Political Crimes and Liberty, or Why Would Schubert Eat a Peacock?
In an influential and original article published in this journal in 1989,' Maynard Solomon put forward a provocative interpretation of the cryptic, by now infamous, entry in the playwright Eduard von Bauernfeld's diary from August 1826: "I am to translate Shakespeare's poems and sonnets for Sollinger. So be it! Schubert out of sorts (he requires 'young peacocks' like Benv. Cellini). Schwind morose, Schober idle, as usual. I am till full of travel-fever and vigor!"2 In sharp contrast to earlier interpretations of this diary passage by Otto Erich Deutsch and Eric Sams, Solomon rejected the association of the young peacocks with Cellini's (and by extension Schubert's) syphilis, proposing instead that th diary entry was an oblique reference to Schubert's probable homosexuality. Solomon arg ed that the many hunts for peacocks and other wild birds recounted in Cellini's Vita are
The Shadow of Midnight in Schubert's 'Gondelfahrer' Settings
Eduard von Bauernfeld's poem 'Ein Wiener Censor' attests to Johann Mayrhofer's belief in freedom, nationhood, and equality, and confirms that dangerously radical politics were a topic of conversation among Franz Schubert's circle. Susan Youens suggests that Mayrhofer's poem 'Es tanzen Mond und Sterne' has a politically subversive subtext concerning the suppression of Carbonari radicals in Austrian-controlled Venice, and so reflects his radical political beliefs. This article provides a detailed comparative analysis of Schubert's Gondelfahrer (D808) and Der Gondelfahrer (D809), both of which set 'Es tanzen Mond und Sterne', and, after exploring the historical context, argues that while D809 offers an apparently innocent surface reading of the poem's text, D808 instead gives voice to its proposed politically subversive subtext. Interpretation of the settings hinges on Schubert's representation of the tolling of midnight using the flattened submediant, and the fact that 'Mitternacht' was the nickname earned by Chancellor Klemens von Metternich for his espousal of oppressive policies in Austrian-controlled territories and beyond.
Mutiny Echoes: India, Britons, and Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities
This essay asks what, if any, import the Indian ““Mutiny”” of 1857 had on A Tale of Two Cities (1859), Charles Dickens�s fictionalized account of the French Revolution. Begun shortly after the Indian uprising started, Dickens�s historical novel appears studiously to avoid any mention of events on the Indian subcontinent, even though these events preoccupied and enraged the author. Few scholars have attended to the question of A Tale of Two Cities and the ““Mutiny,”” but when they have, scholars have looked for analogies between India and Dickens�s account of the French Revolution. In this essay, by contrast, I examine A Tale of Two Cities in a larger context——of Britons9 response to the Uprising, of Dickens9s short stories and essays in Household Words in the years before the ““Mutiny”” and immediately after, of Dickens9s disenchantment with aspects of British culture, and of his need to articulate a national identity grounded in action. I argue that the events in India were the match that ignited Dickens9s already established midcentury interests in national identity, nobility, and masculine heroism. I do not wish to suggest that A Tale of Two Cities is an Indian ““Mutiny”” novel, but rather that it is a novel about the ““Making of Britons,”” an important endeavor for an author who was intensely dissatisfied with the Britain that he saw around him.