The German writer published at the time of the Romantic literary epoch Joseph von Eichendorff 1826 a novella entitled «From the life of a good-for-nothing». The story provides an insight into the carefree life of a so-called good-for-nothing and is considered Eichendorff’s best-known work.
A novella is one epic narrativethe shorter than a novel but longer than a short story. In it comes at least one turning point where the plot of the story suddenly and unexpectedly changes.
Synopsis for «From the Life of a Good-for-Nothing»
The action takes place in Austria and partly in Italy in the 19th century.
Beginnings as a gardener
A miller throws his son, a good-for-nothing, out the door in spring. He should learn to find his way in the world and to earn his own bread. The good-for-nothing is wandering serenely and singing along the country road when he is taken in a carriage by two noble ladies named Flora and Aurelie. He particularly likes Aurelie.
He finally found a job as a gardener in a castle near Vienna. The imposing gardens of the castle park immediately cast a spell over him. However, he avoids gardening whenever possible. Most of the time, the good-for-nothing dwells on his daydreams and leaves a bouquet of flowers for Aurelie every day.
Completely surprisingly, the good-for-nothing is promoted to customs officer, although he lacks all the skills to qualify. When he sees Aurelie with a young count, he concludes that this must be her husband. The realization of this and that Aurelie must also be a countess plunges him into deep sadness and his renewed desire to travel drives him out of the castle the next morning. The good-for-nothing makes his way to Italy.
The trip to Italy
The good-for-nothing wanders carefree and only equipped with his violin through nature. He ends up in a village and gets the whole village community dancing with his violin playing. During the night, he is surprisingly forced by two armed horsemen to accompany them to B. The good-for-nothing thinks the two men are robbers.
B. refers to a suburb near the border with Italy and is not described in detail in the work itself.
They recognize the former gardener and customs officer from the castle in the good-for-nothing and reveal themselves to be painters. The good-for-nothing is forced to agree to enter their service. Miraculously, he finds his way to B., even though he doesn’t know the place. He learns that the painters’ journey leads to Italy and is pleased that they have the same destination.
The three travel to Italy in a mail coach, with the painters covering their windows and rarely leaving the coach. The good-for-nothing sits next to the stagecoach on the coachman’s box and does not suspect anything. His job is to occasionally bring food and drink to the painters’ wagons.
When he stops at an inn, he notices that the group is being shadowed by a hunchbacked male. The next morning, the two painters seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth. Luckily for the good-for-nothing, they gave him a bulging purse and the carriage so he can continue his journey to Italy.
Finally, the carriage drives into an old castle courtyard. A sumptuous meal and a made bed await the good-for-nothing in the castle.
Aurelie’s letter
For a time, the good-for-nothing enjoys the good life and respect shown by the castle’s mysterious servants. One day he receives a letter from a young woman from Vienna named Aurelie. This letter is the key to the whole novella, because it is not addressed to the good-for-nothing, but meant as a letter of friendship from woman to woman. However, this only becomes apparent towards the end of the novella.
The good-for-nothing is again hoping for a happy ending with Aurelie and escapes one night through a window out of the castle.
The Mysterious Garden
The good-for-nothing gets to Rome. In a front yard he thinks he hears Aurelie singing a song. He jumps over the garden wall, but only catches a glimpse of her. He spends the night on the threshold, but notices in the morning that the house is deserted.
Sitting by the fountain and singing a song, he is hired by the painter Eckbrecht as a model. He tells the good-for-nothing that they are looking for two painters and a musician. It quickly becomes clear to Eckbrecht that the good-for-nothing must be the musician he is looking for. The good-for-nothing is firmly convinced that it is Aurelie who is looking for him. He goes in search of the front yard where he last heard her voice.
The good-for-nothing can’t find the front garden in hectic Rome and finally thinks he only imagined it. He is taken to a party by the painter Eckbrecht. There he sees Aurelie’s maid, who slips him a message inviting him to a rendezvous with her mistress. The good-for-nothing believes that the mistress is his beloved Aurelie.
To his horror, however, he discovers that a foreign Italian woman has invited him. The maid had changed her mistress, but she knows for sure that the young Countess Aurelie is not in Rome. The good-for-nothing is disappointed and wants to leave Italy again because this country has proven to be devious and wrong for him. In this mood he now makes his way home to the castle near Vienna.
