THESIS 
• 
Subject _Q ~~ __ ~_t£L ~ 
1 ~ v-trvv ~-~. 
fl'{ame le.J:t Yrto-U. 
A STUDY IN THE ETHICS OF MARIE VON EBNER-ESCHENBACH. 
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE 
FA~ULTY OF THE GRADUATE SOHOOL OF THE 
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA 
BY RUTH MOHL 
, 
IN PARTIAL FULFILI~T_ OF THE RE~UlREMENTS 
FOR THE DEGREE' OF 
MASTER OF ARTS. 
JUNE 11, 1914-. 
\JQNTENTS. 
1. Intr ... ucti.n. 
II. Bi.,raphical Fact. whioh haTe influence" the Ethic. 
r Marie T.n Ebner-E.chenbaok. 
III. Meth ...... pl.yet in pr.sentinc Ethics in her nOT.le 
an .. et.ries. 
IV. Ethieal th •••• et eepa,rat. n'T.le ant t.ri. • 
V. The Sy.tem .t Ethice ..... ueet tre her nOTels, st.ri •• , 
ant aph rieae. 
VI. C.nclueien. 
,', 'f' 
.. ' 
t .:' 
'It • 
• 
REPORT 
COMMITTEE ON THESIS 
THE undersigned, acting as a committee of 
the Graduate School. have read the accompanying 
thesis submi t ted by ....... 1~~.~.~ ... R1J..th ... M.9 .. Q+' ............................... _ ..
for the degree of ..... _ ......... M?:~.~~.~ .... 9..f. .. A~.~.~.~ ................ _ ....... _ ... .. 
They approve it as a thesis meeting the require-
menta of the Graduate School of the University of 
Minnesota, and recommend that it be aocepted in 
partial fulfillment of the requirements for the 
degree of ..... _ ......... ~~¥.~g.~~~ ... 9.f ... -A~~.~.!' ...... _ .................... . 
......... t.._ .. ~._~_ .. f~~ 
Chairman 
.. _._.e~.~.v."L.._._ .. ____ . 
A .. J / . 
....... ~.d.._ .... _ ........ ~
....... -.-.-.... _._._ .............. _ .... _._ ..... _ ....... ...... -_._.-.-.-........ . 
.......... _ ............ -......... _ ...... "' ...... _ ............... -..... _._._.-._-_._. __ ._ ..... . 
_ .... __ ... -..... _.-..... _._ .... __ ._ .... _._._ .... _._-.. -....... _ .. _ .. . 
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INTRODUCTION. 
Morality is impl~it in life. , In the earliest hLS-
tory of primitive man, the foundations of morality were· 
1 
laid; : not', t 'o be sure. in oonsoious, deliberate choioes 
between two incompatible ends, as we use the term moral-
ity today, bat in the instinots of tha savage and in the 
needs attendant on self-preservation •. These elements' de-
termined man's conduct at first. Then, as he began to 
live in communities', the morality of custom swayed his 
will. What the rest did was the right or good for him. 
Only gradually,- and the process is by no means completed 
today,- did he come to realise that what was customary or 
good for others' might not be the - good for him. At this 
third stage of morality, man was guided, as we say. by 
his conscience. Consoience is nothing more nor less than 
the dictates of reason, plus intuition of the good of the 
final chOice, as we deliberate over two ends between which 
we must choose. To choose we must reflect, and as we re-
1. Dewey and Tufts: Ethics. p.38-9. 
fleet, conscience tells us that this is right and that 
is wrong, and we act, or do not act, accordingly. 
Now ethics, or the science of moral conduct, is 
founded on the well-grounded assumption that all mankind, 
when it ohooses deliberately, on the whole seeks to 
further the good and to suppress evil. If this were not 
true, . there oould be no suoh soience as ethios, and our 
world, w.ould not be a moral world. Therefore we see that 
the moral.. forms a part of the very woof and warp of 
human nature. Since our lives are lives of conduct, and 
since very few of our actiOBS are without moral signifi-
cance, we see again that life and the moral are very 
closely bound together. 
This is no place for a discussion of the much-
disputed relation of literature to morality; but it is 
worth while here to ask ourseLves the question: If 
certain forms of literature claim to reflect life, and 
life is bound up with the . moral, how can we demand that 
those forms of literature avoid the moral without also 
asking them to avoid life? LYrio and some dramatic forma 
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may very we11 be purely aesthetio, but in epio forms the 
theme is life, or a part of it, and the mora1 is sure to 
enter in. Of oourse, what oritios abhor in the portraya1 
of the . moral is the faot that it is otten made so promi-
~nt as to distort the oharaoters, whioh is like putting 
the oart before the horse, sinoe it is human nature that 
determines the moral and not the mora1, human nature. 
Nevertheless, if we stop to analyse the oharm of oharaoters 
in literature who seem to live before us, we sha11 find 
that it lies in the faot that they, like ourse1ves, are 
rational moral agents in a moral world with the same 
responsibilities for the oonsequenoes of their aots. 
1 
Like George Eliot, with whom she has often 
been oompared, Marie Freitrau von Ebner-Esohenbaoh is 
deeply interested in ethioal problems. Nor is it a mere 
passing interest with her,- it is an earnest endeavor to 
oome to some solution. She has no fear of treating the 
moral in her novels and stories, but she never does so 
2 
to the detriment ot the artistio. otto He1ler says of 
her works:NIn her stories eaoh individual is permitted 
to struggle in his own unhaokneyed way with the problems 
1.Anton Bettelheim in his "Biographisohe Blatter" gives 
in full the letters of Louise von Franoois to Ebner-
Esohenbaoh. In her 1etter of Maroh 6, 1880 she says a 
new volume of Ebner-Esohenbaoh's Erzahlungen relnind h 
of George Eliot: "81e konnten bei Ihrem tiefen Seelen~r 
bliok, der Weltkenntn1ss, der teinen Ironie, die Sie mit 
ihr gemein, der tormellen Besohrankung, die Sie vor ihr 
2.0tto Heller:Studies in Modern G8~Qn 4~ Literature.p.260. 
-~ 
that beset the path of life, but the oourse of fate is 
not defleoted by any silly shrinking from an unhappy end-
ing. The authoress shows only in that the outoome invari-
ably vindioates the higher ethios.' Other oritios ae well 
after praising her as an artist, almost always epeak of 
the ethioal value of her works. Let us look at some of 
1 
these testimonies. Hellmuth Mielke in 'Der Deutsohe 
Roman' says: uEin warmer ethisoher Geist sprioht aus allen 
ihren Sohopfungen, allein er drangt sioh nioht vor, er 
geht wie ein leiser Hauoh duroh sie hin, um an reohter 
2 
Stelle kraftig hervorzutreten.· Erich Schmidt in hie 
UCharakteristiken' says: 'Dieee Frau sieht die Welt, wie 
anmutig sie auoh ein Stillleben zu sohildern weiss, 
nioht im rosenfarbigen Lioht der Idylle. Sie hat ihren 
Bliok nie von dem Haesliohen abgekehrt, als durfe das fur 
sie nicht dasein. Sie geht der Sohuld naoh, der groben und 
der feinen. Ihre Sittenlehre wehrt vor a11em dem Egoismus 
und b gegnet sioh darin mit den grossten Ethikern a1terer 
3 
und n uerer Zeit •• Oskar Wa1zel speaks of th "ethisohe 
Weisheit ihre9APhorismen, die der Ausdruck einer reifen, 
voraus haben, die gleiohe Wirkung hervorbringen. u· Other 
comparisons between the two in Das Jahresberioht Vol.3 
1892 1V 3:219; Gabrielle Reuter: Die Diohtung Vol. XIX 
p.5~55. 
1.Hellmuth Mie1ke:Der Deutsohe Roman. p.328. 
2.Erioh Schmidt:Charakteristiken. Zweite Reihe. p.302-3. 
3.0ekar Walzel:Vom Geistesleben des 18. und 19. Jahr-
hunderts. p.~~6. 
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durchgebildeten Weltanechauung, eine echte und rechte 
Philosophie des Lebena." The literary critic of the 
1 
Weeerzeitung ie credited in the Jahresbericht of 1892 
with speaking of her 'feinem Getfrhl fur die Sitt., 
Kraft des DenkenB und Neigung zum Sinnen und Grubeln •. ' 
He goes on to say: 'Ein Grundsatz ihres gesamten W sens 
ist Mensch nliebe, d r Glaube an den guten Kern ~ 
2 
Menschen.· Moritz Necker in the Weserzeitung admires 
"die Tiefe des GefUhls, die starke ethische Kraft" in 
3 
her works. Max Lorenz in discuseing volumee eight and 
nine of her Gesammelte Schriften says: "Di sittlich 
Kraft der Men~chenherzen ureingeboren iet - das ist es, 
von dessen Existenz Marie Ebner-Eschenbach fest uber-
zeugt ist. Dass das Sittliche und Gute da ist in di.ser 
Welt, daran glaubt si ." 
It is the purpose of this thesis, fir t, to 
determine from her works what her ethics are,and, second, 
to reduce them so far a. possible to a system. To 
acoomplish the first of these aims, it will be necessary 
to determine how she brings out her ethics in her works 
and vhat the ethical themes are in some of her separate 
1.Jah~esber1cht III lB92 lV 3:219-36. 
2.Jahreeber1cht III lB92 IV 3:219-36. 
3.Preussische Jahrbucher Vol.10B p.164. 
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etories and novels. For this purpose I have seleoted the 
longer and later works, espeoial~y those written between 
1880 and ~.900,. as oontaining her most matured and settled 
views. The seoond step, that of reduoing her ethios to a 
system, will be more diffioult, inasmuoh ae she is not 50 
muoh a philoeopher, intereeted in past philosophies, in 
determining the unknown, and in setting up a system of her 
own, as she ie a thinker, who takes the ooncrete faots of 
life and looks at them from all points of view until shi 
hae found the ideal one; for she is eminently an idealist, 
at the same time retaining some of the old oonservatism. 
In reducing her ethical ideae to a system I ehall en-
deavor to determine her answers to the problems that 
form the content of all ethioal systems, namely, the 
nature of the good, the knowledge of the good, the author-
ity of the good, and the relation of the self to the so-
oial good. In thia respect her aphorisms, which contain 
her ethics in more condensed and technical form than her 
novels can, will be of gr at assistance. 
It will be of advantage, before turning to the 
ethical eignificanoe of the themes of her separate novels 
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and stories, to consider briefly some of the influencee 
that hav helped to make her ethics what they are. Such 
a study will give u , incidentally, a clearer idea of the 
relation of her moral philosophy to the philosophioal 
t ndenciea of the time. 
BIOGRAPHICAL FACTS WHICH HAVE INFLUENCED 
THE ETHICS OF MARIE VON EBNER-ESCHENBACH. 
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Although her life has been comparatively unevent-
ful so far as outward ciroumstanoes are concerned, Mari 
von Ebner-Eschenbach has always been a vigorous thinker. 
Hers is an experiencing mind. She was born of an old 
Bohemian Catholic noble family on her father's side and 
of a Saxon Protestant noble family on her motherte side, 
so that both Teutonic and Slavio blood flows in her 
viens. Her mother died a few days after her birth, and 
the children, of course, kn w nothing but Catholioism. 
Her autobiography of her childhood, IMeine Kinderjahre', 
as well as such autobiographical tories as "Die Erste 
Beiohte" and"Schattenleben" show that even as a child 
she was deeply interested in philosophical questions. At 
the age of sev n she was sent by her father to the 
I 
priest for her first confession. In the procedure she 
had to deolare she would rather die than commit another 
sin.Being of an impulsive nature and having a strong 
1. Mari von Ebner-Eschenbach: "Me1ne K1nderjahre".p.116_8. 
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love of the truth, the desire arose in her to remove 
at once all possibility of almost certain future wrong-
doing by jumping out of a window and killing herself. 
The only thing that saved her was that in her jump her 
head hit the upp.r half of the window, and she was 
knocked enseless back into the room. As a child she 
suffered terrible qualms of con.cience for her own 
wrong-doing and was indignant over wrong done to othere. 
When the laborers on the family estate at Zdislavic 
were mistreated , she would stamp her foot in rage and 
demand that the wrong be righted. She was the champion 
of the weak and helpless eve~heret whether it was to 
save a cat from drowning, although she was frightened 
at sight ot one, or to c~ out at the neglect of a 
mother, left penniless by the death of her son, the 
tutor of Marie's brothers. Of this event she says in 
WM ine Kinderjahre" : "Ich kam von der Frage nicht 
fort: Was wird geschehen, was wird man tun? Es wird 
geschehen, man wird tun, was in solchen F~llen das 
Gewohnliche ist. Man wird, von Mitleid erfullt, einen 
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ungemein warmen und herzlichen Brief :!5chreiben, man 
wird noch inige Male sagan: Der arme Just, seine arm 
Mutter, was wird sie jetzt wohl antangen? und dann ver-
ge~~en. Man wird ••.. ich werde.- This sense of justice 
was supplemented by a love tor humanity that gr w with 
her until it has become the dominant note in all her 
works. 
As she grew older, she began to think tor hersele. 
Religious doubts, doubts as to the very existence of 
everything but herself, pos.e .ed her. InWSchattenlebenN 
she recalls her contact as a child with the Absolute Ego 
theory ot Fichte and her attempts to prove it: -Ich 
weiss, dass ich Jahre lang den Zweifel in mir trug, ob 
denn ausser mir noch etwas wirklich sei, ob ioh nicht 
allein lebe, tUhle, atme in einem ungeheuren Nichts .•••• 
Ich rannte zuweilen im Garten vorwarts, so rasch ich 
konnte, und wendete mich dann plotzlich um und meint : 
einmal wirst du's erwischen, das Weisse, das Leere. Aber 
ich erwisohte e nie, es war immer schneller ala ich! eh' 
ich mich umsehen konnte, hatte die Decoration sich wieder 
aufgestellt" • 
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At the death of her grandmother, Marie became 
poss eor ot her grandmother's books. She wa hungry for 
something to read, eo she began at once. She tried to 
understand the Book of Revelations in her grandmother's 
Bible. Because she could not, she grew more and more 
discouraged. The story of LeSSing's precocious youth,too, 
made her despair of ever becoming the great writer she 
hoped to be. She wrote a little poem: 
"rch bin ein Nichts fUr meinen Gott, 
FUr meinen N~ohsten bin ich klein, 
ltir selber dien' ich nur zum Spott, 
Wie konnt' ein Mensoh nooh ~rmer sein?" 
But gradually this depression wore off. She read oontinu-
ally. She began to admire Klopstook's Odes exoeedingly, 
and her faith in God as a Creator and Father returned. 
"Meine Kinderjahre tt oloses with the significant sentenoe: 
"loh hatte gedacht und gelitten, - ioh war kein Kind mehr." 
At the age of eighteen she married a oousin, 
Baron Moriz von Ebner-Esohenbaoh, an instruotor in the 
lngeneur-Akademie in Vienna and a military man of note. 
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Bef ore her marriage she had sent some of her poems to 
Grillparzer for criticism. His comments were very favor-
able, except that he said the poet showed lack of orderly 
thought. As a result Mari began to study as never beforer-
Greek, Latin, science, and literature - studies reserved 
for the boys. Though of an active, rather restless nature, 
preferring riding and shooting and outdoor sports to stud~, 
she learned to subject desire to will. In her stories. and 
aphorism. when she holds up the ideal of self-restraint, 
it is as one who knows, as one who has had to learn it 
himself. Art to her is a calling, worthy ot the greatest 
sacrifices. 
