Romeo and Juliet Re-Imagined as a Swiss Fable: Classic Must Read

A Village Romeo and Juliet (Swiss-German Classics)

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.

Gottfried Keller’s Realism in A Village Romeo and Juliet

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life and character “as it truly is” – a hallmark of 19th century realism – makes A Village Romeo and Juliet both a historical document and a vivid story.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.

Read more of the review here, or get a copy A Village Romeo and Juliet now!

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