
Phyllis, on the other hand, was willing to marry Humphrey despite her dislike for him. Without considering how Phyllis might feel. Humphrey is only concerned with himself and his honour. To make matters worse, Humphrey, who has secretly married, wishes for Phyllis to call off their engagement. Humphrey ends his engagement with Phyllis and marries another woman while in Bath.

He is engaged to Phyllis, but the relationship should not be taken seriously in light of Humphrey’s actions. Throughout the story, Humphrey only thinks about himself. Matthäus is prevented from returning to the Saarland by his duty and position as a hussar, and with discharge by purchase impossible due to the war, his only option is to flee.
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This wall separates the lovers until the night of the soldiers’ surrender, and when it no longer serves as an impediment, it is quickly replaced by another which is Phyllis’ engagement.ĭr Grove had been a professional man whose taste for lonely meditation over metaphysical questions had diminished his practice till it no longer paid him to keep it going after which he had relinquished it and hired at a nominal rent the small, dilapidated, half farm half manor−house of this obscure inland nook, to make a sufficiency of an income which is a town would have been inadequate for their maintenance. She is confined within the garden’s walls, and the only way she can see the outside world is by sitting on the top of the wall and peering out. Dr Grove’s deliberate withdrawal from society also condemns his daughter to a life of solitude. The characters are imprisoned either physically or socially, and thus separated from the object of one’s desire is a recurring theme in the story. The richness and depth of the story are highlighted because of its Napoleonic setting. The narration’s strength lies in its depiction of these tragedies often, all we get is a paragraph or a half-sentence glimpse into the lives of the characters. Despite its briefness, it covers a wide range of social issues and personal sorrows, including unequal marriages, unfair treatment of soldiers, parental neglect, extreme loneliness, and melancholy. ‘The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion’ is much more than a love story, despite the central theme of Phyllis and Matthäus’ tragic love story. The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion | Analysis After her death, she was buried near the soldiers. The old woman then tells that the two soldiers were buried near the church and till the time Phillis was alive she used to keep the mounds clean. Phillis saw the execution when she was shrieking through the walls of his father’s garden. Matthäus and his friend Christoph are condemned and shot. The small party of deserters is captured due to a navigational error.

But she is unable to follow Matthäus for fear of his safety. Mr Gould’s unexpected return, however, shakes her resolve and she decides against fleeing with Matthäus, believing herself still obligated to remain faithful to her fiancé.Īlthough the separation may be painful in and of itself, the protagonist’s woes do not end there: When Mr Gould confesses that he has secretly married someone Phyllis realizes that her suspicions about his loyalty were justified.

While she waits, she sees Mr Gould, who tells his companion that he wants to make amends with his fiancée by giving her a gift because he feels he has treated her badly. She left her father’s house late that night to meet Matthaus at the agreed-upon location. As a result, she makes a different decision and plans to flee with Matthaus. Phyllis compares her father’s sister’s home to a prison. Her father is against her meeting with the hussar and sends her to her aunt’s house to protect her engagement.
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Matthäus considers desertion because he is sick of the army and misses his homeland, and Phyllis considers herself free to accompany her lover abroad because she believes her prospective husband is lying about their engagement.