Her early works, dramas, were unsuccessful and 
were subjected to severe criticism. Like many successful 
novelists, she turned t~ the novel late in life, - she 
was just forty-five years of age, - and it was a tew 
years later that her tri ndship with Louise von Francois 
began. Pessimism was the popular t 'rend in philo!lophy. 
Evidently Marie von Ebner-E!lchenbach was yielding to this 
pes imistic tendency in her early stories, for Louise 
1 
von Francois in a letter of February 20, 1880 criticises 
1. Anton Bettelheim: Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach. 
Biographische Blatter. p.105. 
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the stories "Ein Splitgeborener u a.nd "Chlodowiglf beoause", 
as she says, Ifdi Kraft zereohellt an der Schw~che.1f She 
goes on to say: "Wenn die Wirklicbkeit so Niederschlagend-
es oftenbart, d.ie Kunst soll una Erhebendes bringen, zumal 
in dieser Zeit des Pessimismus. v Thi pessimistic note is 
entirely foreign to her later works. Reality is portrayed 
at times in all its awfulness, but the attitude toward it, 
that such is the way of the world, that we may aa well sit 
down and fold our hands, since there ia nothing better to 
do, is entirely lacking. Instead there is optimism, - the 
optimism that dares to look on the evil and believe in the 
ultimate supremacy of the good. About this ti~e Turgenev, 
the Russian nobleman-novelist •. was exerting a great intlu-
eno all o~er Europe . Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach read much 
of his work but did not permit it to influence her. By 
that time she was beyond th fatalistic note with which he 
1 portrays lite in his home-land. Bettelheim says: "Ihr 
rigoristisches Sittengeset~hat nichts gemein mit seinem 
Fatalismus ... 
2 
The years 1870 and 1871 saw the foundation of the 
German Empire, with Austria-Hungary ~ subject kingdom. New 
1.Anton Bettelheim: Marie von Ebner-Eschenbaoh 
Biographische Bl~tter. P.152. 
2. Friedrich Kummer: Deutsche Literatur-G schichte des 
19ten Jahrhunderts. PP.~88-91. 
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business sprang up, speculation became rife, the number 
of day-laborers increased while capital piled up as never 
before. In 1873 there was a panic, followed by a period • 
of fear and distrust. This crisis was bridged ove r by 
commerce and trade at home and abroad. Gradually Germany 
changed from an agrioultural to an industrial nation. In 
1850 one founth of the population of the empire lived in 
citie , in 1900 this number had inoreased to one half. 
With these industrial changee, social oonditions became 
ripe for the spread of socialism. These social conditions 
aocount to no emall degree, no doubt, for the strong 
80cial note in ma.ny of. the novel of Marie von Ebner-
Eschenbach. However, it is always the moral, not the 
politioal,value in sooialistio doctrines that appeals to 
her. 
Two other names remain to be mentioned here, two 
ethical philosophers of widely different stamp. For many 
summers before the death of Louise von Francois, she and 
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbaoh used to spend a portion of the 
summer together in st. Gilgen in north Austria. The plaoe 
was something of a resort, and many of their friends also 
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liv.ed there, - cultured men and women, some ot them 
~cientists and writers of note. Among them wae Ida 
Fleischl. These three walked and talked much ·together. Of 
Ida. Fleischl Bettelheim says: Ife Sie) trieb philosophisohe 
und religi nsgesch1chtliche Studien, kannte ihren Spinoza 
grUndlich und beschaftigte eich lebhaft mit buddh:l5tischer 
Ethik, d&n Vedischen Hymnen und dem Brahmanismu .- Aside 
from this one instance, no references ocour as to Marie -
von Ebner-Esohenbaoh's knowledge of Spinoza's philosophy. 
No doubt she had read the great philosophers for herself, 
and one oannot foree oonolusions; nevertheless, Spinozats 
ideas of God and of virtue and of freedom from emotion 
thruugh an int llectual attitude toward the universe would 
prepare the way for a lea.ning toward theories such as pro-
pounded by the American ethical writer, William Mackintire 
Salter. While leoturer for the Sooiety for Ethical Culture 
of Chicago, he delivered the lectures found in hi book 
called -Ethical Religion-, which was first published in 
English in 1889. In 1885 some of the.e same lectures were 
translated into German and published under the title of 
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1 
-Die Religion der MoraIN. This book very avidently d •• ply 
impressed Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach. The views expressed 
in it and similar ideas in Marie von Ebner 1 s n .els after 
1885 will be considered later. Suffice it here to say that 
she not only read the book herself, but she also recommend-
ed it to her friends and discussed it with them. I,ouise von 
Franoois, like herself, was much interested in ethics. 
Bettelheim says: NUnumwunden, wie Uber literariaohe, sprach 
sieh die Franoois auch Uber philosophische und religiose 
f' ~ Dinge aus. Auf alles Ethi.che war sie wie ein Vogel und 
der Amerikaner Salter, auf den sie von der Ebner hinge-
wiesen wurde, gab Anlass . zu weit ausgreifenden, tie!grUnd-
enden Bekenntnissen 8 • 
Marie von Ebner has never travelled much. The 
only journey she has ever made outside of Austria-Hungary 
was one to Rome, where she stayed from 1898 to 1900. On her 
return all Vienna joined in the celebration of her seven-
tieth birthday. Letters and gifts came from writers of not. 
allover Germany and Austria. The University of Vienna 
conferred on her the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 
honoris causa,- the first time this degre was ever g1ven 
1. Translated by Professor Doctor Georg von Gizycki, 
LeipZig and Berlin. See footnote to page ii of the 
prefao to the second edition of -Ethical Reli i " g on • 
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to a woman by that institution. 
The tendency in modern German thought to 
which Marie von Ebner-Eechenbach's moral philosophy is 
most obviously opposed is that of pessimi~. In her 
aphorisme she eays:.Die jetzigen Menschen sind zum tadeln 
geboren. Vom ganzen Achilles sehen sie nur die Ferae"; or 
"Die gluck1ichen Pessimisten. Welche Freude empfinden sie, 
eo oft sie bewiesen haben, dass es keine Freude gibt". At 
a time when men were doubting the ,value of life and the 
worth ot humanity in general, she wrote her books, which 
are filled with optimistic love for and taith in mankind. 
At a time when philoeophere were declaring pain with 
briet intervals of pleasure to be the content of existence, 
through the medium of the novel and story she gave to the 
world evidence of her belief in the unsurpassed joy of a 
moral life, basing her belief en a keen insight into human 
natur • In opposition to Schopenhauer's doctrine of the 
will being determined by the character of the person, she 
says:·so weit Deine S Ibstbeherrschung geht, so weit geht 
Deine Freiheit", and she gives us in her novels many 
examples of the reconstruction of the character by means 
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of the will. It there is anything determined in her phi-
losophy, it is the beli t that in every person there is 
the moral impulse that enables kim to see the good and 
to rea,ch out toward it. 
1 
The milieu theory • that heredity and environ-
ment determine absolutely the actions of an individual, 
and that crime is the necessary, unavoidable result of 
certain given conditions, is a product of pessimism which 
Zola and the French writers following him introduced into 
the novel. "Das Gemeindekind" attempts to prove the oppo-
site with its theme of moral attainment in spite of 
heredity and environment. Although Marie von Ebner-
Eschenbach never isolates her oharaoters from their envi-
ronment, still she never allows environment to determine 
the charaoter. In this sense one might oall her an indi-
vidualist, but her individualism is always characterised 
by a classic moderation. 
Another tendency to whioh Marie von Ebner 
stands opposed is that of realism in art that descends to 
the disagreeable, the sordid, the mean. She loves reality, 
her charaoters arerealists. They are men of action, intent 
1.Carl Schmidt: Der moderne Roman. pp.2~6-7. 
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on t he doing of concrete things, not on reasoning and 
contemplation, but they also have high moral ideals. It 
is this fact, together with her arti~tic ~en~e, that 
insures l~rie von Ebner-Eschenbach against the sordid 
realiem ot much ot the modern fiction. According to 
1 
Moritz·· Necker, the lees other novelists have heeded moral 
ideale, the etronger she hae made the ethical note in her 
work. "Man strebt auch andere Ziele ale die altesten 
Kunstler an: nicht mehr Schtlnheit, sondern nur Wahrheit ••• 
Da trat sie mit ihrem grossen Menschenglauben, mit ihrer 
Kraft dee Willens hervor, und hielt durch Wort und Tat 
den Glauben an Gute und Schonheit lebendig". 
1. Moritz Necker: Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach. Naoh 
ihren Werken geschildert. pp.227-8. 
METHODS EMPLOYED IN PRESENTING 
ETHICS IN HER NOVELS AND STORIES. 
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If we are convinced of the legitimacy of the ethi-
cal in art, and if a certain work grips us and holds us 
through its powertul treatment ot some moral question, we 
naturally ask ourselves: how is it done? The mere statement 
of a moral problem produces no more effect than those so-
called religions that have set up platitudes without the 
dynamic of a great personality back of them. Just so, it 
is the author back of his work that makes his messag vital 
to us. In other words. those pieces of literature that 
impress us with the right of one mode of conduct and the 
wrong of another, contain the essence of the author's 
1 
personality. For what he feels, he must express, and what 
he does not feel, he cannot make us feel. The novels, poems, 
and aphorisms of Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach all reveal her 
personality. One of the elements of this personality is her 
understanding ot human nature. In one of her aphorisms she 
1. The following discussion is based on a lecture by 
Oscar Firkins on ethics in literature. 
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says: "Ein Dichter, der einen Menschen kennt, kann hundert 
schildern". Though of the nobility, she knows the villagers 
and farmers and day-la,borers as well as the Viennese aris-
tocracy. Sport-countesses, society matrons, court offioials, 
parish priests, country dootors, watCh-makers, village 
school-masters, serving-maids are all equally interesting 
to her, because they are all human. ·Sie sucht alles aufs 
1 
Menschliche zu stellen", according to Gabrielle Reuter in 
"Die Dichtung" . In one of her "Spruchversen" she says: 
·Verstandniss fur jedwedes Laid, 
Erbarmen mild mit jedem 'F hle; 
Daran in dieser Zeitlichkeit, 
Erkennst Du die erwRhlte Seele". 
As one who understands humankind, largely through her love 
of huma.nkind,( just a·s she insists that one must believe in 
the good to make it live), she herself is an "erwahlte 
Se.le". 
As a r.sult of her keen insight into human 
nature, her characters are very human, and they, too, re-
flect her ethics. Our sympathies are directed invariably 
toward the good in their personalities and in their conduct. 
If they commit a wrong, we feel with them: would that it 
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had not been done. There are very 'lew out-and-out bad 
character~ in Marie von Ebner's stories, not because they 
are unknown to her, but because she looks for some good in 
everyone and finss it. In ·Palemon" , one of her parabl s, 
she puts into the mouth of a painter a sentence that fitly 
describes her own purpose: "Ich erhebe den Anspruch auf 
treue Wied rgabe der Natur, ••. wenn .s mitr· gelingt, iiber-
z ugend darzustellen, was ich allein gesehen habe: einen 
edlen Zug im Angesicht der Verworfenen, einen Blitz des 
Geiates im Auge des Einfaltigen". 
Another way in which she produces a moral ffect 
is by showing that joy follows right conduct, and misery, 
wrong-doin.g. "The wages of sin is death" is a law of life, 
but death may mean the 10s8 of mental or spiritual values 
as well as physical. In fact, in her stories wrong-doing is 
followed, not by a series ot misfortunds, as if inflicted 
by an outraged Providence, but by the r morse of the sinner 
or by a loss of his higher self. Marie Dornach in "Unsuhnbar" 
is her own judge and suffers under her own verdict more than 
any externally imposed punishment could possibly cause her 
to Bufter. Hermann Halwig in "Lotti. die Uhrmacherin", though 
-23-
once a priest of the true and the beautiful in literature, 
sells his soul to his publishers, when in need ot money, 
and cannot rise again to his old ideals when the need is 
removed. Leo Klinger in "Glaubenlos?" , in his quest after 
the truth, concludes that the only hell there is, is that 
in the hearts of men. Any number of such illustrations 
could be given. Just so the good are happy. However, the 
terms "goodness" and "happiness", as applied to Maria von 
Ebner's works have a larger meaning than the ordinary use 
of the t~rms implies, and we will leave this point to the 
diBcus~ion of the good. 
The easiest and most common way of pr senting a 
moral lesson in a novel is, of course, by preaching, 
whether in a paragraph or in a Single s ntence . It goes 
without saying, perhaps, that true literature carefully 
se ks to avoid any obvious forcing of moral views. Feeling 
against it is stronger today than ever before. Nevertheless, 
the use of the precept or moral injunction was used by no 
lesser writers than Goethe, Shakespeare, Schiller, Milton, 
Brovming. and Tennyson. Marie von Ebner's works are by no 
means free from precepts. One who writes aphorisms such 
-214--
that they are quoted everywher., even as those of Goethe 
are, has a power ot expression not oommon to most writers. 
Those who think hard u~ually think in aphorisms. The more 
gifted the thinker is in the art ot apt expr ssion, the more 
widely knowa and appreoiated are his sayings. On the title 
page to her aphorisms, Marie Ebner has added this definition 
of an aphorism:IfEin Aphorismus ist der letze Ring einer 
langen G dankenkette". As a result, her novels contain 
precepts. However, there are few of them which are not 
spoken by oharacters in the stories, who under stress of 
feeling break forth with a general truth, which, far trom 
being open to oritici~m, reveals the charaotdr and state of 
mind of the person admirably. Seldom does she obtrude her 
own thought on a subject; when she does, it comes with 
striking foroe and u~uall~ contains the key to the under-
standing ot th whole story. One example of this is the 
following sentences in "Nach dem Tode": "Die alten Leute 
verstehen eben die jungen nicht mehr. Sie wissen nicht, wie 
die gepanzert sind, inwendig, auswendig, durch und durch, 
mit einem tretflichen Harnisch: GleichgUltigkeit ! u 
In summing up we find that in her novels and 
-25-
stories her ethics ar impressed on the r ader for the 
most part through the realisation of a personality with 
high ideals back of the characters, through the sympathy 
he feele tor the good in the characters, through the 
sound and vital principle of life embodied in the stories 
tha.t evil-doing means loss and right-doing gain, and 
through the express etatement of a moral principle. The 
first three methods are always pr sent in a story with 
ethical import. The fourth is not so oommon, but neither 
i8 it nearly so important as the other three. W. are now 
ready to consider the themes of some of her stories in 
detail. 
ETHICAL THEMES OF 
SEPARATE NOVELS AND STORIES. 
-26-
It will be impossible her& to consider everything 
ethical in the novels and stories r viewad. What ie eesen-
tial, however. is to detennine the most important ethical 
truth in each. The title of the story will often indicate 
where the author wishee to lay greatest stress. If the title 
is the name ot or denotes one of the characters. then our 
chief interest will r st with that character, ae is the 
case in "Das Gemeindekind" or "Der Kreisphysikus"; if the 
title is the expression of some idea or theme contained in 
the novel, then will be interested, not so much in the 
characters, a.s in the development 0 f that theme. 
Marie von Ebner has written two poems with some-
what similar content that will serve admirably to explain 
the ethical import of her stories; one is called "st.Peter 
und der Blaustrumpf", the other. If Isabella". Both the 
"Blaustrumpf" and Isabella wait at the gate of heaven for 
• 
-27-
dm1ttanc • T e IBl u trumpf U is rerus ,e~ply becau e 
sh 1 & blu - tooking, and I abella i refu d b 0 us he 
ould not be11ev in h 11. Th blue- tock1ng pleads: 
' Dir ekannt m 1n L ben lauf t 
Du .. st st, das 1n l' n stun en 
lch me1nen Herrn und Gott g fund n". 
