The Blue Flower by Penelope Fitzgerald
"The Blue Flower" by Penelope Fitzgerald is a historical novel centered around the life of Friedrich "Fritz" von Hardenberg, a young poet and philosopher, who later becomes known as Novalis, a significant figure in German Romantic literature. The narrative unfolds in the late 18th century, detailing Fritz's struggles and aspirations against the backdrop of his family's declining fortunes. The story introduces key characters, including Sophie von Kühn, a twelve-year-old girl who captivates Fritz and becomes the focus of his affections, and Karoline "Justen" Just, his close friend and mentor’s niece, who also harbors feelings for him.
Fritz's life is marked by academic pursuits in philosophy and literature, as well as familial expectations pushing him towards practical careers, specifically in salt mine administration. His infatuation with Sophie leads to a deep, albeit tragic, romantic connection, as they navigate societal norms and personal challenges. The love story is intertwined with themes of youthful idealism, artistic expression, and the harsh realities of illness, as Sophie suffers from tuberculosis and ultimately succumbs to the disease shortly before her fifteenth birthday. The narrative concludes with Fritz's own death from tuberculosis four years later, underscoring the fragility of life and love in their historical context. The novel's exploration of these relationships provides insight into the emotional depth and cultural significance of Romanticism in literature.
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Subject Terms
The Blue Flower by Penelope Fitzgerald
- Born: December 17, 1916
- Birthplace: Lincoln, England
- Died: April 28, 2000
- Place of death: London, England
First published: 1995
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Historical
Time of plot: 1790s
Locale: Saxony, Kingdom of Prussia (now Germany)
Principal Characters
Friedrich "Fritz" von Hardenberg, a young poet, philosopher, and the eldest son of the Hardenberg family
Sophie von Kühn, his love interest, a twelve-year-old girl
Erasmus von Hardenberg, his younger brother
Karoline "Justen" Just, his close friend and his mentor’s niece
The Story
The Blue Flower opens with Fritz von Hardenberg showing his friend Jacob Dietmahler around his family’s estate in Weissenfels. Although they are nobility, the fortunes of the family have decreased dramatically over the last decade, forcing them to move from the family estate. Fritz’s father must take a job managing the salt mines near Weissenfels, one of the few paying position a man of his status is allowed to work.
Born in 1738, Fritz’s father, Freiherr Heinrich von Hardenberg, spent seven years in the service of the Hanoverian army. After his first wife died in 1769, he married his first cousin a year later. Fritz is the second-born child of the freiherr’s second wife, and while he did not seem bright when he was a very young child, he is very inquisitive. This trait is a factor in Fritz being thrown out of school at Neudietendorf for holding beliefs that go against the school’s religious teachings.
In 1780, the Hardenbergs are forced to sell a number of their properties and move to Weissenfels. Fritz is then sent to live with his uncle Wilhelm, a somewhat pompous and affected man with money and rich tastes, who enjoys lording his wealth over his brother. Fritz is soon sent back after his uncle claims his lifestyle is too luxurious for the young man. In 1790, Fritz begins schooling at Jena. As Fritz’s aunt lives in Jena, she provides him room and board until her death. In the dorms, Fritz meets his good friend Jacob Dietmahler.
After Jena, Fritz attends school in Leipzig. However, he is still unsure what he is going to do with his life. He has gone to school to study history and philosophy, and yet he feels a certain weight from things more pragmatic. When he returns home on break one year, he tells his father and uncle that he is thinking of becoming a soldier. Both men laugh at him, saying that he is not nearly realistic enough to make a career in the military. His talents lie in law, literature, language, and philosophy.
Fritz’s schooling continues after his year at Leipzig, which is followed by another year in Wittenberg. This time he studies more practical matters related to administration so that he can begin training for salt mines administration.
When his schooling is complete, Fritz is sent to live with the Just family in Tennstedt so that he can learn about administration and office management from the head of the family, the local magistrate. There he meets Karoline "Justen" Just, the magistrate’s niece, a young and practical woman in her late twenties. While the Justs are intrigued by Fritz’s erudition, they do not fully understand literature. Nevertheless, Karoline falls in love with Fritz and his poetry. They become very close friends as Fritz stays on and works with the magistrate. However, one day while on a business trip in 1794 to the Rockenthien estate, the home of Johann Rudolf von Rockenthien, a tax collector, Fritz meets Johann’s stepdaughter Sophie. Sophie, who is just twelve years old, captures Fritz’s attention completely. He is enthralled with her from just a few minutes of small talk and writes immediately to his brother Erasmus to tell him what has happened. As soon as they return to the Just estate, Fritz also confesses to Justen that he has fallen in love, which devastates her.
Fritz frequents the Rockenthien estate in Grüningen. He talks with Herr Rockenthien and asks his permission to write to Sophie. Meanwhile, Erasmus and Justen are both adamant in the belief that Sophie is not any sort of unique being. Erasmus sees her as only a stupid, spoiled, overweight little girl.
The following year, Fritz continues to frequent Grüningen. On one occasion, he hires a painter to paint a portrait of Sophie because the only one in existence is an almost grotesque miniature of her. However, after days attempting to capture her essence, the painter gives up, saying that he simply cannot paint her. Later that year, Sophie becomes extremely sick and develops a tumor on her hip. She has tuberculosis, and after a number of treatments, the tumor disappears and she recovers.
When Sophie turns thirteen, she is considered old enough to become engaged. Fritz is terrified to tell his father of his love and promise to the girl, and he devises a number of plans, such as changing his name and fleeing the country, if his father will not allow him to marry. However, these fears are unjustified and the freiherr give his permission for the two to eventually marry. The happiness of the engagement is short lived when Sophie becomes sick again. Over the course of the next two years, tuberculosis ravages her body and she dies two days before her fifteenth birthday. As the love interest and fiancé of one of the most important poets in the German Romantic era of literature, Sophie’s life and her relationship to Fritz, better known by his pseudonym Novalis, has great historical significance. The story ends with a very short description of Fritz’s own death four years later, when he also succumbs to tuberculosis.
Bibliography
Donehower, Bruce, ed. The Birth of Novalis: Friedrich von Hardenberg’s Journal of 1797, with Selected Letters and Documents. Albany: State U of New York P, 2012. Print.
Lee, Hermione. Penelope Fitzgerald: A Life. London: Chatto, 2013. Print.
Lee, Hermione. "Book of a Lifetime: The Blue Flower, by Penelope Fitzgerald." Independent. Independent, 2 Nov. 2013. Web. 21 May 2014.
Wolfe, Peter. Understanding Penelope Fitzgerald. Columbia: U of South Carolina P, 2004. Print.