Oh maaaaan. I didn't think about that (since you have exposed me to the rest of the letters) but yes, I can see that if those nuclear Fritz letters hadn't been quoted, it gives a veeeeery different picture of AW.
But yeah, it's painful to read the Wilhelmine letters -- and you can also see that she knows very well what she's talking about (the bit where she goes " I could tell you things in this regard which would greatly surprise you." kills me), but perhaps can't actually articulate it in a way that AW could understand. (How could he understand, after all, what she and Fritz had been through?)
Also, Ulrike, omg. I always imagine her as an ~evil drama queen~, and this letter does not exactly change my assessment of her :P
It's also kind of an Experience reading this right after "My Brother Narcissus." :(
I can see that if those nuclear Fritz letters hadn't been quoted, it gives a veeeeery different picture of AW.
Yes, and it's the one Pangels (and Hamilton, and others) are following when saying that Fritz was at best harsh (yet fair) in his initial reaction and it was AW's stubbornness that prevented a happy ending and turned into a year long mental suicide instead. *does my best Jean-Luc Picard imitation* A lie of omission is still a lie.*
Re: Ulrike, to be fair, she actually doesn't express much different opinions than Wilhelmine - sympathy in the first one and in the second one that AW needs to make the first step because Fritz is the King and it's damaging AW's reputation not to fight in this war. Also "this is our family flaw" is ruefully self aware and doesn't exclude herself. However, Wilhelmine has a different kind of urgency in her phrasing, and then there's the fact that according to Ziebura Wilhelmine was the only sister who actually dared to plead AW's cause to Fritz in her letters, for all that the others expressed their sympathy to AW. Granted, Wilhelmine had a different type of relationship with Fritz than the others, but still, she didn't just talk the talk, she walked the walk, and she really did spend what little life time she had left devoted to her brothers, betweeen trying for backchannel diplomacy to negotiate a separate peace with the French, keeping Fritz from committing suicide when depressed, and trying to reconcile her brothers. Now Amalie was entirely dependent on Fritz, abbess or not. But Ulrike, in far off Sweden (which was btw at war with Prussia, which hadn't been her fault, mind - remember, there was in 1756 a growling letter to AW on the notes of "and pray remind Fritz this would never have happened if he'd given me my goddamm inheritance money so I could overthrow parliament and reintroduce absolute monarchy!" -) had nothing to fear in terms of fraternal retaliations, and she could have written to Fritz for all the good it would have done.
It's also kind of an Experience reading this right after "My Brother Narcissus." :(
Well, in my initial write up I had used the 1749 events that form the core of "My Brother Narcissus" as the farcical prelude of the main tragedy from 1757-1758. But if you want Ulrike in Evil Queen mode, remember that she in the 1740s writes to Fritz: My brother Heinrich must be very sensitive to the honor that your majesty does him. How happy we are all together to live under the laws of a brother who is a true father to us!
Well, he's defintely following the paternal role model...
Re: Ulrike, to be fair, she actually doesn't express much different opinions than Wilhelmine - sympathy in the first one and in the second one that AW needs to make the first step because Fritz is the King and it's damaging AW's reputation not to fight in this war.
I suppose so. It's probably in great degree because I already thought she was terrible :)
But if you want Ulrike in Evil Queen mode, remember that she in the 1740s writes to Fritz: My brother Heinrich must be very sensitive to the honor that your majesty does him. How happy we are all together to live under the laws of a brother who is a true father to us!
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timeasmymeasure
Re: More Volz: A family affair
Date: 2020-03-25 05:18 am (UTC)But yeah, it's painful to read the Wilhelmine letters -- and you can also see that she knows very well what she's talking about (the bit where she goes " I could tell you things in this regard which would greatly surprise you." kills me), but perhaps can't actually articulate it in a way that AW could understand. (How could he understand, after all, what she and Fritz had been through?)
Also, Ulrike, omg. I always imagine her as an ~evil drama queen~, and this letter does not exactly change my assessment of her :P
It's also kind of an Experience reading this right after "My Brother Narcissus." :(
Re: More Volz: A family affair
Date: 2020-03-25 06:03 am (UTC)I forgot to add that this line gave me the shivers too. :(
Also, Ulrike, omg. I always imagine her as an ~evil drama queen~, and this letter does not exactly change my assessment of her :P
Obnoxiously Right Fritz: I told you Amalie was the nice one, Sweden!
It's also kind of an Experience reading this right after "My Brother Narcissus." :(
You said it.
Re: More Volz: A family affair
Date: 2020-03-25 06:24 am (UTC)Yes, and it's the one Pangels (and Hamilton, and others) are following when saying that Fritz was at best harsh (yet fair) in his initial reaction and it was AW's stubbornness that prevented a happy ending and turned into a year long mental suicide instead. *does my best Jean-Luc Picard imitation* A lie of omission is still a lie.*
Re: Ulrike, to be fair, she actually doesn't express much different opinions than Wilhelmine - sympathy in the first one and in the second one that AW needs to make the first step because Fritz is the King and it's damaging AW's reputation not to fight in this war. Also "this is our family flaw" is ruefully self aware and doesn't exclude herself. However, Wilhelmine has a different kind of urgency in her phrasing, and then there's the fact that according to Ziebura Wilhelmine was the only sister who actually dared to plead AW's cause to Fritz in her letters, for all that the others expressed their sympathy to AW. Granted, Wilhelmine had a different type of relationship with Fritz than the others, but still, she didn't just talk the talk, she walked the walk, and she really did spend what little life time she had left devoted to her brothers, betweeen trying for backchannel diplomacy to negotiate a separate peace with the French, keeping Fritz from committing suicide when depressed, and trying to reconcile her brothers. Now Amalie was entirely dependent on Fritz, abbess or not. But Ulrike, in far off Sweden (which was btw at war with Prussia, which hadn't been her fault, mind - remember, there was in 1756 a growling letter to AW on the notes of "and pray remind Fritz this would never have happened if he'd given me my goddamm inheritance money so I could overthrow parliament and reintroduce absolute monarchy!" -) had nothing to fear in terms of fraternal retaliations, and she could have written to Fritz for all the good it would have done.
It's also kind of an Experience reading this right after "My Brother Narcissus." :(
Well, in my initial write up I had used the 1749 events that form the core of "My Brother Narcissus" as the farcical prelude of the main tragedy from 1757-1758. But if you want Ulrike in Evil Queen mode, remember that she in the 1740s writes to Fritz: My brother Heinrich must be very sensitive to the honor that your majesty does him. How happy we are all together to live under the laws of a brother who is a true father to us!
Well, he's defintely following the paternal role model...
ETA: I have now edited in these new letter quotes into my original write up.
Re: More Volz: A family affair
Date: 2020-03-29 04:43 am (UTC)I suppose so. It's probably in great degree because I already thought she was terrible :)
But if you want Ulrike in Evil Queen mode, remember that she in the 1740s writes to Fritz: My brother Heinrich must be very sensitive to the honor that your majesty does him. How happy we are all together to live under the laws of a brother who is a true father to us!
Hee, yes. *facepalm*