Th gat -k_ p r demands IAl1wo? - Sprich klar'; and she 
rep11 
n I 
h 11 h 
, 
11 
lbst, wo 1ch zu Hau art 
1n Hand er bra_hte da m1t 1oh, 
Im n oh nh rzen. und r1ic 
ar ort der H ch t ohl n; 
Oft b11 b von in Lioht 
in Ii n n iibr1 nor, 
nd fiih t do h Buf Got Spur . 
i J.n h did liev t 
pli s: 
IH rr, 1n Gott, or ioh laubt 
ar Un rl ubte. 
An d1 n chen. nio tan Hl)lle, 
Glaubt' ioll t (Sr1 lsab • a l • 
1 not in 
-28-
Both Isabella and the blue-~tocking are admitted to heaven. 
:Marie von Ebn~r-E~chenbach i~ oonvinced of the 
presence of a divine spark in every human being;her novels 
and stori •• are demonstrations of that fact . In ethioal 
phraseology, the fundamental idea of each one is self-
realisation; one or more oharacters in the story find 
themselVes, that is, they advanoe from a more or less limit-
ed outlook on life to a realisation of goods of whioh they 
had never dreamed before. What has ohanged them? They them-
3elves, beoause ot some "gottliches Fiinklein" that made them 
respond to a greater good. 
To say that this same idea of self-realisation is 
the foundation of all her stories may seem to denote stupid 
uniformity and want of variety, but suoh is far from the 
truth. There are ju~t as many greater goods in the world as 
there are people,- there are just as many ways of .elf-
~alisation as there are selves to realise. This fact pre-
cludes all possibility of sameness. The greater good to 
Which a character oan attain is the good for him simply 
, 
.... 
because his nature is as it is. John Dewey says:"A moral 
law is thoroughly individualised. It oannot be for one aot 
1. John Dewey:OUtlines of a Critical Theory of Ethics. p.179. 
-29-
just what it is for anoth r. The ethioal world is too 
rich in oapaoity and oircum~tance to permit of monotony; 
it ie too ~1ft in its movement to allow of bare repeti-
tion. It will not hold still; it moves on, and moral law 
is the law of aotion required from individuals by thi~ 
movement." To be sure , the faot is by no means obvious 
that all the ~tories have this similar ethioal theme. From 
the purely literary point of view they are vastly diff er-
ent. One could olassify them then in several ways; for 
instance, acoording a. they portray the village folk, or 
Viennese sooiety, or the poorer olas. of oity-dwellers. 
Then eaoh olass would be distinct from the other. From 
the ethical ~tand-point, if one observes long and clo~ely 
enough, one oan see that self-realisation is the theme of 
all. It has ~eemed well to anticipate the disoussion of 
the nature of the good thus far, in order that this fact 
may grow olearer, as we review the events and meet the 
characters in the separate stories. 
Let us begin with "Das Gemeindekind", which i~ 
probably the best known of all her works. Pavel Holub and 
his little sister Milada are left alone in the world,-
-30-
indeed, they are woree than alone. Their father, a drunk-
.n eot, has killed the village priest and robbed the ohurch 
altars. For this he i8 hanged, although at the trial he 
insists that, not he, but his wife, oommitted the crtme. 
His meek little wife, who fears her husband more than death, 
will only reply to questions as to her guilt: HWi. der 
Mann sagt. Was der Mann sagt ". Accordingly, though quite 
innoc nt, she is sent to prison for ten years. Pavel and 
Milada are left woree than orphans. They have no relatives, 
and apparently no one will take them. In his dilemma the 
mayor of the parish of Sole schau takes them to the castle 
of the baroness of the parish estate. She, at first, will 
hear nothing of them. "Um die Kinder der Strolche, die 
einen braven Pfarrer erschlagen haben, kUmmr' ich mioh 
nicht". Finally, however, she deoides to keep M1lada, and 
Pavel becomes a "Gemeindekind". The customary procedure in 
such a case is for the child to stay for a while at each 
of the homes in the parish; but no one wants Pavel, so he 
is entrusted to the village herdsman, Virgil, and his wife, 
two of the most disreputable characters of the parish. To 
have given over to them any other child than Pavel would 
-31-
not have ooourred to the oounoil, but with Pavel it i 
diff rent. There is nothing in him to spoil. A third member 
of the herdsman's family is his pretty daughter Vinska. 
For a time Pavel and Milada miss eaoh other sadly. 
Pavel makes a bold attempt to resoue his Sister, acoording 
to his view-point, and with oharaoteristio Slavio stubborn-
ness, he will say nothing in his own def,ense. All sorts of 
evil motives are asoribed to his aot:"Einbr ohen wahr ohein-
lich oder Feuer anlagen: dam K rl ist Alles zuzutrauen". 
His punishment is a whipping by the sohool-master,Felix 
Habreoht, in the' presenoe of all the sohool-ohildern. Even 
Habreoht is severe with Pavel at first, but he is the first 
to find anything good in the boy at all and later becomes 
his one and only friend. 
Although the parish is supposed to ~e supporting 
Pavel, their gifts to h~ are few and far between. He runs 
about in rags, sullen and unapproaohable. The only one who 
can do anything with him is Vinska, and her influenoe is far 
from good. He is given a pair of boots by Habreoht for 
att~ndanoe in sohool eight days in sucoession. Vinska asks 
wher he has stolen them, and when he tells her the sohool-
-32-
master has given them to him, she laughs and says: "Ja.ja! 
was der Lehrer schenkt, halt sioh nicht uber Nacht. Du 
wsis t ja, dass er ein Hexenm ister ist". Because he was 
once thought to be dead and woke up again in the coffin 
shortly before the burial was to take plao , Habrecht has 
the reputation among the superstitious village-folk of be1n 
in league with the devil. Any kind aot that he may do or 
any attempt on his part to bring about some reform, how-
ever small, is promptly disoredited and ascribed to evil 
designs. H must even keep his Latin bo'oks under the floor 
of his room and read them by stealth, lest the people think 
they are books on magic. 
Pavel attends sohool very irregularly and works 
in the tile-works instead. The other childern are much young-
er than he, they tease him about his father and mother, and 
he does not care much about atudying anyway. One day he learns 
that Milada has gone to a convent to become a nun. All his 
hop s of seeing her now are destroyed. As he lies in th 
grass, thinking of how little lit is worth to him. the 
SChool-mast r oomes upon him. Thinking the boy is up to 
some mischief again, he demands ot him what he is doing. 
-33-
Again Pavel obstinately maintains silence. The school-
master strikes him, only to regret it a moment later. 
"Pavel", he says, "um Gottes willen, ich hart nur Schlim-
mes von Dir - Du bist au! einem schlechten Weg; was soll 
aus Dir werden? If Only after Habrecht has repeated hie 
question, does Pavel reply: HEin Dieb". A few days later, 
because Vinska asks him to and because her beauty attraots 
him, he .teals some of the peacocks t feathers from the 
oastle park, and wh n oaught and questioned, he takes all 
the blame himself. However, when he discovers that she has 
given the feathers to Peter, the landlor~s son, to gain his 
good graces, Pavel deoides to have nothing more to do with 
her. 
No one expects anything good from Pav 1, and he 
apparently does hie best to live up to his reputation. 
Finally, though Miladats benefaotress, the baroness, is 
much opposed to it, Pavel obtains permission to see Milada. 
This me ting ie what sets Pavel to thinking. Milada tells 
him how she hopes, by a saintly life in the oonvent, to 
atone for the guilt of her parents. 'Ee ist sohwer, die 
Bravste zu sein, weil so viel gute Kinder da sind; aber 
-314-
ich bin':!! dochl lf she says and then a3ks, nDu biat es auch?" 
Iflch?1f Pavel answers in confusion, Ifwie soll denn ich brav 
sein ••• Warum soll ich nichts Unrechtes tun?" Slowly, however, 
a desire to be like Milada grows in him. He tells her it is 
hard to be good in the village and begs to stay at the con-
vent to tend the COW3 and oxen, it nothing else. But this 
is not permitted, and, after a touching scene of parting in 
which Milada 1 s sympathies overwhelm her and she cries: 
"La,eeen Sie miohl Ioh will mit ihm gehen, weil er arm i3t, 
weil er ein Dieb ist ••• ioh will nicht eine Heilige sein und 
in den Himmel kommen, wenn er in die Holle kommt", Pavel 
starts back to Sole schau. His fa lings are all aroused. 
Milada's unselfishness, first in wishing to atone for her 
parents' guilt and then in her deeire to leave all, her 
fr i ends, her good clothes and plenty to eat, and go with 
him, quite overwhelme him. He determines to show himself 
worthy of her love. Some strange, new emotion risee in him. 
It is so new, so strange that he cannot name it, yet he 
knows it makes him happy. It see~ to tell him of new and 
wonderful experienoes. As he walks along toward home, he 
becomes more and more oonvinoed, 'dass er einer groseen 
-35-
Veranderung seines Schicksals entgegen gehe, dem geheim-
nissvollen Anfang zu einem schoneren, besseren Leben". 
The resolve to begin a new life is the result of 
his visit to Mllada and of the evidenoes of her love and 
unselfishness. He begins to see that, although those about 
him treat h~ unjustly and refuse to interpret his good 
intentions aright, that is no reason why he should not live 
a good life. He sees that there is a good beyond merely 
ga~ning the good-will of the villager , namely, that of a 
good life. It is this thought that keeps him firm in his 
resolve. He himself has been the cause of some of the dis-
trust and ill-treatment he has reoeived. That he oan remove. 
So far as his parents have brought it on h~, he oan only 
give evideno of his own worthiness and leave the rest to 
the people themselves; as one of the aphorisms says:'Der 
Wohlwollende ttirchtet Missgunst nioht". 
The rest of the novel shows how Pavel oarries out 
his resolve. He goes to live with the sohool-master until 
he has saved enough to b~ a few acres and build a little 
house ot his own: but still he haa much with which to con-
tend. The ill-will of the villagers doe not abate,-
-36-
rather it increases because of envy at Pavel's perserver-
ance and modest sucoess. This ill-will finally comes to a 
head. and Pavel is foroed to settle it in a hand-to-hand 
fight in which all his ohie! enemies take part. With a 
strength born of a strong sense of the injustice that has 
been done him all his life, he shows them that he is master 
of the situation and quite able to take care of himself. 
From this t~e on, life beoomes more pleasant, so far as his 
treatment by the villagers is concerned. However, Habrech~, 
the school-master, who has gone to another village to teach 
because he could no longer stand the suspicions of the people 
of Sale schau, finds that the stories of his witchcraft have 
followed him even to his new home, and he decides to go to 
America. His farewell speech to Pavel is significant in 
many ways. In the first place. his reason for going to 
America is that he has read a book, like which -noch nie 
eines geschrieben wurde" . This book told him of an ethioal 
society, whose purpose was the propagation of moral culture 
and Which was daily winning new members and influence. 
,. "Bekenner einer Religion der Moral nennen sie siohM • he tells 
Pavel; "ich nenne sie die Entzunder und Htiter des heiligsten 
-37-
Feuers, das je auf Erden brannte, und dessen Lioht be-
\ 
stimmt ist. auf dem Antlitz der mensohliohen Gemeinde den 
Widersohcin einer edlen. bisher fremden Freudigkeit waoh-
zurufen". Thi evidenoe is very vidently to the Sooiety 
for Et hioal Culture in Amerioa and to the book MD1 
Religion der Moral" by Wm. M. Salter, who has been leotur-
er and enthusiastio supporter of the Sooiety for years. The 
signifioanoe of this referenoe we shall oonsider later . 
under the disoussion of the ethios of Ebner-Esohenbaoh. 
Another important faot about this farewell speeoh 1s that 
through it for the first time Pavel gets an idea of him-
self as a sooial self. So far he has learned to know the 
value of a moral life; he haa realised hims If in so far 
as he has resolved to refrain from wrong-doing in his own 
life. Complete self-realisation is possible only in sooiety. 
This sooial sense is quite laoking in Pavel. Rather than 
any altruistio ideas or motives, he has only hatred and 
oontempt for those who have oaused him so muoh suffering. 
Habreohtts speeoh at least gives him new ideas, full of 
wonderful possibilities. Habreoht asks how he is g tting 
along. Pavel tells him things are going muoh better sinoe 
-38-
he thrashed his enemies in the inn. "Nun, lieber Mensoh," 
Habrecht replies, "Prugel sind nicht schlecht, aber nur fiir 
den Anfang, durchaus nur: und uberhaupt nie mehr ale ein 
Palliativ ••• Von Vernunft- und Gemeinde wegen, hatte ein 
sohleohter Kerl aus Dir werden mUssen; statt dessen bist 
Du ein tuchtiger geworden. Mach' so fort, schlag' ihnen 
ein Sohnippchen um8 andere. Arbeite Dich hinaut zum Bauer; 
werde ihr Burgermei8ter·. Pavel opens his ey 15 wide in aston-
ishment at the inconoeivableness of the idea. "Ja,ja! und 
wenn ]U's bist, dann zahl' ihnen mit Gutem heim, was sie 
Uebles an Dir getan haben". The whole speeoh is valuable. 
The following separate sentences have been ohosen as a 
further statement of the sooial ethics whioh Habrecht felt 
was the best thing he had to leave with Pavel at parting 
and which, one feels, must express the sentiments of the 
author as well: "Wir leben in einer vorzugsweise lehrreichen 
Zeit. Nie ist den Menschen deutlicher gepredigt worden: 
Seid selbstlos, wenn aus keinem dleren, so doch aus Selest-
erhaltungstrieb •••• I~~her8n Zeiten konnte Einer ruhig vor 
seinem vollen Teller si~zen und sich's schmecken lassen, 
ohne sich darum zu kUrnmern t dass der Teller seines Nachbars 
-39-
leer war. Das geht jetzt nicht mehr, ausser bei den geistig 
vollig Blinden. Allen Uebrigen wird der leer. Teller des Nach-
bars den Appetit verderben- dem Braven aus Rechtsgef~hl, dem 
Feigen aus Angst ••• Darum sorge daftir, wenn Du Deinen T ller 
fUllst, daes es in Deiner Nachbarschaft 50 wenig 1 ere als 
moglich gibt •• • N1cht Jeder braucht einen Hausstand zu grunden; 
dae ist dar grosste Wahn, dass man einige Kinder haben mUsse -
es giebt Kinder genug auf der Welt •• • und je besser ein Vater 
ist, desto weniger hat er von seinen Kindern - wer ftihlt 
edel und selbstlos genug , U~iCh zutrauen zu durfen, er 
werd ein guter vater sein?" Just as some people turn their 
backs on idealism and regard it as fit only for dreamers, 
Habrecht fears Pavel will regard these fundamental ideas as 
far beyond him: and he tells him not to argue thus:·wir 
sind geringe Leute; fur uns ist auch eine geringe Moral gut 
genug •••• !ch sage Dir, gerade die beste ist fur Euch die 
rechte". Pavel returns home, digs up the stone he had buried 
in his dooryard in token of a promia to himself, that none 
ot the villagers shall ever cross his threehhold, and throws 
it into the well. 
Not long after Milada dies. Pavel is heart-broken. 
-40-
The same day that he hears of her death, his mother re-
turns to Soleechau after ten years' impri onment. Even 
Pavel has always thought she was guilty of a part of the 
crime at least, but he has always planned, too, for h r 
home-coming; now, when he learne that ehe has suffered, 
though innocent, he is more than glad that he has a home 
for her. At first she will not stay, because she feels she 
will only put him to ehame before the eyes of the world. 