The wedding
On the way home, he learns from Prague students who are on their way to the castle that the young countess is going to marry an old love. A priest adds that the groom is probably a «dissolute fellow» on the way back from Italy. The good-for-nothing is now convinced that the «old love» must be about him.
In the park he meets Aurelie, to whom he becomes engaged during a happy party. All entanglements are resolved: the countess’s daughter, Flora, and her suitor, a rich count, had disguised themselves as the armed painters in order to use the good-for-nothing for a ruse. The Countess’s spy was to be lured on the wrong track, since the romantic connection between the two was forbidden by the Countess.
That’s why they let the good-for-nothing drive on alone in the carriage, to give the spy the impression that he was the rich count. At the mysterious castle he was to be prevented by all means from continuing his journey. It is also revealed that Aurelie is not a countess, but an orphan and at the same time the porter’s niece.
Flora’s fiancé gives the good-for-nothing and Aurelie a castle for their wedding. Immediately after the wedding, the good-for-nothing wants to travel to Italy again with his mistress and a few students. He has long since forgotten how much he complained about this country. Finally, he assures the reader that everything is fine now.
Characterization of the main characters in «From the Life of a Good-for-Nothing»
The good for nothing
- is the son of a miller,
- is a hopeless romantic
- bears the nickname «good-for-nothing»,
- is a violin player
- works as a gardener and customs officer in the castle,
- is egocentric,
- behaves naively and dreamily,
- is carefree and gullible,
- madly in love with Aurelie,
- goes on trips without equipment,
- ends up marrying Aurelie.
Aurélie
- is an orphan and the porter’s niece,
- is mistaken for a countess by the good-for-nothing,
- is secretly in love with the good-for-nothing
- marries the good-for-nothing in the end.
The painters
- kidnap the good-for-nothing to B. (place before Italy),
- show a mysterious travel behavior,
- are being followed by a spy
- disappear one night without a trace,
- are wanted by Aurelie,
- are in reality the young Countess Flora and her suitor, a rich count.
Figure 1: Character constellation «From the life of a good-for-nothing»
The characters in the novel can be divided into two groups:
For one, there is musical figures in the story, the good-for-nothing and the couple disguised as painters and the Prague students. They will appear as «romantic» designated.
On the other side are the «Philistines«, which lead a down-to-earth, but at the same time stuffy existence.
Structure and language in «From the life of a good-for-nothing»
In Eichendorff’s story only a small part and not the entire life of the good-for-nothing is addressed. This is typical of a novella, as it is smaller in scope than a novel.
The work has ten chapters, with the palace in Vienna playing an important role in the first and last chapters. This stylistic device can be used as a epinadiposis be interpreted.
An epinadiposis is a rhetorical device, which describes the repetition of a motif at the beginning and end of a text. This ensures increased perception and a «round» perceptible conclusion to the content.
If you want to learn more about the rhetorical stylistic device, read our article on «Epanadiplose»!
Figure 2: Scenes of action in «From the Life of a Good-for-Nothing»
With his novella, Eichendorff creates a text that can be seen as an alternative to the prevailing novellas of his time. For example, it was typical of a novella to include a turning point that reversed the plot in unpredictable ways. In «From the Life of a Good-for-Nothing» are the same several turning points to find:
First turning pointSecond turning pointThird turning pointFourth turning pointThe miller kicks out the good-for-nothing because he thinks he’s a loser. The good-for-nothing unexpectedly gets a job as a gardener and is promoted to tax collector.
Aurelie seems to be taken, which is why the good-for-nothing leaves Vienna. But Aurelie secretly harbors feelings for the good-for-nothing.
The good-for-nothing thinks the maid in Rome arranges a meeting with Aurelie. Instead, he meets a foreign Italian woman.
The painters who kidnap the good-for-nothing are actually Countess Flora and her suitor, who only used the good-for-nothing to lure their spy on the wrong track.
narrative behavior
In «From the Life of a Good-for-Nothing» speaks in first-person narrator, which allows the reader to slip into the role of the protagonist. As a result, all experiences and impressions are limited to the subjective point of view of the main character. This is expressed, for example, by the fact that the first-person narrator seems helpless and awkward.
The novella is told in past tense. In addition, «From the life of a good-for-nothing» is a time-lapse narrativesince the story time is less than the time in which the events of the plot occur.
language
The novella is according to its time in Standard German of the 1820s written. This can be recognized by (from today’s point of view) more complicated formulations and unusual sentence structures. 1826, as «From the life of a good-for-nothing»…