Meat-cutting: sorry, the only thing that immediately popped into my mind was that knights were supposed to do this for their ladies in the 1200s, which isn't useful in this context at all. However, if Frau von Kameke specifically says to the preacher that Fritz "had to" do this these last two days ("mußte"), and since he's entirely silent throughout, I bet it was meant as a punishment, or at least as an exercise in humility.
Incidentally, cahn, a reminder: Frau von Kameke was much loved by Fritz who called her "Mama" (and made a point of greeting her thusly in the big post 7 Years War reception); it's also worth pointing out AW asks her, not SD, what "hanging" means, whether it hurts and whether you die of it. Oh, and she's depicted along with Wilhelmine and Amalie in Menzel's painting "Flute Concert at Sanssouci".
(ETA: no, got it wrong, looked it up again. Much loved "Mama" who is depicted at the flute concert and was hugged post 7 Years War was the Countess Camas. Sorry for the confusion./ ETA)
When exactly FW takes up painting: search me. The painting exhibited at Wusterhausen is from the 1730s, but that doesn't mean he didn't do it before. Certainly his health started its decline in the later 1720s, with the wheelchair getting its first use then, and this was something he could do while sitting or lying, even.
why does SD care more about a random soldier than her own kid? Does she hate FW's favorite kid because marital warfare? Why is she so invested in a Potsdam Giant? Is it related to the English marriage somehow?
I did wonder, too - why this soldier? And my current theory is this: if this happens when AW is a toddler, then Fritz, ca. 15, has just started to enter the phase where FW begins to openly admit he hates his kid. Also when the marital battle intensifies around anything connected to the English marriage project. Now here's this kid who it just turns out does have FW's approval and whom FW behaves downright indulgently towards. Maybe SD just wanted to test how far this indulgence goes. So the point wasn't this particular soldier, it was saving a soldier from hanging, since she knew how serious FW took his military punishments. If little AW could achieve this, then maybe he could achieve more in the future. After all, her children were her weapons in the marital battle.
Next question: why are Grumbkow & Seckendorff also having a go at little AW to plead for this guy? What's the angle for our enterprising duo? I mean, it doesn't serve the Imperial cause whether or not FW executes one of his Potsdam Giants. And it doesn't serve the cause of G & S's advancement, either. Maybe they, too, were curious and wanted to test what you could do via this kid?
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Re: AW readthrough
Date: 2020-08-29 04:55 am (UTC)Incidentally,
(ETA: no, got it wrong, looked it up again. Much loved "Mama" who is depicted at the flute concert and was hugged post 7 Years War was the Countess Camas. Sorry for the confusion./ ETA)
When exactly FW takes up painting: search me. The painting exhibited at Wusterhausen is from the 1730s, but that doesn't mean he didn't do it before. Certainly his health started its decline in the later 1720s, with the wheelchair getting its first use then, and this was something he could do while sitting or lying, even.
why does SD care more about a random soldier than her own kid? Does she hate FW's favorite kid because marital warfare? Why is she so invested in a Potsdam Giant? Is it related to the English marriage somehow?
I did wonder, too - why this soldier? And my current theory is this: if this happens when AW is a toddler, then Fritz, ca. 15, has just started to enter the phase where FW begins to openly admit he hates his kid. Also when the marital battle intensifies around anything connected to the English marriage project. Now here's this kid who it just turns out does have FW's approval and whom FW behaves downright indulgently towards. Maybe SD just wanted to test how far this indulgence goes. So the point wasn't this particular soldier, it was saving a soldier from hanging, since she knew how serious FW took his military punishments. If little AW could achieve this, then maybe he could achieve more in the future. After all, her children were her weapons in the marital battle.
Next question: why are Grumbkow & Seckendorff also having a go at little AW to plead for this guy? What's the angle for our enterprising duo? I mean, it doesn't serve the Imperial cause whether or not FW executes one of his Potsdam Giants. And it doesn't serve the cause of G & S's advancement, either. Maybe they, too, were curious and wanted to test what you could do via this kid?