He pleads with her:dDie Aergsten werden oft die Besten, 
wenn sie Einen brauchen. Nun, 'liebe Mutter, das musst t 
doch curioe zugehen, wenn man zwei Menschen, wie wir sind. 
nicht manchmal brauchen sollte. Bleibt bei mir, Iiebe 
MUtter", and ehe stays. The eocial self in Pavel is reaI-
ised,- he has found himself. 
The two chief factors in Pavelts self-realisa-
tion are Milada and Habrecht. In Miladats saintly life and 
in her faith in him he finds an ideal that means a recon-
struction of hi inner life. But Milada is r mote from the 
world. In Habrecht'e crude but eound philosophy the more 
complete ideal of the altruietic, social individual, who 
covets the opportunity of a moral life for others as well 
• 
-4-1-
a8 for himself , is present d to him. His awakened social 
instinct finds its first expression in the reception into 
his horne of his supposedly guilty mother. Since man often 
clings most tenaciously to an ideal when resistance is 
offered, the obstacles placed in Pavel's way by the vil-
lagers after his visit to Milada may be regarded as a 
third, but negative factor in his self-realisation. 
The idea of. self-realisation is no less the 
fundamental ethical theme of "Der Kreisphysikus" than it 
is ot "Das Gemeindekind". Here the central figure is the 
Jewish district-physic ian, Nathanael Rosenzweig. From a 
boyhood ot privation he has learned the value of money, 
and at the opening of the story his world of activity 
consists of making money, and more money, for an old 
grandmother and himself. He loves his profession, but its 
chiet value to him lies in the money it brings in. He se s 
everything in terms ot money. As he rides along at night 
through snow-covered ti Ids, he admires the broad white 
expanse because it is like a huge, newly-coined piece ot 
silver. From such a character to one who uses his pro-
fession untiringly as a means of serving others who have 
need of him, and who finds his supreme happiness therein, 
seems a great change, but such i the experienoe of Dr. 
Roe nzweig.Let us see how the author produoes this change. 
In the first place, as Dr. Rosenzweig is riding home late 
one cold w t.T night, he finds a boy, lying in the snow, 
almost frozen. The doctor's instinct in him impels him to 
revive the bot and to take him home with him. He does not in-
tend to keep the boy, but, as there se ms to be nothing 
else to do, he permits him to stay as general ohore-boy. 
Thus the first new factor is introduced into the doctor's 
life, and a factor very much in need of help. He is harsh 
With Joseph, requires much of him, but pays him nothing. 
The next factor in the selt-realisation of the doctor is 
the death ot his grandmother: -das einzige ideale Gut, das 
er be essen hatte, die Zuneigung dieser Frau, war fUr immer 
dahin und er, als ein bejahrter Mann - allein". For the 
first time in his life he looks baok over his past life. 
Much has been aocomplished, but nothing without a thought 
of his old grandmother. Now she is gone, and he i left 
alone, with no one in the world to provide for but him-
s If. The fact that there may be others whom he can help, 
-4-3-
or to whom he owes something as a fellow-member in society, 
does not occur to him. 
The first two factors in his self-realisation are 
purely negative; that is, they do not contribute directly to 
the change in him, they merely prepare the way for positive 
influences. The third step, however, means a positive ad-
vanc toward the higher good, and consists of a friend l s 
undeserved praise of Dr. Rosenzweig for his kindness in 
giving Joseph a good home. He goes on a professional visit 
to the castle of a Polish baroness and is greeted heartily 
with the words:uVon Amts wegen sind Sie ein ttichtiger 
Kreisphysikus, zum Samariter macht Sie Ihr eigenes Herz". 
One 0 f the aphorisms says: "Der Glaube an das Gute ist es, 
der da.s Gute lebend.ig macht". Here is an illustration of 
the truth of the statement. Now Dr. Rosenzweig begins to 
realise that, though his grandmother is dead, there may be 
others for whom he should provide. Nor will he have to look 
far. Instead ot giving Joseph a good home, he has only made 
a hard-working servant of him, - a servant without pay. At 
first he r'esents the undeserved praise, but at the same time 
the thought comes to him, that he will give Joseph a new suit 
of cl.othes instead of the cast-otts he is wearing. 
That this third factor, however, would not have 
sufficed to work a permanent change in Dr. Rosenzw ig is evi-
dent from what follows his visit to the baroness. That 
night he walks home alone, dissatisfied with everyone and 
everything in general. IEr, der trockne, auf seinen~orteil 
be dachte Nathanael Rosenzweig - ein Menschellfreund und 
Samariter?-" and he recognises his short-comings: IfNie 
hast du geholfen susser im Bermf. Und was wir dem zu Li be 
tun, tun wir uns selbst zu Liebe. Seine Schuldigkeit - es 
liegt schon im Worte - ist nur ein Tausch. M hr als getauscht 
hatte er nie-. But instead of yielding to thi new altruism, 
he persuades himself that he has given his time and energy 
for the money and respect of his fellow-men, and that therein 
he has done all that is necessary. 
Thus the introduction of a fourth factor is impera-
tive. This tourth factor is the eloquence and personal 
example of the Sendbote. The time of the story is 18~6, the 
year of the Galician Revolution. In that year, acoording 
to hi8tory, the Sendbote, Eduard D mbowski, came from Poland 
into Galicia to stir up the wealthy Poles there to help free 
-4.5-
them~elves from bondage and oppre~sion. He i~ said to have 
had marvelous eloquenoe of speeoh. This historioal oharao-
ter Marie von Ebner-Esohenbaoh has introduoed into the eto~. 
Having no eympathy with the agitator, but curious as to his 
power over the people, Dr. Rosenzweig deoides to order the 
oarriage and go to hear him epeak. Joseph has gone to ~leep 
on hie ~traw-mat in the only ~habby room in the house. For 
the first ttme sinoe the boy's arrival, Dr.Rosenzweig enters 
this room, and in the midst of the dingy surroundings, some-
thing of his injustioe to the boy comes over him. WEin 
Schwindel ergriff ihn, ihm war, als wanke sein Haus". 
The Sendbote addresses a. large audience in ooarse 
peasant's costume. A burst of applause greets him. • Freunde, 
Bruder", be begins in a qUiet, impressive way, wich grUeee 
Euch zum letzen Male vor dem Kampf, vielleicht zum letzen 
Male vor dam Tode". He tells them there victories to gain ~ 
besides those on the battle-field. Some men have died, leav-
ing nothing behind but the memory of their death, Now those 
who have sworn allegianoe to the cause of freedom must 
leave a glorious inheritance behind them. Each must be a 
priest. whose ambition is self-denial and boundless devotion 
-4-6-
to God 's cause. The Sendbote knows whereof he speaks, for he 
was onoe a Polish oount, who, like many another, lived only 
tor pleasure. The laborers on his estate were being whipped 
and worked and starved to death, but that was nothing to 
him. Finally, however, severalxperiences brought him to a 
realisation of his responsibility for much of the Butfering 
about him. He prayed to God for power to make amends" gave 
all he had to the poor, and set out, almost penni~ess, to 
preach the doctrine of love tor one's fellow-men. 
The living example ot altruism in the Sendbote 
and his plea for sympathy and love and unselfishness among 
men fairly overwhelms Dr. Rosenzweig. Though his thoughts 
as he looked down on Joseph, asleep on the straw-mat, pre-
pared him for this message of altruism; they were as 
nothing oompared to the t elings of mingled joy and sham 
that come to him now. HEin unermessliches Gluck durchdrang 
ihn, er empfand die hochste aller Wonnen - die Wonne. aus 
den beengenden Schranken der Selbstsucht aufzusteigen wie 
aus einem Grabe. Was er bieher am meisten geschatzt hatte, 
erschien ihm wertlos •••• Beschamung erfullte seine Seele, 
aber mit Entzuoken gab er sich ihr hin als dem Wahrze1chen 
~einer Wandlung, dem Beginn seines inneren Wachsens und 
Klarens". 
An evidence ot his complet change of attitude 
toward the Sendbote, from that of a scoffer to a sympath'iz-
er, is given that very night, when, to save the Sendbote 
from arre~t, he conceals him in his car~iage. The next 
day he pays Joseph all he has earued in the years he has 
worked for him. In reply to Joseph's surprise and grati-
tud he says:udab' es Viele Deinesgleichen, dann ware der 
himmlische Sendbote - kein Torl/. 
Not long afterwards the revolution begins. The 
Sendbote himself takes part. After it is over, he can be 
found nowhere, and everyone gives him up for dead. 
Five years pass by, and one day Dr. Rosenzweig 
finds him, living the life ot a simpl peasant with his 
wife and children near the Silesian border. From a fiery 
agitator for the down-trodden peasantry, he has become one 
ot them. He has come to realise that one man cannot trans-
form, in one short struggle against authority, conditions 
that have existed for centuries. If a change is to come, 
it must come through the gradual betterment of the envi-
-lf8-
ronment and standards of the peasantry. The Sendbote 
himsalf has learned the lesson of his inadequaoy as an 
agitator for the lower olasses and of their real need, 
day by day, of a living example. Through tireless, unself-
ish aots of kindness and of love, he hopes to do his sh~r. 
toward the bett rment of oonditions among them. His only 
regret is that his work as agitator has been so oompletely 
in vain. WDsr Sendbote ist gestorben, ohne einen Junger 
zu hinterlassen If. "Einen dooh:" Dr. Rosenzweig replies, 
"Einen, den Sie aus den Reihen Ihrer eifrigsten Gegner 
geholt. Einen Mann, dessen Zweoke irdisoher Natur gewesen, 
de5sen Herz an verlierbaren Gutern gehangen una den Sie 
den Wert dar unverlierbaren kennen gel.hrt haben. Sendbote: 
da steht er vor Ihnen, Ihr JUnger in weissen Haaren n • 
The prooess of Dr.Rosenzweig's self-realisation 
is acoomplished through the boy Joseph, whose meek aooept-
anoe of unjust treatment is the cause of the first altru-
istio impulses in the dootor, through the death of the 
grandmother, whioh leaves a vaoancy in his life, through 
the positive agencies of undeserved praise and the Send-
bote's eloquenoe. The prooess is, of oourse, subjeotive, 
but external means must be used in this novel to bring it 
about. 
In IIGlaubenslos?", as the title indioates, the 
reader'e interest is oentered, not so muoh in anyone 
oharaoter, as in the faot that a person can find his high-
est moral good independent of religious dogma. In the 
author's treatment of this theme one is reminded more than 
onoe ot \1.m.M.Salter t s -Ethioal Religion·. -Glaubenslos?" 
oontains several ideas vital to a study of the author's 
ethios. 
If one were to sum up the theme of the novel in a 
few words, it would be: the inherent good in humanity. The 
oharacter, Leo Klinger, though he doubts the doctrines of 
the churoh, finds himself when he learns to reoognise the 
existenoe of this inherent good.As he expresses the theme 
of the story:tfGlauben ist mehr als Wissen, und glauben 
konnen ist das hochste Gluok". 
The plot of nGlaubenslos?" is briefly as follows: 
Leo Klinger, a young assistant to the priest in the little 
Alpine village ot Sohram, finds such low standards of 
morality among the people there and suoh heedlessness 
-50-
towar d the teachings of the church, that he begine to 
doubt the efficacy and the very truth of Catholic dogma. 
Moreover, he has been etudying aatrono~ and philoeophy, 
and these studiee only increase his doubts. He decides to 
go away and abandon the priestly calling, but Father 
Thalberg bege him to stay. The character of the Pfarrer is 
that of a kindly, fatherly sort of pereon who hae never 
doubted. He aays:"Ich bin ein Diener der Kirche, lieber 
Sohn, und ich glaube, was zu glauben die Kirche mir vor-
schiebt". Truth ie hie chief aim, but why seek it where 
it has lon~been found? "Die Wahrheit, die gut genug war 
fUr grosse Propheten, wird auch fur Dich gut genug sein". 
A family that Leo often visits is that ot 
Ambros Kogler, a well-to-do farmer, who is brutal toward 
his wife and daughter, Vroni. Hie wife despieee him, and 
Vroni fears him. He hae been hurt in an aocident, and 
before hie death Leo hae worked wonders in the attitudes Of 
theee three people toward each other. He does it through 
his unselfieh "Menschenglauben". Though without faith in 
the church doctrine, he never givee up hie faith in 
humanity, He hae etrengt nough to believe in the good 
-51-
even in Ambros Kogler, and he inspires the wife with this 
eame faith.. "Glauben ist mehr als W1ssen, und glauben kon-
nen ist das hoohste Gluok", he tells. them. When Kogler 
promises Leo never to strike. Vroni again, his wife laughs 
at him and says he has made that promise too often before. 
Then it is that Leo insists that she believe: "loh sage 
nioht, lhr seid ihm Glauben sohuldig, 10h sage, dass he~st. 
ich flehe: Sohenkt ihm Glauben •••• Da~ Beste, das ain Mensch 
dem anderen geben kann, ist Vertrauen". The experiment 
works admirably, and a new happiness reigns in the Kogler 
household. Leo is happy, too, in having found what he wae 
looking for, - the kernel of good in everyone. He finde 
that "Das Gute lebt 1m Mensohen. Dar Trieb zum Guten ist oft 
starker in ihm als der Trieb zum Sohleohten M• At last Leo 
finds peace in the knowledge that his faith in mankind is 
not groundless, that . there is something he can do for the 
villager of Schran. ·Sein Kampf war ausgekampft. Ja dennl 
troaten, helten, bessern. Hier leban und sterben, ungekannt, 
ungenannt i bergenden Sohatten, in dem allein sein gabzes Wesen 
sich enttalten kann. Ein stiller Huter an einer der un-
zahligen ~uellen, aus denen Heil und Unheil in die Welt 
-52-
tJ.ie st.". 
The theme ot selt-realisation could scarcely be 
more clearly expressed. Just as in the case ot Dr. Rosen-
zweig or the Sendbote, Leo Klinger finds his own greatest 
good in hie ardent desire that others may tind their good. 
A que!!tion-mark may well stand after the word "Glaubenslos?" 
in the title of the novel. 
Love plots are by no means common in Marie von 
Ebner-Eschenbach's stories, - that is, plots in which love 
between man and woman is the central theme. In "Lotti, die 
Uhrmacherin" a love episode forms one element in the 
growth of the character of Lotti. In the beginning of the 
novel, she is a modest, unassuming sort of person, whose 
happiest hours are those spent at clock-making - the pro-
fession at her father - and whose greatest treasure is a 
very valuable collection ot old time-pieces, left to her 
by her father. Her thought as she looks at herself in the 
glass in the morning will serve as an indication of her 
meekness ot character: NEe ist ein Gluck, daes ich anderen 
anders vorkommen als m1r selbst, sonst konnte m1ch niemand 
le1den". Her world 1s bounded by the walls at her small, 
-53-
third-story roome in the heart of Vienna. Here she lives 
alone with one servant. 
Wherea in "Das Gemeindekind" and "Der Kreie-
phyeikus H eelf-realisation reeults from eeveral external 
influences upon the charaoter, in "Lotti, die Uhrmaoherin" 
the prooese ie wholly eubjeotive. Into her little world 
enters, _ or rather reentere - the writer, Hermann Halwig. 
