Mademoiselle de Scuderi

E. T. A. Hoffmann's novella, Mademoiselle de Scudéri. A Tale from the Times of Louis XIV [Das Fräulein von Scuderi. Erzählung aus dem Zeitalter Ludwig des Vierzehnten], was first published in 1819 in Yearbook for 1820. Dedicated to Love and Friendship [Taschenbuch für das Jahr 1820. Der Liebe und Freundschaft gewidmet]. It later was included in the third volume of the four-volume collection of novellas and fairytales that was published between 1819 and 1821 under the title The Serapion Brethren [Die Serapionsbrüder]. The 1819 edition was an immediate commercial and critical success and led to Hoffmann's becoming a popular and well-paid author (Feldges & Stadler 1986, 153). The novella still is widely regarded as one of Hoffmann's best, not only because of its exciting, suspenseful plot and interesting descriptions of life, places, and people in late 17th-century Paris but also because of the many different levels of interpretation that it allows (Feldges & Stadler 1986, 158–167; Kaiser 1988, 75).

The action takes place in Paris during the reign of King Louis XIV of France. The city is under siege by what is presumed to be an organized band of thieves whose members rob citizens of costly jewelry in their homes or on the street. Some of the street victims are simply rendered unconscious by a blow to the head, but most are killed instantly by a deliberate dagger thrust to the heart. The murder victims are mostly wealthy lovers who are on their way to meet their mistresses with gifts of fine jewelry.

These are not the only terrible crimes plaguing Paris (a series of bizarre poisonings is described in detail), and to combat them the King establishes a special court, the Chambre ardente, whose sole purpose is to investigate them and punish their perpetrators. The president of the Chambre, La Régnie (probably based on Gabriel Nicolas de la Reynie), however, is consistently thwarted in his attempts to stop the evildoing, and in his blind zeal and frustration he is seduced to commit acts of terror and brutality. Because of his failures and cruelty, he quickly earns the hatred of those he was appointed to protect.

In a poem exalting the King, the lovers of Paris exhort him to do something for their safety. Mademoiselle de Scudéri (the historical Madeleine de Scudéry), who is present when this appeal is presented, counters jokingly with the following verse:

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