Re: Charlotte, in addition to these things, what biases me against her is that she wouldn't take her other daughter, Elisabeth, back when Fritz offered this as an alternative to imprisonment post scandal. I mean, if Fritz comes off better at handling the next generation and/or behaving towards a woman.... Seriously though: this was before Elisabeth was transfered to the relatively okay exile/banishment to Stettin, this was when she was at Küstrin. I mean, Küstrin. If your daughter is at Küstrin, with all that implies in your family history and your brother writes that she only repayed her husband's infedelity in kind, and you still respond with "I don't want that whore anywhere near me", sheesh.
Now, to be fair: Charlotte also had undoubted good qualities. For starters, she had her shair of the family brains, what with translating Wolff into French on her lonesome (Fritz needed Suhm for that), and she was independently minded enough to keep an open mind about German literature and be curious about same (not just by hiring Lessing as a librarian), to the point where famously her and Anna Amalie's visit to Fritz inspired him to publish "De La Literature Allemande" as a counter argument because both ladies seem to have positioned themselves fervently pro German writings. Also, even in Wilhelmine's angry description of Charlotte's behavior in 1732 she mentions Charlotte used to be her favourite sister back in the day, and Fritz generally sounds positive about her both in second hand testimony (i.e. those Austrian reports on "Junior") and in his letters.
Then again: Yes, as far as I recall, Charlotte joined the "how could you?" club re: the MT lunch. I also don't recall her doing anything during the year of AW's disgrace, either. And other than Ulrike, Charlotte really had the best, safest position of any of the sisters from which to take a stand. All of which leads me to the conclusion that she was probably good company on a social level, but that her instinct was to cater to the given authority on the top, and to discard you if you lost any political advantage, so as an ally, she was only of questionable value, hence my somewhat cynical speculation that her help for Fritz and Duhan came with the awareness that Fritz was the future King.
Predestination: could be, but yes, teenage Fritz wasn't subtle about whom he liked and didn't like. Given how much FW was attached to the idea of himself as a beloved father and how very insulted he was that his oldest children didn't give him the feeling that he was this, AND given FW's explicit instructions during the Küstrin year to give Fritz the idea everyone, including his mother, didn't love him anymore and had forgotten all about him, I'm going with paternal jealousy as a primary motive.
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Re: Fritz-Duhan Follow-Up
Date: 2020-11-16 02:54 pm (UTC)Now, to be fair: Charlotte also had undoubted good qualities. For starters, she had her shair of the family brains, what with translating Wolff into French on her lonesome (Fritz needed Suhm for that), and she was independently minded enough to keep an open mind about German literature and be curious about same (not just by hiring Lessing as a librarian), to the point where famously her and Anna Amalie's visit to Fritz inspired him to publish "De La Literature Allemande" as a counter argument because both ladies seem to have positioned themselves fervently pro German writings. Also, even in Wilhelmine's angry description of Charlotte's behavior in 1732 she mentions Charlotte used to be her favourite sister back in the day, and Fritz generally sounds positive about her both in second hand testimony (i.e. those Austrian reports on "Junior") and in his letters.
Then again: Yes, as far as I recall, Charlotte joined the "how could you?" club re: the MT lunch. I also don't recall her doing anything during the year of AW's disgrace, either. And other than Ulrike, Charlotte really had the best, safest position of any of the sisters from which to take a stand. All of which leads me to the conclusion that she was probably good company on a social level, but that her instinct was to cater to the given authority on the top, and to discard you if you lost any political advantage, so as an ally, she was only of questionable value, hence my somewhat cynical speculation that her help for Fritz and Duhan came with the awareness that Fritz was the future King.
Predestination: could be, but yes, teenage Fritz wasn't subtle about whom he liked and didn't like. Given how much FW was attached to the idea of himself as a beloved father and how very insulted he was that his oldest children didn't give him the feeling that he was this, AND given FW's explicit instructions during the Küstrin year to give Fritz the idea everyone, including his mother, didn't love him anymore and had forgotten all about him, I'm going with paternal jealousy as a primary motive.