Skip to main content

Thoughts on Eckbert the Fair by Ludwig Tieck

I'm going to post the pictures of my notes, therefore these notes will just be general notes about the story as a whole that are more complicated than inline notes.


  • There seems to be a running theme of virtuous women being baren in these stories.  Although Bertha isn't exactly virtuous, she is naive, which implies innocence.  Another difference is that Bertha is the object of the title character's affections, while the barren woman in "The Myrtle Girl" was the mother figure.
  • Speaking of the object... the title of the story is named for the male.  However, most of the story consists of Bertha's narrative.  Actually, the whole story is Bertha's not Eckbert.  Eckbert seems to be happenstanced upon.  The fact that Bertha is the object of Eckbert's affections automatically places her into a particular archetype.
    • Don't even get me started on the fact that he believes that her story is his to reveal. He takes on the burden of "the darkest corners of his soul" when it's Bertha's secret.  Not to mention all the "ours" on p.28.  This could be a reference to the fact that Bertha is his sister and he seems to know that they're committing incest, but it could also be a requisition of her agency.  Even on her death bed, she defers to him for an explanation of events.
  • Night seems to represent change.  In order:
    • Bertha's narrative is at night.  Leads to the events of the story after her retelling and all the chaos that ensues.
    • When Bertha decides to leave her abusive family, it is at night.
    • When Bertha prays (19) at night, the old lady appears to rescue her.
    • Bertha goes to sleep at the old ladies, hears the birds and nature, and has a home.
    • Her first night away from the witch she dreams of the witch threatening her; foreshadow.
    • Eckbert begins to question Hugo at night, 
  • Weird thing... ( I honestly don't know what to think of it) ... the scene where she chokes the bird to death is marked with a lot of phallic energy.  Maybe it represents the fear of sexuality and sex?  She marries Eckbert not much later...
  • I probably won't write about this in the paper because it has nothing to do with women and sex... but Hugo and Eckbert were totally gay, right?









Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Researching the Things that I Think are Significant in Eckbert the Fair

Eckbert Bright edge or edge of the sword citation:  https://www.behindthename.com/name/egbert The definition of fair means "in accordance with the rules and standards; legitimate."  It also means light-haired. so... on the surface, Eckbert is fair because he has "short ash-blond hair" (Tieck 16).  But on a deeper level and concealed within the story, Eckbert is the legitimate child of his parents, versus the illegitimacy of his sister/wife Bertha. Harz Mountains Those who know of the Harz Mountains would know of the connotation of the location. Myths include stories of witches and mystical creatures. Citation: https://en.harzinfo.de/things-to-see-do/pure-culture/harz-myths.html note on Tieck 16 Birch trees in Celtic culture, the birch is related to growth and stability and adaptability because of its hardiness. need citation other than Wikipedia Gaelic folklore: death, fairies, returning from the grave need citation other than...
Post a Comment
Read more

Thoughts on The Tale of the Myrtle Girl by Clemens Brentano

The myrtle symbolizes Aphrodite and Demeter.  It's used in wedding rituals and in the Aeneid it was closely related to the earth and humanity.  Look to post on defining the myrtle tree for development on this idea. The other symbol that I'm interested in is the turtledove which is also a symbol for Demeter and Aphrodite.  It has a sad song and is a sign of devoted love.  See post to develop this idea.  The turtle dove appears in the second lullaby that is sung to the prince.  The story also says that the myrtle girl has a "sad song" which could be a reference to her as the turtle dove (181). The kingdom of Porcelainia is kind of right on the nose.  I'm following an idea of porcelain being related to the fairness of the ideal woman.  The capital is described as a "porcelain capital," yet the old woman and man live on a "clay field" (172).  There is a juxtaposition of the have and have nots.  This could also be an allusion to the fact...
Post a Comment
Read more