ABSTRACT
The immense success and then decline into obscurity of Der abentheurliche Simplicissimus Teutsch, even in the German-speaking world, denote a sea change in literary and intellectual tastes. Narrated by an active, albeit initially reluctant, participant in the Thirty Years' War, this chapter metes out harsh criticism to all established authority: political leaders; established views of marriage; and traditional loyalties, including those to both Catholicism and Protestantism. Friendship is perhaps the one abstract notion, certainly the one type of relationship, that Simplicissimus responds to positively at all stages, whether he is wild and wandering, or educated and privileged. The text contrasts German reality with ancient Greek political standards as a means of bettering Central Europe, and not necessarily to bring about a religious conversation. Simplicissimus is still most overtly a confessional story by an old man about his wild youth. The Ogre challenges the restrictions of conventional views about the limits of myth and history for modern readers.
