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: Blanning 2

[selenak]

I always cast Fritz as Jonathan in my fic (my boys love coming up with Biblical and Classical antecedents), because then you get all the FW-Saul parallels. *Which is interesting*, if you're the garrison preacher at Küstrin making this implied comparison. :P

Great point. Also, FW as Saul works very well, though I guess the Potsdam Giants are standing in for David‘s original purpose of distracting the King from his gloom in that case. :) I do wonder whether FW ever saw that particular letter, or whether Müller‘s mail to Hans Heinrich got respected because man of god, bereft father, etc.?

While it‘s frustrating that he didn‘t render Katte‘s words to Fritz verbatim - because he was standing close enough to hear and understand - and instead just says they were in French, at least he says there were final words. And I‘m still intrigued von Schack bypassed the Fritz encounter entirely. Did he believe that his letter, unlike the Pastor‘s letter, would be read and might be shown to the King? (Who might not be keen on what was meant as a punishment - Fritz having to watch Katte die - also afforded an emotional goodbye. Especially if the version including „there‘s nothing to forgive“ applies.)

Re: Blanning 2

[mildred_of_midgard]

though I guess the Potsdam Giants are standing in for David‘s original purpose of distracting the King from his gloom in that case.

HAHAHA. It had occurred to me that the David-Saul relationship is missing from this parallel, but the Potsdam Giants quip is awesome. I guess this Saul sent for Goliath instead of David!

Oh, get this. The version of Katte's final letter to FW that I put in Rheinsberg has an ellipsis in it. Quite by accident, I ran across a fuller version, in French, yesterday, and I saw what was in the ellipsis. Paraphrase: "Saul, David, and Manasseh were all great sinners, and *they* repented, and God gave them grace. You too can be like God, FW!"

So here, Katte's comparing *himself* to both Saul and David, which is interesting.

I do wonder whether FW ever saw that particular letter, or whether Müller‘s mail to Hans Heinrich got respected because man of god, bereft father, etc.?...Did he believe that his letter, unlike the Pastor‘s letter, would be read and might be shown to the King?

Ooh, those are interesting questions! Especially given:

Did he believe that his letter, unlike the Pastor‘s letter, would be read and might be shown to the King?

Yesss. I like it. Maybe both of them were hedging their bets. Although the Jonathan comparison is a little surprising if you're actively worried about the King reading your mail.

I can see not flaunting the fact that Fritz got to say goodbye, and what the final words were, though, but given that all the foreign envoys knew within 5 days, and all of Cologne within a couple months, it's difficult to imagine anyone could keep FW from finding out. I guess neither Schack nor Besser would have taken the fall for that if they were worried about punishment (Münchow and Lepel being the decision makers), so just omitting the fact from their letters would be sufficient to protect them.

Anyway, you may be onto something about the omissions.

I *still* want to know what Fontane's source was.

Re: Blanning 2

[cahn]

OMG. I read selenak's Potsdam Giants comparison and somehow I did not think to equate it in this metaphor with Goliath. HAHAHAHAHAHA omg I am laughing so hard!

Re: Blanning 2

[mildred_of_midgard]

I can't believe it took me this long to think of! But now I'm 100% working it into a fic where Fritz and Katte are making fun of FW. He *was* the laughingstock of Europe for the Potsdam Giants, after all. :D