One of the most famous German novels of all time, Effi Briest (1894) is realist Theodor Fontane's masterpiece. Thomas Mann once said that if one had to reduce one's library to six novels, Effi Briest would have to be one of them [citation needed]. Its influence on Mann's early work Buddenbrooks is evident. Along with the more famous Anna Karenina and Madame Bovary, the novel forms a trilogy on marriage in the 19th century from the female point of view. All three are adultery tragedies. (See also Adultery in literature.)
| Author | Theodor Fontane |
|---|---|
| Translator | Hugh Rorrison and Helen Chambers |
| Language | German (original), English (translation) |
| Publisher | Penguin Classics |
Publication date | July 3, 2001 (Penguin Classics edition) |
| Publication place | Germany |
| ISBN | ISBN 0140447660 {{isbn}}: Check isbn value: invalid character (help) |
Plot
Effi Briest is the daughter of a nobleman in northern Germany. At seventeen, she is married off to Baron Geert von Innstetten, a man twice her age who years ago had courted her mother and been turned down because of his insufficient social position, which he has in the meantime improved.
Effi, still practically a child, but attracted by notions of social honour, consents to living in the small Baltic town of Kessin, where she is miserably unhappy. Her husband is away for weeks at a time. Snubbed by the local aristocracy, she finds but one companion in the whole town. Her suspicions that their house may be haunted have been, perhaps on purpose, not completely laid to rest by Innstetten.
The genial and somewhat crass Major Crampas arrives in town, and although he is married and known as a womanizer, Effi cannot help but enjoy his attentions. As we are only delicately told, a full relationship is consummated.
Years later Effi's daughter Annie is growing up, the family has moved to Berlin as Innstetten moves up in the ranks, and all in all things have turned out well for Effi. But by chance her ancient correspondence with Crampas sees the light of day, and Innstetten decides immediately to divorce her. He is given custody of their daughter.
Miserable Effi lives alone. Covered by scandal as she is, her parents will not take her back. Crampas is challenged to a duel and killed by Innstetten, who afterwards has second thoughts about his action. His life, too, is ruined.
Effi is finally taken in by her parents, and dies serenely at the estate of Hohen-Cremmen, in a very symmetrical ending that matches the beginning of the novel. Her parents vaguely realize their responsibility for her unhappiness, but ultimately they do not dare question the social constructs which caused the tragedy.
Manfred von Ardenne's grandmother Elisabeth von Plotho is said to be the inspiration for Effi Briest.
Editions
- Penguin Books, 1967 ISBN 0140441905
- English translation by Hugh Rorrison and Helen Chamber, Angel Books 1996 ISBN 0946162441, reissued by Penguin (in Penguin Classics) 2001 ISBN 0140447660
External link
- Effi Briest at Project Gutenberg — German language edition.