FR 1090 Aspects of Modern German Literature in Translation . 2007-08

FR 1090 Aspects of Modern German Literature in Translation. 2007-08

Theodor Fontane, Effi Briest, Chapter 3

Re phonic and symbolic similarities of the words Effi, Eva, (Eve) & Efeu (Ivy):

Wikipedia on Ivy:

“Much has been argued as to whether ivy climbing trees will harm the tree or not; the consensus in Europe is that they do not harm trees significantly, though they may compete for ground nutrients and water to a small extent, and trees with a heavy growth of ivy can be more liable to windthrow.

A more serious problem is that ivy creates a vigorous, dense, shade-tolerant evergreen groundcover (precisely the characteristics for which it is often cultivated) that can spread over large areas and outcompete native vegetation.

Similar concerns are expressed about damage to walls. It is generally considered that a soundly mortared wall is impenetrable to the climbing roots of ivy and will not be damaged, and is also protected from further weathering by the ivy keeping rain off the mortar. Walls with already weak or loose mortar may however be badly damaged, as the ivy is able to root into the weak mortar and further break up the wall. Subsequent removal of the ivy can be difficult, and is likely to cause more damage than the ivy itself.”

Re Arnold Böcklin:

There is no such painting as ‘Island of the Blessed’ (»Insel der Seligen«):. Dagobert (and later Briest) confuses two very different paintings by Arnold Böcklin. http://membres.lycos.fr/pilou314/

1. “Insel der Toten” (Island of the Dead, 1880) 2. “Die Gefilde der Seligen” (The Elysian Fields, Champs Elysees) 1877

Both could be seen in the Nationalgalerie in Berlin in the 1880s.

What statements are these two pictures making? Why would Cousin Dagobert want to show it to her? What is the significance of their confusion in the novel, i.e. what is Fontane intending here?

Comparing the endings of chapter 3 and chapter 10: Innstetten’s warning to Effi, after the Ghost story episode: “out of the ordinary”?