The Clown (short story)

Pagliacci is a novella by Thomas Mann, published first in 1897 in the literary journal New German Rundschau and Der kleine Herr Friedemann appeared in the short story collection of 1898.

Content

The straight 30 -year-old narrator looks back on his life. The son of a wealthy merchant him financial worries have always been strange. Always he can give any inclination. This begins at the tender childhood with fanciful operatic performances at his well -appointed puppet theater in the Father's house and continues in school, where he amused his classmates by imitating the teacher. In class, he fails, because he does not focus on the subject matter, but only to the gestures of the teacher. The father shows up indignant, accusing him of his Pagliacci attitude and prescribed him a business apprenticeship.

After the death of the father the son inherits a comfortable fortune. After the mother died, the narrator travels in world history around, holding on for a total of three years in Italy, Sicily and Spain and lives not too wasteful in pensions einquartierend, from his inheritance. He wants everything to work, but not seriously. His music dramatic talent does not go unnoticed in the stranger, and is partly admired, ridiculed mostly benevolent. He clearly feels that he has the makings of a musician or actor, but begin not only with training in one of these subjects.

Finally, he moved back to Germany, and it can be, the Mediterranean-style Lerchenbergs because, in Mainz down. Also there would be " no small pleasure " was, but now stir well besides satisfaction and trust " any little feeling of anxiety and restlessness, [ ... ] the slightly depressing thought that my position, which was previously never been more than something temporary, had to be considered now for the first time as a definitive and irrevocable. " Boredom he fought successfully with piano and reading modern novels. "I must and will be happy! " Is his motto. He dresses carefully, though attended theater performances, but otherwise avoids society.

There he met one of his walks on Lerchenberg the beautiful, carefree wealthy Anna, the endeavor of the coachman Bock accompanied by her father, the Judicial Council Rainer in childlike eagerness to rein in the horses of their two-horse hunting car. Pagliacci sets out to meet the young, natural girls closer. When he discovers Anna a few days later in the opera, however, he discovers to his horror that the young lady has a handsome suitor, the confident Assessor Dr. Alfred joke nail by her side. Nevertheless, he wants to take on the rival. So he seeks Anna's close to a well-attended charity bazaar in the town hall, where they dressed up as Italian wine and lemonade seller, acts. Again the young assessor is at her side. The narrator attacks for the first time in his life that no longer bajazzohafte feel as disturbing " a stranger, Untitled, Unzugehöriger " and ridicule. He messed up his appearance, especially his clothes, which he always lays the biggest weight on that day is not very correct. With his inappropriate conduct research and wooden salutation he harvests Anna's disapproval and a quizzical glance at wit nail. Handled Embarrassing he is looking into the distance.

Soon after, he reads in the newspaper that Anna and the Assessor have engaged. " From the moment it is too late " with the Pagliacci. His " last remnant of happiness awareness and complacency has collapsed hounded to death ". He, who considered himself always happy in his frivolous distancing from the seriousness of the human society, is now unhappy. The company he ignored it pays him back now and disregards him in return. He sees himself only as a " ridiculous figure " and keeps "lost" for. Full of self-loathing he concludes his report. Even a suicide comes to him as a way out of the question, because " would not be the almost too heroic for a ' Pagliacci '? "

Reception

• In many trains Pagliacci is an ironic self-portrait of the young Thomas Mann. With the amendment to the 22 -year-old author has written freely and Pagliacci overcome in itself.
• Hermann Kurzke has the " superior mockery " out of the Pagliacci has left for his teachers at school. Actually, says Vaget could " Pagliacci just as easily mean even the dilettante ." A questionable self-confidence, based on ridicule, Acting and dilettantism, let fail the first-person narrator in the " test " Anna Rainer. From this defeat, he could not recover.
• Kurzke also mentions the autobiographical traits in the story, especially what the "image of father and mother " is concerned, it was similar to the parents of Thomas Mann in several ways.
• Hans R. Vaget appeals to a form of weakness of the narrative. By infelicitous I - form a " self-pity " the narrator is favored, which makes it difficult for the reader to develop sympathy for him.

Expenditure

• Thomas Mann: Little Herr Friedemann, and other stories.. S. Fischer Berlin 1909 171 pages Contents: The will to happiness / disappointment / Pagliacci / Tobias Mindernickel / Louisa / the hungry / The railway accident.
• Thomas Mann novels. 2 vols. Fischer, Berlin, 1922. First through tenth edition. 373 pages. Collected Works. Volume 1: Little Herr Friedemann - disappointment - Pagliacci - Tobias Mindernickel - Louisa - The road to the cemetery - the hungry - The wardrobe - Gladius Dei - Lucky - When Prophet
• Thomas Mann: All narratives. Volume 1 Fischer -Taschenbuch -Verlag, Frankfurt, 1987, ISBN 3-10-348115-2, pp. 102-136