Years before, as a young man of high ideals, he had loved 
Lotti, and they were to have been married. But being ot 
• 
an impulsive and ee~fish nature, he had tired of her and 
of her seemingly prosaio exietenoe and had married a lady 
of rank. To eatiefy the demande of hie wife he must eel1 
his books, and, ooneequently, inetead of beooming the 
great writer he had hoped to be, he hae beoome famous as 
the author of suggestive, ultra-naturalistio novels. He 
etills his ooneoienoe with the thought:"Kann ioh dafur, 
dae die Mensohen von jeher die Giftmisoher besser zahlten 
ale die Arzte? ••• War.e umgekehrt, ioh reiohte ihnen 
Arzenei lf • 
It is Lotti's opportunity, whioh no one but 
her own consoience points out to her, to save Halw1g from 
-54-
a ten-year contraot tor more suoh sensualistio novels as 
he has written before. This she oan do only by selling the 
olook-oollection and by giving Halwig the money. For a 
long time she is unoertain as to what to do; she seems to 
hear him say:"Du hast mioh gekannt in meiner Reinheit, 
rette eine verlorene Seele! ••• Verloren, weil du d10h von 
i~ gewandt. Du warst die Starke, und ioh war sohwaoh, du 
hatteet mioh nioht varlassen sollen. Aber du suchtest Ruhe, 
du rangst nach Frieden und gabst mioh aut, und ioh sank 
und sinke immer tieter ohne dioh ••• Beweine mioh nioht nur -
rette mioh!1f 
The next day the oolleotion is sold, and the 
money is sent to Halwig through his lawyer, so that he may 
not know whenoe it comes. Lotti's old love tor Halwig no 
doubt influenoes her in her deoision, but she has a deeper 
reason: "Ioh tue nur was 10h nicht lassen kann: 10h gebe 
ein im Grunde dooh entbehrliohes Gut hin, um die Seele 
eines Mensohen zu retten, der mir einst teuer war". The 
faot that she has done everything in her power to save a 
human soul to its higher strivings makes her happy "past 
a.ll understa.nding", even though she learns later that her 
-55-
saorifioe was in vain. 
The dominant theme ot the story is that high 
ideals in a human heart are worth mora than all the 
material values in the world. The element of oontrast 
torms the frame-work ot the stor~, - a oontrast between 
Lotti, who has grown into a fuller realisation of the high-
est values, and Halwig, who has proved a traitor to his 
better instincts and who must pay the penalty. 
The self-realisation of Paul Sonnberg in "Naoh 
dem Tode" is that of a blase member ot sooiety in a 
German oapital oity who beoomes a thoughttul, unselfish, 
altruistio individual. With this finding 04 himself oomes 
deep regret beoause ot lost opportunities: "Du hast Un-
sohatzbares besessen und nioht zu wUrdigen gewusst". As the 
title indioates, the cause of this great ohange in Paults 
oharaoter is the knowledge of his love for his young wife, 
whioh oomes only after her death. The theme of the sto~ 
might well be expressed in the words of Leo Klinger in 
"Glaubenslos?tf:"Die Toten sind oft maohtiger als die 
Lebendigen". The story is briefly as tollows: Paul Sonn-
berg, leaving at home in Austria his parente and young 
-56-
wife, who he thinks he 40es not lOTe, goes out in earoh 
of adventure. He finally settle down in a German city, 
where he i reoeived into the diplomatio servioe and into 
court soc~ety. News oomes to him of the death of Marie, 
his w1te,and of the birth of a little girl, but he i. 
apparently whollY indifferent to home ties and oon be-
oomes engaged to the beautiful daughter of one of the 
leading families. She is rather a cold and haughty type ot 
per on, ho. SOCiety has robbed 0 all originalty. It i 
her boast that 'um zu wissen, wa an einem Mensohen sei, 
brauohe sie nur seine Equipage zu sehen-. 
A few years pass by in thi way. ' Paul neither 
writes hom nor hears anything of his parQnts. The fir t. 
step in the change that comes OTer him is the result of 
a visit from an ecoentrio, opinionated, old neighbo~of 
his tat r's, Baron Kamnitzky. Paul experienoes a feeling 
of resentaant as the baron ironioally oensures his in-
differenoa:'F eiliah, treil10h - die vielen Gesohafte, 
die vielen Reden fiber ensohenreohte, eiheit, Bildung, 
Intelligenz! wie f"nde en da Zeit in paar alte Lute 
zu besoh iohtig n, die so torioht sind, in Sorge um Ein n 
-57-
zu vergahen ••• Die GleiohgUltigkeit ist bldd, grausam, 
frechl geht an der Schbnheit vorbe1 obne Bege1sterung, am 
Elend ohne Mitllit1d, am Grossen obne Ehrturcht, am Wunder 
obne Andacht". But, as the baron's wrath subsides and his 
anxious concern for Paul's parents and his love and ad-
miration for the dead Marie manifest themselves, Paul is 
touched t~ the quick. If this old man who has no relations 
with or obligations to Paul's family exoept those of a 
~ 
neighbor, cannot control his flitlitlinge at ~thOUght of the 
death ot Marie,and the griet and lonelinlitss of the parents, 
how short he himself has oome of his duty: Paul deoides to 
go home for a visit at once, instead of waiting until he 
can take Thekla along. 
The second step in Paul's growth of charaoter 
is the result of all the combined influences in hie old 
home. Old memories arlit revived, and long dormant ~mpath­
ies are awakened. He finds everything sadly changed. His 
parents are old and feeble and quite incapable of manag-
ing a larglit estate. Gradually Paul learns that while 
Marie was alive, all went well. The laborers' dwellings 
were kept in repair, the school carefully supervised, and 
-58-
the estate managed properly. Now that she i gona, every-
thing is in the hands of an unsorupulous overseer. Paul 
realises how muoh ther is to do and how muoh Marie ha 
done. Marie had loved him. Unoonsoiously he oompares her 
with Thekla. Thekla does not know how to love; it would 
be possible to imagine her thinking of or serving others. 
Paul has oome home only for a visit, and as yet he has no 
int~ntion of not returning to the oity. 
The third and final step oonsists of Paul's resolve 
to free Thekla from the engagement, if she so desire , and 
to stay where he is needed. Thekla aooepts his offer, and 
the last tie to the old life is broken. A life full of 
usefulness lie. before him.A longing to make up for his 
indifferenoe and negleot possesses him. A seoond visit 
from Baron Kamnitzky is a faotor in this third step. He 
oomes to dinner one evening and indulges in his favorite 
diversion,- a tirade against the government, in whioh he 
explioitly inoludes Paul:-EUoh AIle mein' ioh, politi oha 
Dootoren, Verjungerer, Verbesserer des staates, Baumeist r •• 
ja saubere Baumeister! ••• F1ioken einen Riss in der Mauer, 
reparieren am Daohe und merken nioht. oder tun, • ob ie 
-59-
nicht merkten - dase die Fundamente wankan". Paul, like 
Leo Klinger, reeolves to be guardian over one small part 
of the world, that the foundations there may be sound. He . 
has found new moral values, for his sooia1,. altruistio 
self has triumphed over the old, habitual, and selfish 
self. 
Muoh like the oharaoter of Dr. Rosenzweig as 
he ie first introduoed to us, ie that of Marie Lakomy, the 
beautiful, but self-satiefied and proud daughter of a 
village washerwoman, in IDie Unverstandene auf dam Dorfe". 
"Untereohatzt konnte sie werden, Slber nioht gedemiit i gt If . 
She alwaye feele that she is a little better than the other 
villagers and keepe aloof from them. She loves the son of 
a wealthy farmer, who, however, marries as his father 
direots, and Marie, out of spite, beoomes the wife of the 
. 
head-groom of the oaetle. The latter turns out to be a 
ependthrift, who drinks and gambles in the tavern every 
night and oontraots debts allover town. Marie's life is 
far from happy; one day her hUsband is killed while taming 
a horse, and Marie goes home to live with her mother again, 
more haughty and distant toward her neighbors than aver before. 
-60-
Th~ first step in the growth of her oharao-
ter, namely that of the loss of her oonceit, is the result 
of undeservGd praise, just as praise was the first positive 
faotor in the development of Dr. Rosenzweig. A mere harm-
less coincidenoe giTes rise to a rumor in the village whioh 
is by no means to Marie's oredit. For the oredenoe and spread 
of this rumor the priest openly condemns his congregation, 
he 
andApraisss Marie. This new experience of being the object 
of another's solicitude and interest, espeoially when she 
has brought on herself the dislike of the villagers by her 
air of superiority, is so strange to Marie that her feel-
ing of self-suffioiency leaves her,- "sie fUhlte ihre 
starke und ihren stolz entschWinden. Ihr verschlossenes 
Herz hatte sich plotzlioh geoffnet, und der Zweifel an sich 
selbst brach mit seinem Gefolge an Bangen und Zagen herein. 
Die unerhorte Verherrlichung, die sie erfahren hatte, war 
sie verdient? Konnte ~ ihrer wert sein, die den Preis 
jeglichen Erdengluokes nooh schuldig war, di ihn noch 
nioht bezahlt hatte in Liebe und Leid?- This is the be-
ginning of the ohange in her oharaoter, due to the realisa-
tion of praise undeserved. 
-61-
The seoond step is the awakening of her sooial 
sense through her aqua1ntance with the new village school-
master. He is & man with high ideals, and at last Marie 
realises that here is a man who is her superior, to whom 
she must look up with admiration and respect. Toward him, 
at least, she can be only HdemUtig H• Through him a vision 
of new, undreamed-of joy through servioe comes to her. She 
becomes his wife, to share in t he work he has set for him-
self: HEr hatte keinen Ehrgeiz, oder den grossten , den -
keinen zu haben. Au! dem Dorfe wollte er seine Laufbahn 
beginnen und enden, und sie fur eine siegreioh zUrUokge-
legt halten, wenn er einst die Kinder der Kinder, die 
jetzt auf den Sohulbanken sassen, um einen Sohritt vor-
warts gebraoht sahe N • Then follows a speeoh by him to 
Marie that oontains the very essenoe of Marie von Ebner-
Esohenbaoh's ethioal philosoPhy, and whioh therefore is 
o! vital. importanoe to the present study: "Vorwarts in dar 
Eins1cht, die zur Ptl10httreue tUhrt. zur Strenge gegen 
8ioh selbst und zur Verachtung der feigen tragen SOhlaf-
rigkeit 1m Denken und 1m Tun ••• Es gibt eine Entwickelung 
des Mensohen, einen Fortschr1tt 1m Guten, und seine ge-
-62-
fahrlichsten Feinde sind dia, die ihn laugnan, Dar Glauben 
an das Gute ist es, der das Gute lebendig macht, und in dam 
Zeichen dieses Glaubens werde ich kampfen." 
Perhaps the ba_t known novel by Maria von 
Ebner-Eschenbach next to uDas Gemeindekind H is "UnsUhnbar". 
It is different from those alreaqy considered in that it 
treats of a new problem,- that of the woman who has lost 
her virtue. It does not see oonsistent with Marie von 
Ebner-Esohenbaoh's optimism and faith in humanity to sup-
pose that the title 'UnsUhnbar w expresses her attitude 
toward Uarie Dornaoh's sin; for she portrays that oharac-
ter as making al'l amends possible to lntman powers. Evident-
ly the title must be taken from the point of view of the 
sinner. From the reader's stand-point, she makes complete 
expiation for her wrong; to her , nothing in the world 
can atone for it. 
The ethical theme of 'UnsUhnbar w is plainly 
the sovreignty of truth and the growth of the charaoter 
of Marie Dornach as she oomes to a realisation of that 
principle. To the oasual reader it may seem impossible to 
discover that Marie Dornaoh finds herself , but a review 
-63-
of the events of the navel will serva to bring it out. 
Marie Wolfsberg, daughter of a Viannese noble family, loves 
a handsome oount by the name of Tessin; but, persuaded by 
her father that he is unprinoipled and unworthy of a good 
woman, she marries the highly esteamed, though not so out-
wardly attraotive, Gra! Hermann Dornaoh. It is well here to 
' remember that in Germany, ae well as in many other parte 
of Europe, marriages are frequently in accord with the 
wishes of the parents, even though love is not present. 
Cons quently, we oan scaroely regard Marie's marriage to 
Henuann Dornaoh, though she lovee Count Teesin, ae a 
weakness in her charaoter. She and Hermann ~o to the 
oountry estate of Dornach, where, as time goes by, Marie 
I 
learns to admire Hermann more and more. That the sooial 
s nse is keen within her is shown by her sympathy and 
unoeasing interest in the laborers on the estate. As she 
looked into their faces on her arrival at her new home, 
she had thought:.Was dioh da anruft mit stummer und un-
bewusster Klage, dae 1st die nach Erlosung ringende ewige 
D1enstbarkeit. Wir die Herren, sie die Knechte. Darbend an 
Leic und Seele verdienen sis - unser Brot, mUh8n sioh, zur 
-64-
Er de gebeugt, jahr in, jahraus, damit unser Geist frei und 
unbehi ndert auffliegen konne bis an die Grenzen des Erkenn-
ens. Ohne ihre harte Arbeit keine Ruhe fur uns, kein Genuss, 
nioht Kunst, nioht Wissensohaft". Both she and Hermann are 
"~inder der neuen Zeit, das GetUhl der Unertraglichkeit 
fremden Leids, tremder Not und ein hisser Drang, zu helfen" 
fills them both. 
That a woman of such high ideals and altruistio 
impulse should lose her honor is scaroely oonceivable. 
Indeed, the character at Marie has been critised as inoon-
sist ent, to which criticism the author makes reply that she 
has taken her material from life. Marie's fall can only be 
explained by the fact that, though she is happy as Hermann's 
wife, she still loves Tassin and never voluntarily puts all 
thought ot him out of her mind. On the contrary, after a 
year or so has passed and aft r she meets him again at a 
ball in Vi nna, during whioh meeting he reveals to her his 
love for her and t.lls her her father dealt unjustly with 
him when he arranged her marriage with Hermann Dornaoh,-
after tIlis experienoe she thinks of him often. He is going 
to a diplomatio p~ in the Orient and asks for a farewell 
-65-
interview with her, whioh she r~fuses. Then, instead of 
persi3ting in this attitude, she regrets that she was so 
harsh, ~o oold toward him. When she meets him unexpeotedly 
in a lodg on the estate ot Dornach and he pleads for a 
token ot her love, she falls. "Zwei trunkene Mensohen 
hatten kein Bewusstsein mehr von Ehre, Ftlicht, und Treue, 
ihnen versank die Welt und jegliches Erinnern". 
The rest ot Mariets life is one protraoted 
attempt to atone. A ohild is born, and Marie, deeming it 
a greater good to preserve her husbandts happiness and 
faith in her than to prooure for herself some degree ot 
peace of mind by telling the truth, says nothing ot her 
sin. Though she loves the truth, She must live a lie. As 
time goes on, she realises that the noblest, best thing 
she possesses is her steadily increasing love for Hermann; 
but this tact only makes her sense of guilt harder to bear. 
She tries to oonvinoe hers If that it would be foolish to 
-believe "die Verwirrung eines Augenblioks konne nioht 
gestihnt werden duroh ein ganzes Leben der Rechtschaffenheit 
und PflichterfUllung', but all in vain. 
