Power by Lion Feuchtwanger
"Power" by Lion Feuchtwanger is a historical novel set in the court of the Duke Eberhard Ludwig of Prussia during a time marked by personal and political intrigue. The narrative unfolds as the duke ends a long-term affair with a countess to return to his wife, stirring both scandal and celebration across Europe. The countess, feeling betrayed, seeks the help of Isaac Landauer, a wealthy banker, to maintain her influence over the duke. The story intricately weaves themes of power, nobility, and anti-Semitism through the experiences of Joseph Süss Oppenheimer, a Jewish financier who becomes embroiled in the court's politics while navigating complex relationships with nobility and his own heritage.
As Süss rises in favor with the new duke, he manipulates the political landscape, revealing the harsh realities of life as a Jew in a society rife with prejudice. The novel explores Süss's moral dilemmas and the consequences of his choices, culminating in a tragic downfall spurred by betrayal and societal scapegoating. Feuchtwanger’s work serves as a commentary on the dynamics of power, the fragility of human relationships, and the pervasive influence of anti-Semitic sentiments within history. This narrative invites readers to reflect on broader themes of identity, loyalty, and the struggle for agency in oppressive environments.
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Power by Lion Feuchtwanger
First published:Jud Süss, 1925 (English translation, 1926)
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Historical
Time of plot: Mid-eighteenth century
Locale: Germany
Principal characters
Josef Süss Oppenheimer , a court favoriteRabbi Gabriel , his uncleNaemi , Gabriel’s daughterKarl Alexander , a dukeMarie Auguste , a duchessWeissensee , a politicianMagdalen Sibylle , his daughterThe Countess ,Isaac Landauer , her financial agent
The Story:
All of Prussia rejoices, and European courts lose their best topic of scandal when Duke Eberhard Ludwig breaks with the countess who had been his mistress and returns to his wife to beget another heir to the throne. The countess had been his mistress for thirty years, bleeding the country with her extravagant demands for wealth and jewels. Ludwig had been too vain, however, to remain her lover when she grew fat and middle-aged.
The countess sends for Isaac Landauer, the wealthy international banker who is her financial agent. Unable to advise her as to the means by which she could keep her hold on the duke, he offers to liquidate her possessions and send them to another province. The countess, who has a strong belief in black magic, nevertheless insists that Landauer bring to her the Wandering Jew to help cast a spell on Ludwig.
Landauer visits his young friend, Joseph Süss Oppenheimer, and offers half of what his dealings with the countess will bring him if the young man will aid Landauer in the countess’s scheme. The so-called Wandering Jew is an uncle of Süss, Rabbi Gabriel, whose melancholy demeanor and mystic ways had caused people to think that he is the legendary Wandering Jew. Süss considers the offer. It is tempting, but for some unknown reason the young man is half afraid of his uncle, whose presence always instills in his nephew a feeling of inferiority. Furthermore, Rabbi Gabriel is rearing motherless, fourteen-year-old Naemi, the daughter whom Süss wishes to conceal from the rest of the world. At last, however, he sends for Rabbi Gabriel.
Penniless Prince Karl Alexander comes to Wildbad in hopes of gaining the grant of a substantial income from the duke. Süss, discovering the poverty of the prince, makes himself the financial adviser of the destitute nobleman. Although Landauer warns him that Karl Alexander is a poor risk, Süss continues his association with the prince merely because he hopes to ingratiate himself with the nobility. Half in gratitude, half in jest, the prince grants Süss admission to his levees.
On his arrival in Wildbad, Rabbi Gabriel tells Süss that he intends to bring Naemi to his nephew. Landauer, however, no longer needs Gabriel to help carry out the countess’s scheme, and the rabbi returns to his home. The countess had been banished from the duchy, taking with her the money procured by Landauer.
Süss becomes the favorite of Prince Karl Alexander. To Wildbad also comes Prince Anselm Franz of Thurn and Taxis and his daughter, Princess Marie Auguste. Their mission is to urge Karl Alexander to marry the princess and turn Catholic. Angry because the duke has refused to give him a pension, the prince consents.
Duke Eberhard Ludwig dies suddenly, and Karl Alexander, now a Catholic, inherits the duchy. Süss becomes a court favorite, appointed by the new duchess to be keeper of her privy purse. Although Jews are forbidden to live in the duchy, the people have to acknowledge that the duke should be allowed his private court Jew.
