Maximiliane married
Brentano, an Italian from the Como region, and Clemens was the third
child of this loveless union. Brentano's early life was not happy; he
was destined for a business career but was a failure in it, and then
studied at various universities but with no great application or
success. From 1797-1800 he was at Jena, where he succeeded in making
himself hated by the Schlegels in spite of his defense of them in
his satirical play, _Gustav Wasa_ (1800). This play, in the manner of
Tieck's _Puss in Boots_, attempts to ridicule Kotzebue. The method
is the same as Tieck's: there is the play within the play, the gagged
officer (to take the place of the critic Boettger), the puns, of which,
perhaps, the one on Lucinde _(Lux inde)_ is the best, and which,
as often in Brentano, go beyond and surpass Tieck. Romantic irony
flourishes: the whole world of the theatre, the author, the very
lights, the building, the working day and the musical instruments in
the orchestra are dramatized in turn. The dialogue of the latter far
more intimately suggests their quality than does the speech of
the flutes in Tieck, where their spirit is cerulean blue. _Wasa_,
unfortunately, runs off into dull allegory, and this work is not to be
compared with August von Schlegel's _Gate of Honor_ as a satire on the
same subject.
Brentano's _Godwi_ (1801), the sub-title of which, "An Unmanageable
Novel by Maria," shows its character, is a far better production.
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