When, not long after, Hermann and the older 
-66-
child , Hermann'~ real son, are aCCidentally drowned, Marie 
' tells everything. She is unwilling that the illegitimate 
child should inherit the property, but more than that, she 
longs to be once more in the r~alm of truth, even though it 
cost her all that life holds tor her. She leaves Castle 
Dornach with her child and goes to the long deserted country 
estate of her father. After a time Hermann's relatives, who 
have taken possession of Dornach, beg her to come back, but 
she refuses. She finds that a terrible condition of morals 
exists at her fatherl~ estate, but much as she would better 
conditions, she cannot because she herselt has fallen. Her 
gifts and little kindnesses are regarded by the peasants as 
acts prompted by a guilty conscience. 'Sie konnte schenken;-
raten, belehren, bessernd einwirken ko~te sie, die Bemakelee. 
nicht. Um die Menschen zu ihrem wahren Heile zu fUhren, bedar! 
es einar re1nen Hand". A dangerous fever overtakes her, and 
as she is ~1ng, oppressed by the sense of sin s~ill unatoned 
for, she say.: HAIles verloren,- den Glauben an die Vorsehung ••• 
den Glauben selbst an meinen freien Willen ••• Und doch nur 
Einen Wunech ••• O, hatte 1ch nie ein Unreoht getan1- She hears 
her tather driving into the oourtyard below and says: "Mein 
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armer Vater: Das Gluok ist nioht, wo er as suoht. Gut-
eein ist Gluok, einfaoh, selbstloe, und gut ••• " 
In this novel, a8 in "Glaubenslos?", Marie von 
Ebner-Esohenbaoh seems to say that morality oan exist 
wholly independent of reli~ion, that although belief in 
~d ~ails, love of the right remains; love of the good 
5 stronger than all else and abides in the faoe of all 
kinds of trouble. Uari~· Dornaoh has learned the valu. 
of truth and right for its own sake. Having lost her 
right to the truth, she has lostt all. When it would 
have bean easieet to tell the truth, she foroed herself 
to be ilant for the sake of others. When it would have 
be.n easiest to o0noeal the truth, she told all, simpl. 
beoause a return to the world, of truth was the greatest 
joy earth oould give her. She ' knew both the good and 
the evil, and we teel that her testimo~ as to the happi-
ness a moral life briDIs is sure: -Gut sein ist GluOk, 
einfaoh, selbstlos, und gut-. 
So far we have oonsidered only some of the 
novels ot Ebner-Esohenbach. Let us look for a short 
time at some of her ahort stoa1... "Der Fink" and 
-68-
·Sohattenleben· have been oonsidered as biographioal 
material. "Die Freiherrn von Gemperlein' and 'Comtesse 
Muschi", usually cited as models in the realm of the sub-
tly humorgus short story, do not have the ethical signif-
ioance of the novels or of some of the short stories. 
Nevertheless, even here the ohief characters, which are 
named in the titles of the stories, find themselves. The 
two brothers, Friedrioh and Ludwig Ton Germperlein, oarry 
their continual petty strife over politioal differenoes 
even into their love affairs. Both fall in lOTe with the 
same woman; but, whereas in the beginning they are bitter 
enemies over the matter and each tries to win out over the 
otherp gradually a realisation of what 'e~eat would mean 
to the other oomes to them, and each very magnanimously 
resolves to yield to and even help the other to win. As 
the story turns out, the woman of their ohoice is already 
married; but the brothers have learned to r speot each 
other's ~eli fs, and peace reigns in the house of Gemper-
lain. COlIltesse Muschi, one of the type of sport-oountesses 
oommon to Viennese society, in a series of letters to a 
friend tells of the visit of a suitor in her home and at 
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the same time reveals her own personality. She ride horses, 
fenc s, shoots, and inveigles her friends into taking part 
,in elaborate circuses. She keeps her dogs in the library be-
cause no one goes in there. She declares she is"sohreoklich 
bildungs-f&hig-, but regards Goethe as immoral and Schiller 
as verbose. The young man who oomes to ViSit, apparently as 
a suitor for Comtesse Musohi, ~inds nothing attractive in 
her. Instead, he enlists her, much to her surprise and dis-
appoint ent, for she realises she has learned to love him, 
to aid him in winning a friend of hers, a modest, domestic-
ally inolined girl. From a oharaoter wholly self-satisfied 
and uninterested in other people, she begins to realise her 
own shortCOmings and a greater good in others. Her last 
letter ends with the words:IEs ist nicht immer so angenehm, 
als man glaubt, eine Sportscomtess zu sein-, and the reader 
feels that aer present dissatisfaotion is only a st p to a 
higher self. 
IDie Spitzin", like "Das Gemeindekind-, is the 
story of a boy left alone in the world. Unlike Pavel, how-
ever, Provi Kirohhof knows nothing of his parents. He has 
been left by a band of gypsies in a village ohurohyard and 
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found by en old woman, who caree for him intil her death. 
After her death Provi wanders abou.t in rags, hated and 
avoided by everyone. He sleeps at night in a hay-lof~, and 
when he appeare in the morning at the door of the houee and 
aeke for nulk, the house-wife gives it to him. One morning 
the man of the hous demande that Provi say "Please", but 
Provi refusee end goes without hie milk thereafter. 
He goes to work in a quarry and eleeps in the 
road-maker'e goat-shed. The road-maker's sons have nothing 
to fear from aseociation with Provi, for their chief delight 
is to torture the animals about the place, and Provi hee a 
ehare in the fun. )~ old Spitz dog has suffe~ed most at their 
hande. She hae only thre lege and one eye. Now she has a 
puppy, and the two doge eleep in the stall next to Provi. 
At nie~t the mother-dog whinee and searches for three puppiee 
that Provi had helped to drown. This bothers Provi, and one 
night in a fit of anger he throws a heavy board over the 
partition and injures the mother-dog. A tew hours later, ae 
day is dawning, she drags the puppy in to Provi, lays it at 
his feet, and logks ·ttp . t him. ·Und ihr Auge hatte eine 
Sprache, heredt er ale jede Sprache, die die schonsten Worte 
-71-
bilden kann. Sie ausserte ein grenzenloses Vertrauen, eine 
flehentliche Bitt. und man mus8te 8ie verstehen. Wi. das 
, Sonnenlicht durch die geschlossenen Lider Provis gedrungen 
war, 80 drang der Auedruck dieses Augee durch den Panzer, 
der bisher jede_gute Regung von der Seale des Buben !ern-
gehalten hatte." The dog fall dead, and provi is suddenly 
overwhelmed by the mother-love she has shown, a love such 
as he himself had never known. "Jo du! Jo du!- du bist a 
Muatta gtwest!" he sobs, pressing his face against that of 
the dead dog. .Sein Herz wollte ihm zerspringen. ein strom 
von wildem Leid, von qualender Pein durchtobte es und er~ 
schuttarte e bis auf den Grund. Ein vom himmlischen schmerze 
dee tf1tleids erf'Ulltee Kind wand sich echl.uchzend auf den 
Boden" ••• The puppy becomes hungry, and Provi, now its only 
provider, despaire of finding anything for it. Suddenly he 
remembers the house-wife who gave him milk. But no, he 
oannot go to her,- she would make him ask for it politely, 
and that he will not do. Still the puppy cannot starve, and 
a thought comes. to Provi of which he had not dreamed the day 
before _ wTerhungern lassen ist noch etwae ganz anderes, als 
verhungern ". He picks up the puppy, walke to the village, 
-72-
stop~ at the door of hi former benefactre~~, and ~ay~: 
"Schoberv,rirtin, Frau Schoberwirtin, i bitt um a. Mualch". 
The ~tory . clo~.~ with these word~, which may well be ap-
plied to every novel or story reviewed: ·Da~ war die 
Wendung in einem Menschenherzen und in einem Menschen-
Bchickse.l". It i~ only the ~imple trust of a mother-dog 
that calls out the good in Provi, but if the belief in 
the good i~ pre~ent, according to Mari von Ebner-Esch-
enbach, that i~ all that i~ nece~~ary. "Die Spitzin" 
remind~ one of her be~t-known dog_story,"Krambambuli ll , 
but since the dog i~ the chief figure in the plot, and 
not an influence on a human character, it will not be 
nece~~ary to consider it here. 
In "Er las~t die Hand kii~sen If the author gives 
a picture of moral conditions under the old patriarchal 
system of land ownership and of bond-service, a remnant 
of feudaliem, that was not wholly abolished until 1781. 
In the lord or lady of the manor were vested 1 gislative, 
execvtive, and judicial powers. The matter of life and 
death rested in their hands, and if they were inolined 
to be severe, their subject~ suffered. itEr lasst die 
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Hand kiiesen· i!!l the etory ot the fate of the boy M1 ohka, 
~ho, while hie mistr~ee i. perfor ins in a pastoral for 
the amusement of her gueete, i!!l flogged to death at her 
order •• Der l~ff· and 'rraulein Sueannente eihnachts-
abend" have for their themes the joy of giving. The wite 
of the general in -Der ruff-, though !!Ihe knows it i8 not 
moral benev.lenoe to give promi!!louou8ly to the poor, c n-
not re!!list the joy ot seeing their faoes light up ae they 
receive he~ift . One winter day, as she i on her ay home, 
ehe gives away all that her purse oontains and, finallY, 
T n her muff to an old woman. Tne 0 an i suspected of 
having stolen the muff and i imprisoned. The Gen ralin 
mU!!lt ad t that there may be bett r ways of helping the 
poor then by giving dir ctly to them becau e it pleae. 
on to do so. wFraulein Susannents eihnachtsab nd· i a 
etory of true benevolence. Fraulein Susann , aft r ars 
of privation and h rd ork, 1 left on y nough to be 
able to give all the ift Chr~ t hat h 
Wiehe • wAnderen Ver ii n aohen, 1 t 
.. 
u n ur 
jede l"l tiir11ch geart t n r n ch ab r, di 
!!I 0 p'o.t dazu kam,.in ber u chend Gluc •• f r 
-7lJ;-
year she sends gifts, but to none does it ooour that she 
might like to join in their Christmas celebration or re-
oeive a gift herself. As a matter o! tact, she is very 
lonely, and the jot ot ere giving begins to wear off. 
-Die Menschen, denen sie Gutes tut, was ist s1e ihnen? 
Eine unermess1iche reiche Person, die eiDen Teil ihree 
., ~ 
Db rtlussee dazu verwendet, s1e aus druokender Not zu be-
trei.n lt • Christmas has oome again, and this year she in-
cludes a tree and gifts for a large family ot ohildren, 
whose parents have little to spend on Christmas presents. 
Toni, the eldest, a sober-taced, business-like little fel-
low, appears at Fraulein Susanne's door with three small 
packages tor her. One ie a gilded nut, one a red apple, 
and the third a gingerbread soldier. As he leaves he re-
marks:"Sie kann alles essen, auch die Nus, aber chad 
war's halt". No one but Toni remembers her with a gitt. 
That he has thought ot her sets her to thinking. What a 
good-hearted, sensible boy Toni i • What a help he would 
b. to hi. parents an~himself it only he could have a 
good education, ""'enn er 13ildung bekeme, die echte, di. 
Ton innen heraus kommt, den Wert des Menechen erhoht und 
· -75-
den stolz nuf seinen Wert verriniert". Then Fraulein Su-
sanne reeolve. that he shall have it. In thi case she 
helps another self to realiee itself, and in so doing, she 
find herself. 
"Die Poes1e des Unbewussten" i sii1'lificant 
here because in its naive way it illustrates again the 
truth of the aphorism: "Der Glauben an das Gute 1.t es, 
der des Gute lebendig acht". A youni wife refuses to be-
lieve evil of her husband and finds him true to her faith 
in h~ •• Van ube Treue, und eie w1rd in der Welt sein". 
THE SYSTEM OF ETHICS 
DEDUCED FROM HER NOVELS, STORIES, 
AND APHORISMS. 
-76-
Having oonsidered the ethioal themes ot 80 e 
ot Marie von Ebner-Eschenbaoh's novel. and short storie., 
it remains to determine so f r as possible what her an-
swer5 sre t. the problems ot the nature, the authority, 
the knowledge, of the good, and the relati n of the self 
to the sooial good,- in other word., to reduoe the ethioal 
import ot her works to somethina ot a syste • Gabrielle 
1 
Reuter says her whole ethios may be summed up as:"Sei 
mutig und aereoht, sei treu und wahr", tor whoever is oour-
ageous and just, faithful and true, is a free an within. 
Any relation between two individual , both ot whom have 
th equalities, oan never be that of aster and eerTant 
in the traditional 8ense,- even though ohanoe has put the 
task of alletting the work i to the hands ot one and the 
task ot oing it into the hands ot the other. Moritz Neoker 
1.Gabrielle Reut.r:Die Diohtung. Vol.XIX p.~9. 
2.Moritz Neck r:Marie von Ebner-Esohenbaoh. p.132. 
~ 
-77-
re ards the speeoh ot the school-master in -Die Unverstande-
ne au! de Dorte" as the aua total ot her ethics. Max 
1 
Lorenz' in disoussins volumes eight and nine ot the Gesammel-
te Sch.riften choses the same sp eoh as the expre.sion ot 
ot the most fundamental ethioal concepti n in her works. 
To be sure, suoh briet _tatementa serve to Siv. on. an 
insieht into what her ethics might be, but they oan scarce-
ly oontain her ethios aa a whole. 
It will be re embered that in -Das Gemeinde-
kind" she oalls wm.M.Salter's book, -Di. Religion dar MOral", 
"ein Wunderbuoh, desil.iohen nooh nie eina. eeaOhrieben wurde w, 
and the members ot the Sooiety tor ~h1oa1 Culture -die 
Entzunder und RUter des hei1igsten Feuers, das je aut Erden 
brannte •••• ": which goes to show that she i_ in sympathY 
with Mr. Salter IS views. Therefore, betore ioine further, it 
will be well to oonsider what ideas he expres e.. Several ot 
the novels and short stories revi wed above were written 
before lBB5, the date of the appearance of -Die Religion 
der Moral" in Germa~,. whioh taot preoludes the supposition 
that she got her ethios entirely trom his book. No 40ubt 
she thoutht so hiehlY t his book, when it appeared, beoau e 
1.Preussisohe Jahrbuoher. 190~ Vol.lOg p.l6~. 
-78-
her own views were in sympathY with those it expressed. 
Neverthel.ss, it i interesting to note that 'Glaubenslos?-, 
'Das G me indekind , , and 'Unsuhnbar', the three novel. that 
m t trongly maintain the independenoe ot morality tro 
religion, were all written atter 1885. 
Mr. Salter woula substitute tor exi.ting religions 
a religi n ot ethios. He .ays:'! wish to show that religion, 
the only true religiln - though it nowhere exists now - is 
but the blosso ng out ot morality; that morality is its root, 
inst s.d ot being a branoh tro. the root ot religion'. To him 
the moral natur~is 'that by which we transcend our •• lves 
and enter into an i eal region". -Ethics n , he .ays, 'is 
•••• ntially what ought to be". The good and the right are 
Simply what should be. Under his disou •• ion ot the questi.n 
lIs there a higher law,n aooording to whioh we say this aot 
is right and that wrong, he dmits he oannot detine this law, 
but is oontent to oall it -that whioh oommand u. to s •• k the 
universal good-,- in other words, -God or the reason and 
nature ot th1n£s'~ This 00 and to seek the higher eood i_ 
heard by every h an being, it i. eiven to him by hi_ very 
nature as a oral being. There i nothing higher than to 
-79-
pertor.. a moral action,- "the di~ity of man lies in his 
oapaoity tor such action". The higher rule, he says, applies 
ever~vhere. "Treat each man with whoa you are in contact a. 
havini the ends t 8 . man, an4 as tar as in you lies, help 
hi to realise those ends". In ChaPte~V he discusses the mat-
trot laws and prinoiples in morals. Principles only are 
• 
abeolute in morality, accordini to his discus! ion, but in 
"-' 
oaee ot oonflict between two duties, he euggest. this 
rule: "Ask yourself whether you are doubting what to do 
because you secretly desire to do a partiou~ar thini, r 
because a really higher duty see 15 to command you". Thie 
rule reminds one ot Marie Ton Ebner-Eschenbach's phorie.: 
"Wenn Du sicher w" en will t in Contlict zweier Ptlichten, 
wahle diejeni e, die zu ertUllen Dir schwerer tall ". 
