for now there are too many other things to read! Now one would think that if you fantasize about an 18th century female ruler dominating you, Catherine is a more likely candidate to pick, but maybe Sacher-Masoch wanted his fantasies more exclusive and/or patriotic...

Re: Zimmerman setting the record Straight

[mildred_of_midgard]

Now that's one write-up I would look forward to!

Now one would think that if you fantasize about an 18th century female ruler dominating you, Catherine is a more likely candidate to pick, but maybe Sacher-Masoch wanted his fantasies more exclusive and/or patriotic...

Haha. I too think I would fantasize about Catherine over MT, if I were inclined toward 18th century female rulers (as opposed to madly shipping my gay/bi boys and leaving myself out of it), but maybe familiarity played a role? Maybe MT just took up more space in his brain and he knew more about her because he was Austrian?

Oh, lol, Wikipedia. "The term masochism is derived from his name, invented by his contemporary, the Austrian psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing. Masoch did not approve of this use of his name."

I can only imagine the letters that got written around *that*!

Sorry, Masoch, we're still using it. We needed a word for this, and you were right there. :P

but for now there are too many other things to read!

Heee. I am nothing if not enthusiastic in my librarian duties, I confess. :D I just keep dropping things in the library, and you keep pace surprisingly well with the constant inundation. All hail selenak!

Re: Zimmerman setting the record Straight

[selenak]

Masoch: this is another case where German and English wiki are quite different.

English wiki: his wife wouldn‘t go for his kink, he found homelife dull and eventually divorced her to marry his assistant.

German wiki: his wife‘s lover was put on trial for debts, which S-M had to pay for, he went broke because of that, and subsequently divorced his wife. His second marriage later was to his assistant.

Also, German wiki reveals the Austrian National Library put some of his stuff online, including, wait for it, a play titled „The Verses of Frederick the Great“. (In German.) I just had a look at the cast list, and it doesn‘t include Fritz. It‘s set at Versailles, starring Louis XV., Madame de Pompadour and various ambassadors and courtiers, so I assume it‘s about the Diplomatic Revolution happening due to Fritz‘ satiric poetry. But I could be wrong. Back to non-rpf I go.