Comments on: Eminent Women: Christiane von Goethe and Roseinia Sylvester Jarvis: Part 1

By: Marcelaine

Marcelaine — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 02:25:29 +0000

Thanks, Amy, this one was really interesting. And I'm so glad to finally know how to pronounce his name! I knew Go-eeth probably wasn't right, but I wasn't sure what was right.

By: kevinf

kevinf — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:25:50 +0000

Great story. Thanks, Amy!

By: Jeff Johnson

Jeff Johnson — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 06:38:35 +0000

Amy: Very nice. I am enjoying finding out who these women were. I have to say these lines make me sad:

“First I have to tell you that my wife has not read one line of all my works. She cannot live in the world of the intellect. She is made for keeping house…”

I wish he would have included her in his intellectual life.

By: Maurine Ward

Maurine Ward — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 04:24:39 +0000

Amy, you have done it again. Your research and detail in telling the story is wonderful. I look forward to reading more.

By: Amy T

Amy T — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 22:46:37 +0000

Oh my, Steven L., I have been trying so hard to tell these stories straight and be respectful to all the characters involved that I entirely missed the comedic possibilities of Goethe in his “prophet’s cloak” (nightgown), cowering behind Christiane as the French soldiers charged up the stairs. And I’d better leave it at that since I am evidently in a silly mood.

Seriously, though, looking at history from the side of the women can reveal a surprisingly different picture than you usually get in the overwhelmingly male-centric teaching of history and culture.

By: Steven L

Steven L — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 21:14:11 +0000

This story always cracked me up but it saddens my heart a little, too, to know that Goethe the man was something of a wuss.

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 17:42:57 +0000

Love this one, Amy. What a dramatic mix of a little housekeeping homebody (with, admittedly, a love of parties), and a ferocious fighting for that home! Or maybe it’s not a mix at all — defending her home rather than fleeing probably grew directly out of the way that home was the center of Christiane’s world. “Honest and loyal companion” — a fine reputation, that.