That which makes an individual, a people, or 
nation stroDi, according to Mr. salter, is its choice of 
the iood or higher things. Selfishness disintegrates, love 
bUilds up and binds together. In Chapter VII he discusses 
under the .Social Ideal" the relation .t the indiviiual t 
SOCiety; hie view is essentially that ot other ethical 
'writere,- nRmely, that ever" indiviiual is an ena, a •• It 
-80-
to b realise • -I feel that if I do not honor another I 
o not honor ~self, for I fundamentally ~ ever.y other: 
it is one co on nature, wherein we all share. I am lift-
ea with every hon r and oas* ~own with eTer,y .haae, that 
oom to another ohi14 of man ••• For we are in & truth 
bound to one another,- we belon, to humanity. It i. a,ain_t 
• nature to seek a good for ourselTes, alene and apart; 
it i8 aocor ing t our nature to find our happiness in the 
o on happine s,- to iiTe, to spen. and be spent i~the 
service of humanity-. After a chapter n -The Rights ot 
Labor", he shows why present-day religiens haTe failed, 
and that a reli ien f ethios is abiding beoause it i. 
based on human nature. 
Whether Marie Ton Ebner-Esohenbaoh wouli mak 
ethics a religi n, need not be discussed here; but in 
several ways her ethics, as retlected in her works, are 
identical with those expressed by Mr.Salter. She believes 
1 pl1oitly, as does he, in the oral impulse in everyone 
and in the p wer of veryone to attain the iood it they 
will. She e phatically declares that to brine the g 04 to 
bein in there it 1s neceseary to believe 1n it. The 
-81-
extreme love ot humanity and admiration for the g;ood and tm 
altruiem expres ei in suoh chapters as thoee on -Right. ot 
Labor" and the "Social Ideal" are quite charaoteristic ot 
Marie von Ebner-Esohenbaoh. But the most tund~ental an4 
significant ooncepti n that she seems to have gottroa 
'Die Religion der Moral" is that ot the indepen.denoe f 
morality trom religion, the sovereiinty of the ethical. The 
very universality ot the moral impulse seems to her, as well 
8.S to Mr. Salter, a rook on whioh to build. Nothini to her 
is more ultimate than the law ot right. We choose the right, 
not to please God, but for its own sake. It is in our very 
nature to do so: thereby we satis~ our desires to expre s 
our nobler selves. With this tund~ental conception of her 
belief in the all-sufficiency, in the sovereignty of the 
good, let us turn to the tour final problems. In the deter-
mination of eaoh one~the plan will be to oonside~, tirst, t~e 
n v ls and stories reviewed, then the aphori s, and tinally 
to formulate the oonclusiom. 
As was shown above, the idea ot self-realisa-
tion seems t be the oentral ethioal the e. Pavel Holub, 
Marie Dornaoh, Lotti, Paul sonnber., Leo Klineer, Dr, Rosen-
-82-
zweie, the Senab te t Marie Walter, the Bar ns ot Gemper-
lein, Comtesse Muschi, ProTi Kirchhot, and the rest, all 
pass through the process ot selt-reali.ati n. Soaati es 
thi~ moral development ie expresely etated, as in the cl Sing 
sentence ot -Die Spitzin-: -Da war die Wendung in einem 
Menechenherzen und in einem Menschenschicksal"; sometimes 
the reader must tind it tor biaselt in the sequence ot 
event or in what the chiet character ay., in hie attitude 
toward the new values that he has found. But whatever ethod 
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach uses, the fact ot continual 
rowth in character toward the iood remains as her idea ot 
the nature ot the «ood. 
The question naturally arises: Although ~elt­
/ 
realisati n seems to be her general theme, are we justified 
in assuming that that to her is the true iood? In past ages 
11 sorts ot ends have been deemed the iood. Pleasure, tame, 
self-denial, wealth, happiness have been, and are still, re-
garded by many as the best end in lite. How may we be sure 
that one ot these, and not selt-realisation, 1e the ,00 to 
her? A ,lance at the novels again will answer this questi n. 
Not once is she content to portray a character who has 
-83-
changed fro a state of misery to one of co~ort, trom 
sorrow to joy, trom obscurity to tame, fro selfishness 
to self-denial, fro poverty to wealth, and then to leave h 
hi there. These assets may all have their values in life, 
but they are by no means the supreme good. They may be well 
and good as supplementary to the true good, but never as 
ends in themselves. The charaoters she pe~ray. are those 
that have aspirations toward a higher, more ideal, ore 
socialsel!, and who then attain to those aspirations. This 
attainment may brine with it happiness or tame or wealth 
and co~ort, as when she says:IGutsein ist G1uck-, or in 
other words, the moral life brings happiness; but these are 
good only because they have come through the realisation 
ot new moral values. She never makes happiness an end in 
itself, although she invariably shows that he who has fount 
himse1! is happy. The character who has found himself values 
that faot more highly than all the other goods that may oome 
to h~. To him the moral life is the highest, the greatest 
ood in itself. Marie Dornaoh, having oommitted an immor 1 
act, realises ediately the value ot a moral lite, anQ 
though she feels she oan ne er atone for her wr ni, in her 
n w r alieatiem ot moral integrity as the greatest good in 
the world, she rises far above her old selt. When PaTel Holub 
has learned the value of the oral lite, nothing else matters. 
He is rea~ to taoe anything the world may have to otfer, but 
one thing he clings to,- his mor 1 integrity. Such an illus-
tration can be tound in th other stories as well. Evidently 
selt-realisation is to her the supreme ood. 
It muet be remembered that self-realisation, like 
happiness, is not something that can be found with much eeek-
inc. Those who would make it an end will fail in their pur-
p s • He who would spend his time and ener,y in molding hi 
own character will never know selt-realisation. Like happi-
nes it co as as a consequence. Selt-reali ation is self-
tor ttin, in the good ot others. Leo Klinger finds himselt 
in the knowledge of the serTice he can render the co unity. 
Pavel Holub ' has before hia the ideal of some day becoming 
bur omaster and repaying all the eTil he hae suftered with 
,ood. But this leads to the discussion ot the relation of 
the self to the good, which will be taken up later. 
The best sucoinot statement ot Marie von Ebner-
,Eschenbaoh's idea of the nature of the lood to be tound in 
-85-
her novels is undoubtedly that of the choolmaster in the 
story -Die UnTerstandene auf de Dorte': -Es gibt eine 
Entwickelung des Menschen, einen Fortschritt 1m Guten, und 
seine getahrlicheten Feinde sind die. die ihn leuinen.' 
A tew ot the aphorisms denote in a ieneral way 
the nature ot the ood: MDie GUte, aie nioht irenzenlos ist, 
verdient den Namen nioht": -Der Geist ist ein int rm1ttirena-
er, die ~te ein permanenter Quell": -Die Grossen sohatten 
das Grosse, die Guten das Dauernde-; -Nur was fur die Gegen-
wart zu gut ist, ist cut genug tUr die Zukunft"; ·Was noch 
zu leist.n 1st, das bedetike; was Du sohon ieleistet haet, 
das Tare1 •• '. In the parable 'Dia Siegerin N she escribe. 
a great battle ot the vioes and Tirtuee. NEs wurde Abend 
und Nacht; der Streit blieb unentaoh1eden, d1. Stre1ter 
laien erschoptt. Die Gute allein wand Ite uber die Wahlstatt, 
MUnter wie ein .prudeln4er Quell, lieblioh wie das Mor,enrot, 
und labte die Leidenden, und in de Augenbliok liessen socar 
ihre Feinda as gelten: Die Stark.ta biat Dul" Here the gener 1 
characteri tic ot bounlle •• ness, permanenoe, expansi n, 
continual Irowth in service tor ther are asaigne to 
iO aness. 
-86-
In conclusion we ay say that to MArie von Ebner-Esohenbach 
the cood i8 selt-realisation. or the reflective ~oice by 
the individual of the higher sooialise4 powers, whereby he 
attains co pletene. of lite. 
When the pr ble. ot the nature of the ,0.' 
has been answered, the other three proble.s are to oertain 
elree~ already solved. It the good is the reflective choioe 
ot the higher selt, then refleotion lIlUJt be a. I1eans to the 
knowledge of the good. According to modern ethical writers, 
we know what is good through deliberation, or the I1ental 
review of several oonflictin, oourses of action, until in-
tuiti n, o~ a sense of the greater worth of one of those 
ODurees of aoti n, determine. our final ohoioe. That suoh 
a technioa.l answer to the proble as thi would be quit 
out of the question in any fora of literature, loes without 
sayin , but here it i our interest and aim to bse~~e 
whether Marie von Ebner-Esohenbach has her charaoters pas 
throU~l eo e such process before they know what i. good 
tor the to do, and also what more general ideas she expresses 
in the aphorisms. Let us t ke, for ex ple, the case of Pavel 
Holub. A he leave. the convent after hi first visit to 
-87-
• 
Mllada, he rehearses in his mind all that Milada has said 
and done. How iood she is! And who would haTe thought she 
love d hi so muoh,- hi who i only a wiokeQ thief and 
vaeabond? She wiehes hi to beoo e iood and belieTe he will. 
But why should he ohan,e his w~s, when everyone ~alls hi 
a thief and oe eTer,ythin in their power te make him ene? 
Oould he ohange it he wanted to? Theh he thinke t Milaia 
aiain, and he re olves to be wortby f her 1 Te and oonfi-
deno~. He 1n~it1vely knows he has made the right ohoice, 
tor instead of i satisfaotion and 1 ss ot self-re peot, 
a sense ot joy, pride, and self-relianoe tills hia, whioh 
he oould not 4e oribe it he would. ot one thin" h.weTer, 
he is 0 nvinoea,- n~ely, Itass er eine~ gr s en Verander-
un, seines Sohioksals entgeaen gehe, 'em ceheimni vollen 
Anfan zu sine. sohoneren, besseren Leben". Likgwi , Lotti 
Fessler span'. the night thinkin Tar Halw1g's plight and 
weighing, as in & balanoe, her lOTe tor the olook-oolleotion 
and its in.sti ble Talue to her tather &i&inst her 0 nvi -
tion ot the neoes ity ot saving a m~man soul. Fraulein 
SU8anne oh ses to e'uoate Toni only after she has oonTinoe 
herself ot his worth and ot the useles ness ot ,iv1n t 
-88-
tho~e who oann t appreoiate it. Pr vi Kirchhot 0 mes to the 
oonclusion atter ch hard thou~ht, whioh neoes"itates his 
oasting ott toraer ti~ oonviotiGns, that it is sGmethine 
quite ditterent t let starve than to starve. Dr. Rosen-
zweiS, on hearinc the speeoh t the Sen~bote, o.pares the 
a~s ot his past lite with the i4eals preachea anQ practised 
by the Sendbote. He oannot help being ashamed ot the great 
o ntrast, ~lt he rejoioes in his shame, t r it is to hi 
lals ein Wahrzeiohen seiner Wandlun, er Beeinn seines 
inneren aohsens 11n Klirensw. The ohance in eaoh oase is 
whol;r subjeotive, and Mari. von Ebner-Esohenbaoh is 
psyChologi t enough to know that refleoti n .ust preoede it. 
A:nyone 'l;vith any 1m wle fle at human nature would expeot 1t. 
What the author has done, then, rather than ott rin, us in 
her n.vels a theory ot how we know the flood, is to give us 
one mora indioation of her knowledfle of human nature. The 
tact remains, wever, that her knowledfle ot human nature 
o rresp n s to the scientif10 analys1" ot it in this parti~ 
ular inetance. 
It i. intere tin t n te, also, that in every 
in tanca that one ot her oharaoters tin 15 hi selt, his teel-
-89-
inis play a laree part ln hls flnal Qholoe of the hlgher 
Coo • PaTel's lOTe for Mllada and hls deslre t please 
her helps to determine his oholoe. Lettl's ~pathy for 
Halwl, oTerrule her extre e reverenoe for the QolleQtlen 
f Ql oks. Preyl 1 touohei to the qulok by the 'eTotien 
of the _ ther-do,. 
A few t the aphorl are valuable here. 
One of the says: 'Wle welse ss an sein, ua immer iUt ~ 
selnt" ,hloh reminds one Qf soorates' -I~oranoe 1 Tioe· 
and of the Greek oonoeption f wisiom as the ,ood. Thie 
would see to eay that the wi.e or learnei man oould be 
moral, but that the untutore' man must neoessarily be 
~oral. Suoh wae n t the lnterpretation b.1 the Greeks of 
the term wlsioa or knowleise. Tt thea lt meant a'reallslnc 
sense, an lntlmate and well-founde oonTlotlon l , ae today 
we use the tera oonsoientiousness. Today we olae it ith 
the Tirtues and mean by lt an -intelligent oonoern for the 
CO 'I. An intelligent oonoern for the i ood will 1 ad one to 
a knowlei,e ot the lood, but explains nothine as to the 
know1edie of the so. • In another aph rism Marie von Ebner 
eays:"Sei Dains Wlllens Herr un Delnes Gewissen Kneoht', 
whioh leads one to a k: what ioes he mean by oonsoienoe? 
1. Dawey and TUfts: Ethios. pp. ~18-9. 
-90-
A tew more aphor1e e help to tet rmine th1e:"F8.h1gke1t 
ruh1cer ~rw~cun, -: Anfan aller Wa1ehe1t; ~uall al1er 
GutaJ • : Uberle,a ein Mal, bevor Du c1bet, zwa1 Mal, beTor 
Du. annimet t ani tauean aI, bevor Du. varlaaeet·; ·Das Ver-
nunft1 e i et durghaus nioht t.mer das Gute, 'as VernUnttii-
ete je oh DUe auoh das Beste sein·. 
From' this evl'enoe it woul' seem that Marie von 
Ebner-Esohenbaoh regaras reaeon or refleotion, influenoei 
by the feelings, as the meane f knowini the ioot. N t nly 
the iood or the wise man alone disoovers the i od throUih 
refle ction,- Qveryone has the i.pul e towar. the iood, s 
that when he must oh ee batween oonflicting end.s, his 
oheic of the higher, •• re altruistic i oe brin,e satis-
faotion,and the rejeotion ot the higher go d for the seltieh 
narrow ,ood cives a .warnin, senee. ot moral loss·. Aoooriinc-
ly, when suoh characters as Pavel r Dr. Rosenzweig or Paul 
SoDnberg oan and 40 teel the tapulse towar4 the iOO as on 
as they refleotively balanoe the ireater i ood a,ainst the 
les era 
Our next question is: why 0 Marie Ton Ebner's 
charaoters deoi4e tor the higher iood, the new selt, and 
rejeot the oli, habitual, less sooial aelt? Wha~ authority 
do th y teel in the h1,her ,004 that impel the , atter 
ael1beration, to oh ose it? That the author does not believe 
in the etti~aoy ot moral rules is eTiient trom one ot her 
aph,ris s: -Es stanie besaer ua d1 Welt, wenn i8 Maha, 
ie man sioh gibt, die aubtilsten Moralgesetze suszukltigeln, 
zur Ausubung der ointaohsten angeweniet wUrde·. That reli-
iious soruples ietermine the ohoioe of the oharaoters is 
not evident in ~ ne f her at ries. For example, althouih 
Milada and the at osphere that aurrounds her in the oonTent 
are deeply rel1,i u , Pavel i not touohed by that ele ent 
at all. In faot, hi teelinis toward the nun and the baron-
ess, who are keeping lada in the oonTent, w ul destroy 
any pathy in hila tor the ohUroh and its teachini • As 
he walks ho e tro. hi~ vi it, it is not on M1laia' reli-
giou ideal,-namely, that t atonini b.Y her saintly lite 
tor th~ sins t her parents and thus ot assuring thea a 
peaoeful eternity, - that he editat~, but n her kin4-
ne ,her unselti hness, her love and trust in hila. Li e-
wise, in .Glaubenslos? Leo Klinier ohotse t remain in 
Sohran, though contrar,y to hi desir~, not becau e t hi 
-92-
re11gi u~ oonTiotiens or his love of the ohuroh, but be-
oauee ot his desire to serTe humanity, to make pure so far 
as possible ·one of the oountless souroes fro whioh ~ooa 
ant evil flew out into the world N• Marie Dornaoh oontesses 
her sin t a priest of the ohuroh, but still tin'~ n peaoe. 
