io Emily Gertrude Moore 



is closed. IK- is, however, not wholly insensible to her strange 

 power : 



"... hier heisst's, behangd Euch tnit Spiegeln, 



so stirbl der Basilisk am eigenen Blick. 



. . . Seht sio an ! 



seht sie nicht an : noch bessor ! denn os ist 



in ihrem Auge was. das Spiegel trubt!" 



But it creates in him only uneasiness, lie puts on her and all 

 that is inexplicable aboul the all-comprehensive label "heathen," 

 and turns to the truly important affairs oi life, such as the recep- 

 tion oi ambassadors and the inspection oi the apple harvest. 



Ercambald has grown old in the Kaiser's service, but now Karl 

 revolts from him utterly and persistently refuses to endure his 

 presence. Rorico attributes this to Karl's resentment of Ercam- 

 bald's treatment of Gersuind. But while this is certainly one 

 of the mam signs oi Gersuind's influence over Karl, he is too big 

 a man to be long moved by petty resentment. 1 lis attitude toward 

 Ercambald is actuated by something deeper and more subtle. He 

 revolts from the whole philosophy oi life that Ercambald repre- 

 sents, because it suddenly appeals to him as unbearably didactic 

 and self complacent. With Julian ho is ready to challenge the 

 type of Christianity among courtiers "the ihre Hande iiber dem 

 satten Bauch falten und piepsen oh Gottes Sohn wirklich aus 

 nichts erschaffen ist." 



The first act is crammed with indications of Gersuind's influ- 

 ence over Karl. His whole attitude, the strange restlessness 

 which perplexes his courtiers, is her work, it is manifest, and 

 dates from his meeting with her in the cloister school. Gersuind's 

 radiant beauty and the touch of something uncanny and inexpli- 

 cable about her, her '* unkindlich-Wissen und Yerstand," make 

 her a personality that claims the attention of every one. But 

 Karl alone feels and responds to the challenge which she, simply 

 by being what she is. breathes out against the whole organization 

 of society, the structure oi church and state which Karl has cham- 

 pioned and brought to a perfection never before seen. This gains 

 the stronger hold on him because it remains a feeling and never 

 gets upon the basis of definite and articulated thought. He does 



j - j 



