22. “The Dissatisfied” novel by Emil Marriot

Berlin 1880, published by Freund & Jeckel (K. Freund)

The present lacks the courage to recognize the contemporary. We either do not dare or do not want to take a firm stand for an original aspiration that emerges among us. To show one's colors, to take a definite stand has so much that is unpleasant in its wake. Nobody needs to be afraid of being taken to task by anyone if they talk about a book in a way that has to be described as "not cold and not warm". The talents that arise in our midst naturally suffer from this. They struggle to come through.

When Emil Marriot's novel "Spiritual Death" and his novellas "With the Tonsure" were published, this perception was very clear. Everyone was talking about the author's decisive talent. Everyone had to admit that the stories were captivating, but no one could say what was original about these priestly tales. Priestly love has been treated in many different ways, but for the most part the priest feels that not being able to follow the urge of his heart is a shackle of his profession. The love that dwells in his heart makes celibacy seem unjustified. In Marriot's case, the priest's love for women seems unjustified, and the necessary priestly abstinence is always more important to him than his feelings. Marriot describes the struggles that this untouchable priest, who remains faithful to dogma, has to go through in his soul at every stage. The novella "Asceticism" is a masterpiece of the art of psychological development. The tasks set here are as subtle as they are exciting in a higher sense. That is why these writings are also readable for serious people who are used to thinking in a disciplined way. The majority of our narrative literature, with its lumpen, feuilletonistic, frivolous, witty style, can no longer be enjoyed by people who can think. Yet Emil Marriot has an outstanding gift for drawing characters. He draws a character with just a few strokes; indeed, that is his strongest point. This is also evident in the novel "Die Unzufriedenen", which preceded the above-mentioned works - it appeared years ago in a Viennese newspaper and is now being published for the first time in book form. The inwardly well-disposed girl in a decayed, morally degenerate family, with all her missteps and the wrong turns she takes, is excellently portrayed. Mignon's goodness, admittedly often disfigured by moral filth, contrasts sharply with the depravity of her sister Laura. Although placed in the worst possible light by her surroundings, and thus abandoned by the man whose heart already belonged to her, Mignon finds the latter again and knows how to prove her innocence to him. Significant in its characterization, with many great traits, this novel probably still shows some confusion in its composition.

It was folly to call Emil Marriot a realist, to place him in the much-popular aesthetic categories. There is also an idealism in the gift of finding the core points of a character in order to portray him in a few sentences in a way that is possible in life, indeed a much more justified one than in the invention of fantastic characters who could not take a step in reality.