Rabbi Gabriel had bought a little white house where he lives with Naemi and a servant. For three days, while the uncle is away, Süss goes to Hirsau to visit his daughter. Then he returns to his duke. Since Karl Alexander’s succession, Süss has slyly directed him in measures that are resulting in a complete control of Swabia by the duke himself. The constitution and the parliament are powerless. Great noblemen have been ruined. Although his income is enormous, Süss refrains from holding any office. Süss has picked one former cabinet member, Weissensee, as president of the Ecclesiastical Council. One night he gives a party to which Weissensee brings his daughter, Magdalen Sibylle. Süss, noting the duke’s attentiveness toward Weissensee’s daughter, entices her into his bedroom, where the duke follows. After this evening, the duke sends gifts to Magdalen Sibylle, his declared mistress, and Weissensee is promoted to a high office. Weissensee hates Süss and secretly hopes to bring the favorite into disfavor at court. Learning that Süss has a daughter, he plans to place the Jew in the same position that Süss had placed him on the night Karl Alexander had taken Magdalen Sibylle.
The murder of a child revives the old legend that Jews had sacrificed a Christian child at the Passover feast, and a Jew, Reb Jecheskel Seligmann, is arrested for the crime. Pressure is put on Süss to use his power to save the innocent man, but he refuses because of the danger to his position at court. Then Rabbi Gabriel sends word to Süss that Naemi has heard rumors of his wickedness. At last, Süss decides that he will help the arrested man. In rescuing Seligmann, he feels anew his power as the court Jew. Soon afterward, at the request of Rabbi Gabriel, he visits his mother. He learns from her that his real father had been a great Christian marshal in the German army. Confused, Süss finally decides that he is a Jew and will remain so.
Convinced at last that Süss is a swindler, the duke threatens to dismiss and dishonor him, but when Süss offers his own fortune in exchange for proof of any financial trickery, the duke changes his mind and roars his anger at the enemies of Süss. Realizing that the favorite now has more power than ever, Weissensee continues to plot his revenge. Arranging for the duke to spend some time at his home in Hirsau while Rabbi Gabriel is not at home, Weissensee takes the duke to Süss’s daughter. With visions of a heavenly rescue, the quiet, lonely child climbs to the roof of the house to escape from her attacker. She falls from the roof to her death.
Outwardly, Süss professes forgiveness toward the duke, but he pockets more and more funds from the ducal treasury. His personality alters. Instead of ingratiating himself at court, he criticizes and ridicules his acquaintances. Filling the duke’s head with dreams of conquest, Süss inveigles him into leading a new military coup. At the same time, he plans the duke’s destruction. While Karl Alexander lays dying at the scene of his defeat, Süss rains over his head a torrent of pent-up abuse. His enemies order his arrest.
For many months, the case against Süss drags on. Finally, he is put into a stinking, rat-infested hole, where every day the authorities goad him for a confession, but he remains stubbornly alive and sane. Sentenced to hang, he assails the court with icy, cutting words. He could have freed himself by declaring his Christian birth, but he had kept silent. On the day of the hanging Süss dies with the name Adonai, the Hebrew name for God, on his lips, and the word is echoed by all the Jews gathered to watch him die.
Bibliography
Dollinger, Roland. “Lion Feuchtwanger’s Historical Novels of the Weimar Republic.” In German Novelists of the Weimar Republic: Intersections of Literature and Politics, edited by Karl Leydecker. Rochester, N.Y.: Camden House, 2006. Feuchtwanger is one of twelve German writers whose work is analyzed in this study of Weimar Republic literature. The essays focus on the authors’ response to the political, social, and economic instability of the era.
Kahn, Lothar. Insight and Action: The Life and Work of Lion Feuchtwanger. Madison, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1975. A definitive and thorough biography. Provides many insights into the milieu in which Feuchtwanger worked and a great deal of discussion about Power.
Laqueur, Walter. “Central European Writers as a Social Force.” Partisan Review 59, no. 4 (1992): 639-665. Describes Feuchtwanger’s trip to the Soviet Union in 1936. Feuchtwanger regarded the Soviet Union as a bulwark against fascism.
Mauthner, Martin. German Writers in French Exile, 1933-1940. London: Vallentine Mitchell, 2007. Recounts what happened to Feuchtwanger and other German writers and intellectuals who fled the Nazis and settled in the south of France, where they tried to alert Western Europe and the United States to the dangers of Nazism.