Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 19

[cahn]

Yuletide nominations:

18th Century CE Federician RPF
Maria Theresia | Maria Theresa of Austria
Voltaire
Friedrich II von Preußen | Frederick the Great
Ernst Ahasverus von Lehndorff
Friedrich Heinrich Ludwig von Preußen | Henry of Prussia (1726-1802)
Wilhelmine von Preußen | Wilhelmine of Prussia (1709-1758)
Anna Amalie von Preußen | Anna Amalia of Prussia (1723-1787)
Catherine II of Russia
Hans Hermann von Katte
Peter Karl Christoph von Keith
Michael Gabriel Fredersdorf
August Wilhelm von Preußen | Augustus William of Prussia (1722-1758)

Circle of Voltaire RPF
Emilie du Chatelet
Jeanne Antoinette Poisson (Madame de Pompadour)
John Hervey (1696-1743)
Marie Louise Mignot Denis
Lady Mary Wortley-Montagu
Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis
Armand de Vignerot du Plessis de Richelieu (1696-1788)
Francesco Algarotti

Comments

Re: Molière - Küstrin poetry

[felis]

Love the Moliere detective work, that's some awesome literary context!

One thing that came to mind while thinking about the translation of the Hille quote, though:

... for the last two days he has been torturing himself to render into French some German verses that the idiot Wilke* has given him. I recited him the verses on Oronte from Molière's "Misanthrope" until I was exhausted. He said they were wonderful, and nothing could convince him otherwise. The devil take his cursed tutor [Duhan], who didn't know any better than to put this kind of shallow stuff into his head.

If this is all one paragraph - which is what it looks like in the original - then I'd suspect that the bolded they ["sie" originally, not any more clear on what it's referring to, so not a translation problem] might mean Wilke's verses, not Moliere's, and that Fritz might have understood Hille's Moliere reference to mean mostly Wilke and not himself, therefore seeing himself in the position of Alceste more than Oronte here?

Either way, I'm delighted that Hille basically accomplished the opposite of what he wanted.

Re: Fritz' passion for poetry, I really liked the recurring "I don't want your flattery, I know my poetry isn't that great, I rather want you to correct me and tell me what I'm doing wrong, because I want to learn" theme in Fritz' letters to Voltaire.

Re: Molière - Küstrin poetry

[mildred_of_midgard]

If this is all one paragraph - which is what it looks like in the original - then I'd suspect that the bolded they ["sie" originally, not any more clear on what it's referring to, so not a translation problem] might mean Wilke's verses, not Moliere's?

Yeah, I went back and forth on what "they" was, and finally settled on "probably Wilke's verses", but it *is* really confusing having "sie" refer to not the most recent applicable plural noun, but the one before it. I should have said something, but I just translated it literally and waited to see what the German speakers thought. :)

Either way, I'm delighted that Hille basically accomplished the opposite of what he wanted.

Fritz at the end of his life: So, Dad and Hille, I still write verses like I'm running out of time, and also I still believe in predestination. Hah!

Re: Fritz' passion for poetry, I really liked the recurring "I don't want your flattery, I know my poetry isn't that great, I rather want you to correct me and tell me what I'm doing wrong, because I want to learn" theme in Fritz' letters to Voltaire.

Yeah, that is great. People not Voltaire were still in a dicey position when asked to offer feedback, but fortunately Mitchell was a professional diplomat and managed to couch his such that Fritz accepted criticism (which, without any data, I'm going to guess was partly to Fritz's credit, partly to Mitchell's).