For~iT8nes by the ohuroh oann t free her tr her guilt. 
She muet oonfess to all the worl' and sutfer the 0 nse-
quenoes, beoause over her, immutable, stanQs the oate~or1oal 
iaperative of the true and the &ood, than to obey whioh 
she oan oonoeive n greater joy. The ideals that impel 
Dr. Rosenzweie, Letti, Paul Sonnbere, Marie Walter, Fraulein 
Susanne and the rest towar the greater gooa are purely 
ethioal and not reliii us. If this statement oould be 
questioned as to any one of the oharaoter , it would be 
as to Dr. Rosenzweig. The Sendb tets speeoh is at tiaes 
religious in tone, but his whole plea i one for humanity 
rather than an appeal to humanity to turn to God. 
Marie von Ebner seems to expre two oontr st-
inc i4ea as to the authorib' f the i ode The ens i that 
t uty as oatego.ioal taperatiT8, an the ther that ot 
duty as an i4eal to be rea11sea,- duty as somethine that i 
-94-
a e rt • ant illuetratei ie that it is faith in the sead 
that makee it live. Pavel know that MilaQa expecte much 
of him, th truet expreeeea in the eyee of the Spitz dOi 
etire Pr vi Kirohhot t aotion, Leo Klinler put hie 
truet in the most sordii of the villaiers of Schran, and 
is not dis~apointea. The hauihtineee ot Marie Walter is 
estr yed by the interest ana faith in her, fir t of the 
pri ~t, then ot the eohe.l- ster. Lotti's faith in ant 
saorifice fer Hermann Halwi, fails,apparently because she 
n ver let hi know of it. But what is the knowl dge of 
this faith in us but the reali at1 n of a stan.ar~ or iieal 
set up for us acooriin to which we shall be me surea? If 
this faith in us creiits us wit ireater vi~tue tha~e 
really pGesees, we catCha il~pee ot a self to which w 
can attain it nly we will. N doubt our feeline toward 
the p reon who hae taith in us influence us to n 
"egree. 
mall 
In eummini up we find that Marie Ten Ebner 
ep ak eo letim s of liuty as if it were outsi.e the in i-
viiual, eomethine t. be obeye. and not questione', at other 
times as it it were the in.iT1"ual'. ena ot what sheull. b • 
-95-
A~ one wouli expect from a writer with a strong l.ve ~er 
humantty and a keen c.nVicti.~.t the innate exist.nce .t 
the .ral i pul~e in the inaivi ual, the .ec.na itea pre-
vails in her werks. 
Wm. M.Sa1ter in "Ethical Re1i,i.n· in his chapt.r 
en the "Social Ia.al" ays: 'It is sometimes aia that all 
morality involv. ocial relati.ns. There can be n questi.n 
that a large part .t it a ••••••• But though our lit i. 
prop rly in society it i. po •• ib1. f r us t. live apart ana 
accordinc to eur wn inQiviaual caprice, it we will. Such 
inaividua1i.m i the primal sin ••• Some sens. et the c1ai s 
.t every human being, th ugh he be t the 1ew.st ant the 
worst, ana that will not a1l.w us to tr~ple upon him, th ugh 
he b. tairly in the iust at eur t •• t; eme fe.lini .t in-
d.scribabl. aw., even th u,h it be blenaea with pity, when 
any human t r pa •••• bef r. fur ye,- this is the measure 
ant the t •• t, y.s, the very ienificance et m ra11tY· •• The 
principle et the social iaeal is that every man hall b. an 
ena a w. l 1 a. a m.an If. A imi1ar iiea i express •• by 
1 Jane Addama: ,,( We) torget that it i nece •• ary t know t 
th live •• t our c ntemp.rarie., not only in r er t. b.li.v 
1. Je.ne Aaliams: De ocracy ani Social Ethics. p.176. 
-96-
in their into rity, which ie after all but tho first be-
,innin,s f e~cial morality, but in erier te attain t 
any m ntal or moral inte,rity for our.elTes r apy euch 
h p for e~oietyu. JQhn Dewey cencieely tate. the eame 
truth when he .ays: 'Moral quality reeidee in the habitual 
tiapositiene of an a,ent; ant ••• c neiet of the toniency of 
theee diepoaitiens t eoure ( r hinter) values which are 
sociably share. r eharabl ". Under the ti.cuesi n f self-
real isati n as the ,ooa, the fact was mentioned that the 
.olf ia reali • ae a result of moral action ant is not 
realisei when mate a c necious ent in it.elt. In othor 
wGrae, the .olf ,r w. m rally in so tar a. it regart. it.elf 
as one of the many solves with which it co.os in c ntact, to 
oach f whioh the epportunity of selt-realisation i. tu •• 
Solf-for~ettin, in an bjootiTe ent that further the~o t 
ot tho "kineiom of SOlTO.· ean self-reali ation. 
This paratox Mario von Ebner expros o. 
explicitly in one of her aph risms:"Bis zu oine. cewisson 
Graae eolbatles ollte man schen aus Solb teucht soin'. 
Doe aho alse express this truth thr uCh her charaoters in 
her novels ant sterie ? Fro. all that has one before, it is 
-97-
evii nt that ~he ioee. Dr. Ro~enzw.i, ie ne l.ncer atie-
fiea with a mere exchan,e of hie profeeaienal knowle.,e 
tor money; he finalS la.tine eatiefactien in untiring lS r-
vice for any wh may neei him. Aa hie oli coachman e.crlbe~ 
hia: MEr macht tie Kranken elSun~, acht ale Helbtoten 
leben~i, ••• F.r sact nur-:Wart! - uni ier Tei wartet ••• Eine 
Frau hat er nicht, aber mehr ala huntert Kiniar u • Leo 
Klincer , Letti, Paul Sennberc, Mari. ana the echool-ma.t r, 
Provi, Fraul in SUsanne, all, in varyin, ie,reelS, for&et 
•• 11' for the co of there ana lSO rise above elt. Even Pavel 
planlS for the co.tort of hi. mother when ehe comelS ho • 
ani reams of the aay when he, a. bur,oma.t r, eh&ll repay 
evil with ,ooi. Halwic ia an example of one, who doelS not 
10 k beyond. hilS wn lSelfieh enilS. Becau.e hilS boek. brine 
• ney, the effect of the balS8 in them on th readerlS ie 
nothin to him. The town-council that lSendlS Pavel t liTe 
with the unlScrupulou hertlSman' family OT rl oke the fact 
that their wn cool. ani that of their chiliren'e chiliren 
ilS thereby endan erea. The counte e Who, with eupre e 
indifference, halS MilSchka fl gce to eath, ioe. not fore-
eee the beginninc ef the ni ,f euch power. 
-98-
There are many aphori~.~ with the ~tron 
~ocial note that ie eo anifeet in her etorie~. Se e of the 
are: "Erinnere Dich ier Vercee~enen - eine Welt ,eht Dir auf"; 
"In ter J"u ,end. meinen wir, iae Gerin,zte, i.as die Menecnen 
un~ 'ew811.ren k"nnen, ~ei G rechtickeit. 1m Alter erfahren wi;, 
fla!!~ !! a~ Eo/chete iet"; "Da unfehlbar Mittel, Autorita.t 
u'ber t ie Men~chen zu ,ewinnen i t, eich ihnen nutzlich zu 
ach nil: "Wenn wir ae. Unrecht hae~en una nicht Diejeni~en, 
ie es tun, werden wir un~ere K~pf£enoe~en ~t un~er. 
Feinde lieben"; "J"e m hr Du Dich ~elbet lieb~t, j e ehr 'bi t 
Du Dein ei,ener Feini": "Man kann nicht allen helfen! eet 
ier En.iherzi,e uni - hilft Keinem ll ; "Arl:l.e Leute IIchenken cern": 
Wenn man nicht aufh~ren will,ii. Men~chen zu lie'ben, mue~ an 
nicht authoren, ihnen Gute zu tun"; "Kein Menech ~teht e 
hoch, ia~e er anieren ,e,enuber nur ,erecht eein aurtte": 
"Liebe alle Menechen, t r Leiiend.e aber ~.i Dein Kini"; 
"Nicht jeier creeee Mann 1 t in creeeer Uen.ch"; "Nacheten-
liebe lebt mit tau ent Seelen, E,oi~mue mit einer einzicen, 
un .. tie 1 t erbarmlich"; IINicht , 'biet Du, nichte Ghne tie 
Anteren. Der ver'bi~eenete Mi.anthrop braucht I.ie Mensch n 
tech, wenn such nur, U. ~ie zu Terachten ll ; "Wenn J ier em 
-99-
.. Anieren helfen wellte, ware Allen ceholfen II. 
To Uarie Ton Ebner self-realieatien is the 
self-forgettin, in the co i of others, n t because it is 
immoral to o.nsiier onesself, but because ethers shouli 
the same cansiieratien as we ciTe ourselv s. 
-100-
CONCLUSION. 
Anyene wh C8 es in oentact with the real 
personality ot Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach is convinced of 
her sincere leve of ant faith in humanity. To her human 
nat~re, with all its po~eibilities ant its weakneeeee, i 
the m~et faecinatin, stuiy in the worlt. A knowlea,e f 
that fact al ne explaine her vital intereet in the ethical, 
incQ, ae we have eeen, the oral ie ro tet in human nature. 
But even the realieati n ef thie fact toee not cive ue th 
appreciation of her "ethical wietom" which a etudy of the 
principlee back of it afforte. ~uet as a knowle ce of 
anatomy eane a finer appreciatien f the sculptorte art, 
a knowlea€e of so e of the funaamental traite of human nature 
increaee our atmiratien t.r the art of the noveliet who 
really underetande human nature. For thie reaeon I hay 
enaeavore. to determine what to Marie von Ebner-Eachenbach 
c netitutee the COOel, how one acquires the knowle ,e of th 
looi, what authority it hae over her charactere, ant the 
-101-
relation of those oharacter~to the oot f thers. Fully 
realisinr; that to eaoh problem alene a theeie iiht be 
ievoted, I haTe arr1Te. at these, neral oonolusiens: 
self-reali ati n, in the sense of crowth in oharaoter to a 
mere oomplete self,is the coo; kn wlet&e of the loot o •• es 
through refleoti n ant a sympathetic, altruistic attituie 
of mind; it has autherity over man thrGuth his sense of tuty,-
tuty as an i eal heli up t hiz, esp cially by others whe 
have ~aith in him, er by himself, of what he oucht t be; 
self-r alisati n oomes through obj ctive ents that ar for 
the ood of all. 
That these conclusions coincite with thos of 
mo . ern ethical writers is apparent. Why shoul thi be eo? 
Simply because the sci nce of moral c nduct is baeei en the 
analysis f human nature, ani Marie von Ebner's th1cs 
are baset on a keen insicht inte ant faith in human nature. 
Wcult e. narrower, less elastic, less human moral phil.eophy 
be oonsistent with an int nse love f humanity? Thus 1mrie 
von Ebn rts ethioal philesephy, aa tevel.pea in her w rks 
ani as base" ot so muoh on a stu~ of moral philesophies, 
as on a thorough knowlet e of human nature, sets a stamp Gt 
-102-
approval Gn the m iern l!cienc , ani tho oclern ~cien.ce 
'beare witnes~ to the l!o\Ulline~e of her knowl.",e. 
Th~ moet funQ~ental ethical truth for which 
Marie von Ebner-El!chenbach, like Wm. M. Salter, l!tandl! i 
that the .oral impull!o is in every normal hu an being ani 
that thil! tmpull!o ay be whellY independent of reli,ioUl! 
iOpla. Thie belief to her inv l!tl! :man with a new iicnity. 
It placel! her in the very forefrGnt of oiern thoUcht, ani, 
as a rel!ult, l!he i.olineate. l!uch characterl! a Leo K11ncer, 
Lotti die Uhrmacberin, Dr. RGl!enzwei, ani the Sendbote, 
which wouli have been inconceivable 'before the lal!t few 
iecaQee. -He that 1 l!eth hie life l!hall find it" Christ 
eaid in the Sermon on the Mount, but men are jUl!t be~in­
nin, now t realil! the full sicnificance of the truth 
ani. to apply it to their own livel!. That it i natural 
for man to loee hi l!elf il! a di tinctly ~ dorn c nception, 
i.iam trically oPPol!ei. to the imperialil! of the paet.That 
h~nity ie worthy 'all the indivitual ha t. cive, ani 
that the ind1Titual can have n lofti r ambition il! what 
Marie von Ebner-Foechenbach tell Ul! throuih the character., 
ehe portraYl!. 
-103-
4 
Marie v n Ebner-Eechenbach 1e an 1 eal1et 
ani a rea.l1et, an 1ng,1v1iua11et ani a eocia11et, an 
opt1m1~t, net a peeeim1et, a era11et ana at the e e tim. 
e creat artist. 
NOVELS AND STORIES BY MARIE VON EBNER-ESCHENBACH 
READ FOR l..HIS THESIS. 
Da& Geaeinaek1nt. 
Dor Krei.phy~1kU8. 
Glaubenslo~? 
Lotti, aie Uhraaoher1n. 
Naoh tie. 'fe i •. 
Die UnTerstantene auf tea Derte. 
Unl'!iilinbar. 
Die Freiherrn Ton Geaperlein. 
Coates.e Musohi. 
D1e Sp1tzin. 
Er la •• t iie Hant ktissen. 
Der Mutf. 
D1e P.esie ier Unbewussten. 
Fraulein susannen' Weihnachts&bent. 
Der Fink. 
Sohe.ttenleben. 
Kr8JI.bambu11. 
1'u" be \l\.. 
Aph~r1s en, Marohen, uni Gei1 hte. 
;.. 
Meine Kinterjahre. 
1ecr 1. 
• 
Oskar Walzel: V.m GeiateelebeD ie 18. uni 19. 
Jab.rb.un".rt •• 
Leipeio 1911. 
otto Heller: Stuiiee in M .... rn German Literature. 
New Vorl( )Q 05" 
Carl Schmi .. t: D r ao ... rn R.man. 
Os It II. b '( il. c k ) q 0 r 
Jahreeberioht Ban .. III 1892 
Jahr •• berioht Ban .. VIII 1897 
Preueeiech Jahrbuoher Bani 108 
Ethioal. 
w~. M. Salt.r: Ethioal Reli,1.n. 
BQst.n 1891. E ... 2. 
John Dewey ani Jaae. H. !Utts: Ethics. 
New Yerk 1910. 
Berien P. Bowne: Principles et EthiOs. N." YGrk 1892. 
Gear,e H. Palaer: Nature et Geetne ee • 
BQ:5t.n 1903. 
H nry SiiCWick: outline. t the Hist ry ef Ethic • 
New Y~rk 1888. B ... 2. 
JohR Dewey: outlin •• et a Critical The.ry et Ethics. 
Ann Arber 1891. 
Jan Ai .. a.s: ne •• oraoy ani Seoial Ethics. 
New Y rk 1902. 
John Dewey: The Ethics et De ocracy. 
Ann Arbor 1888.