Book Review – A Village Romeo and Juliet

19th Century Realist Fiction From Swiss Author Gottfried Keller

Jun 9, 2009

A tale of two families destroyed by feuding and the love story that could have saved them, A Village Romeo and Juliet is realism with a fairytale aesthetic.

Gottfried Keller, better known for his novel Green Henry (1855), is one of Switzerland’s most celebrated 19th century writers. In A Village Romeo and Juliet, an affecting novel written in reply to a newspaper article Keller read about the suicide of a young couple, a timeless love story is reinterpreted into a psychological portrait of rural Swiss life.

Romeo and Juliet Re-Imagined as a Swiss Fable

Everyone knows the story of Shakespeare’s most famous star-crossed lovers. Here, in an impeccable translation by Ronald Taylor, Gottfried Keller takes these legendary characters and places them inside a small village in Switzerland. But Keller doesn’t simply cast Shakespeare in a new setting, he removes any notion of accidental death to explore the folly and legacy of consuming hatred.

Keller uses what begins as a small land dispute between neighboring farmers to weave a fairytale-esque narrative of how quickly an honest man can become corrupted, and how that corruption dirties even the purest of emotions. This is a story of anger gone horribly wrong, of moral decay and the ruinous outcome of such hard-heartedness.

Using Marti and Manz, the feuding farmers, and their children Sali and Vrenchen as his templates, Keller attempts to portray rural Swiss life in accurate, minute detail. This unswerving focus on depicting life and character “as it truly is” – a hallmark of 19th century realism – makes A Village Romeo and Juliet both a historical document and a vivid story.

Keller’s brand of realism is startlingly lyrical, smoothing away what amounts to a harsh criticism of the psychology of village life. His story focuses on the darker qualities of the human soul and doesn’t offer much in hopes of redemption, but the language he employs to bring the reader through these disheartening assertions is quite poetic.

This lyricism is what provides a connection between the story’s realist preoccupations and its fairytale aesthetic – a truly unique combination.

Sali and Vrenchen are offered a chance to free themselves of the legacy of their families’ hatred by an unusual character in the novel, The Black Fiddler. Both devilish and benevolent, The Black Fiddler tempts the innocent couple to withdraw from society and live freely, unmarried but happy, in the hills. He is an instrument of potential salvation but his offering comes with a heavy price.

This is where Keller really diverges from Shakespeare’s well-known story in that he places the ultimate responsibility for their actions in Sali and Vrenchen’s own hands. There is no unfortunate misunderstanding. Together, Sali and Vrenchen must willfully choose their fate and then act upon their decision.

With expressive prose, a striking psychological preoccupation and its own unique combination of realism with a fairytale atmosphere, Gottfried Keller’s novella is a wonderful example of 19th century Swiss literature.

The copyright of the article Book Review – A Village Romeo and Juliet in European Literature is owned by Michelle Bailat-Jones. Permission to republish Book Review – A Village Romeo and Juliet in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.