History Literature / EffiBriest

** Arguably [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] or [[ZigZaggedTrope Zigzagged]]. Effi and the Baron are a mismatched arranged marriage that is definitively not one made for love, but neither are actually BAD people and both show they could (or at least had the potential to) make the marriage work. Effi's affair with a dashing young ladykiller closer to her age is not a forbidden love or exciting climax but a deep mistake that sets the stage for tragedy down the road, and Innstetten reacts to discovering it long after the fact with a mixture of great empathy and tragic inflexibility. When the couple actually live together and focus on making the marriage work and creating a family, they find themselves in love and happy together [[HappyEndingOverride until Effi's youthful lapse and the Baron's loyalty to social pressure cause it all to go downhill.]]

** Arguably [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] or [[ZigZaggedTrope Zigzagged]]. Effi and the Baron are a mismatched arranged marriage that is definitively not one made for love, but neither are actually BAD people and both show they could (or at least had the potential to) make the marriage work. Effi's affair with a dashing young womankiller closer to her age is not a forbidden love or exciting climax but a deep mistake that sets the stage for tragedy down the road, and when the couple actually live together and focus on making the marriage work and creating a family, they find themselves in love and happy together [[HappyEndingOverride until Effi's youthful lapse and the Baron's inflexibility cause tragedy.]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/effi_briest.jpg]]

* MoralDilemma: Several, especially variations on ToBeLawfulOrGood, where characters who have been lawful wonder whether they've actually been good. Innstetten's conflicted feelings about the duel with Crampas is one of the most prominent examples.

''Effi Briest'' is a subtly-written examination of the rigidity and hypocrisy of the value system among the Prussian nobility. It was written by Creator/TheodorFontane, published in 1896. It's one of the great classic novels of German literature, and standard reading in schools. It has been filmed at least six times, most famously by Creator/RainerWernerFassbinder in 1974, starring Creator/HannaSchygulla.

''Effi Briest'' is a subtly-written examination of the rigidity and hypocrisy of the value system among the Prussian nobility. It was written by Creator/TheodorFontane, published in 1896. It's one of the great classic novels of German literature, and standard reading in schools. It has been filmed at least six times, most famously by Creator/RainerWernerFassbinder.

* YourCheatingHeart: Effi and Crampas have an affair with each other despite both of them being married.

* DuelToTheDeath: Instetten challenges Crampas to a duel after finding out about the latter's affair with Effi years earlier. It results in Crampas' death and the dissolution of Effi's and Instetten's marriage.

* HonorBeforeReason: When Instetten discovers evidence of Effi's previous affair with Crampas, he feels compelled to challenge the latter to a DuelToTheDeath in order to restore his honor, despite acknowledging that, from an objective point of view, it's a completely senseless act of violence that will only bring misery for all involved.

* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Innstetten admits that he bears no ill will against Crampas for having an affair with Effi, but still feels obliged to challenge him to a duel because the code of honor of the Prussian military class demands it.

* MalMariee: Effi feels neglected by her constantly busy husband and frowned upon by the local gentry; and worse, the unsettling house where they live is allegedly haunted by the ghost of a Chinese Man, and not even the birth of a daughter improves her spirit. While her husband is never downright abusive and feels in his own way fond of her, she starts having an affair with Major Crampas, but can't stand that she has to lie. She's relieved when her husband is transferred to Berlin, giving her a chance to break off the affair. Six years later she seems to be finally happy with her family but her affair with Crampas is discovered by Instetten who, despite still loving her and not being angry with Crampas, feels obliged to respect the codes of society: he divorces her and prevents her to see their daughter and kills Crampas in a duel. Effi lives her final years alone and gravely ill until her death.
* MarriedToTheJob: Innstetten is so committed to his work that he completely neglects his young wife, making her all the more susceptible to the allure of the womanizing Major Crampas. Their relationship improves after Instetten is transferred to Berlin.

* MoralDilemma: Several, especially variations on ToBeLawfulOrGood, where characters who have been lawful wonder whether they've actually been good. Instetten's conflicted feelings about the duel with Crampas is one of the most prominent examples.

* TheresNoPlaceLikeHome: After marrying and moving in with Instetten, Effi often misses her family and never feels at home in her new environment.

* DeathByAdaptation: Effi. Elisabeth von Plotho, the woman on whose life the novel was [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory based]], became a nurse and lived to become 98.

* CharacterDevelopment: Kind of zig-zagged with both Effi and Innstetten

* DefrostingIceKing: Especially after the move to Berlin, Innstetten progresses from a gloomy, strict, repressed and somewhat mysterious/strange workaholic to a nice, devoted, father and husband. Of course, all of this is undone once he finds the letters....

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: The novel is partly based on the life of Elisabeth von Plotho, a noblewoman who, like Effi, was forced into a marriage with an older man at a young age and had an affair that, upon its discovery, resulted in a duel in which Elisabeth's husband and fatally shot her lover. Unlike Effi, however, Elisabeth did not sink into despair after the dissolution of her marriage and only died at the ripe age of 98.
* WhatIsThisFeeling: Effi, the first time Major Crampas kisses her.

* GermanicEfficiency and GermanicDepressives: Innstetten is extremely conscientious in his bureaucratic job, dutiful, repressed, and pedantic. He's also very depressed by the end of the novel.

* NeverMyFault: At the end of the novel, Effi's mother asks her husband if they are too blame for their daughter's untimely death by pressuring her into an unhappy marriage, and whether they should have at least waited until she would have been old enough to make her own decisions. However, Mr. Briest immediately dismisses these doubts.

* SchoolStudyMedia: In Germany at least and much hated as such.

* {{Melodrama}}: Averted; Fontane deliberately underplays some parts of the plot that could be highly emotive — the duel is very brief, the adulterous meetings take place entirely offstage.

%%* Squick: Instetten is Effi's mother former suitor, and though he doesn't love Effi ( marrying her rather for financial prospects) he genuinely loved her mother. Meaning a teen marries her mom's former lover
%%* TheresNoPlaceLikeHome: Effi

%%* ArrangedMarriage
%%* BookEnds

%%* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Innstetten

* MalMariee: French for "badly married", this trope refers to a young woman unhappily married to a jealous older man who often falls in love and cheats on him with a young lover. ZigZaggingTrope with Effie Briest, a 17-year-old girl, is married off to Baron von Instetten who is about 40. She feels neglected by her constantly busy husband and frowned upon by the local gentry; and worse, the unsettling house where they live is allegedly haunted by the ghost of a Chinese Man, and not even the birth of a daughter improves her spirit. Her husband is never downright abusive and feels in his own way fond of her. She starts having an affair with Major Crampas, but she can't stand that she has to lie. She's relieved when her husband is transferred to Berlin, giving her a chance to break off the affair. Six years later she seems to be finally happy with her family but her affair with Crampas is discovered by Instetten who, despite still loving her and not being angry with Crampas, feels obliged to respect the codes of society: he divorces her and prevents her to see their daughter and kills Crampas in a duel. Effi lives her final years alone and gravely ill until her death.
%%* MarriedToTheJob: Innstetten, at first, but he gets better.

* MoralDilemma: Several, especially variations on ToBeLawfulOrGood, where characters who have been lawful wonder whether they've actually been good.
* NothingIsTheSameAnymore: Once Innstetten finds the letters, everything goes downhill...
* ProtagonistTitle

%%* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory

%%* YourCheatingHeart

%%* TheCasanova: Major Crampas

%%* DuelToTheDeath

%%* HonorBeforeReason

%% ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.

%%* [[{{Hypocrite}} Hypocrites]]: Many.

* ArrangedMarriage
* BookEnds
* TheCasanova: Major Crampas

* DuelToTheDeath

* GoodOldWays: Gieshübler, perhaps

* HonorBeforeReason
* HopelessSuitor: Gieshübler
* [[{{Hypocrite}} Hypocrites]]: Many.
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Innstetten

* MarriedToTheJob: Innstetten, at first, but he gets better.

* TheresNoPlaceLikeHome: Effi

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory

* YourCheatingHeart

* ImperialGermany, specifically {{Prussia}}

''Effi Briest'' is a subtly-written examination of the rigidity and hypocrisy of the value system among the Prussian nobility. It was written by Theodor Fontane, published in 1896. It's one of the great classic novels of German literature, and standard reading in schools. It has been filmed at least six times, most famously by Creator/RainerWernerFassbinder.

''Effi Briest'' is a subtly-written examination of the rigidity and hypocrisy of the value system among the Prussian nobility. It was written by Theodor Fontane, published in 1896. It's one of the great classic novels of German literature, and standard reading in schools. It has been filmed at least six times, most famously by Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

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