Die mißbrauchten Liebesbriefe

mißbrauchten Liebesbriefe, Die, a Novelle by G. Keller, published in 1856 in the Deutsche Reichszeitung and included in Die Leute von Seldwyla (vol. 2) in 1874. Viggi Störteler, a businessman, has literary aspirations. He makes frequent journeys in connection with his business, and insists that Gritli, his attractive young wife, write him elaborate high-flown letters, which he intends subsequently to weave into a novel. Gritli, who is at her wit's end, enlists the help of a teacher, Wilhelm (Lehrer Wilhelm); she passes Viggi's letters on to him and receives warm replies, for Wilhelm, a shy young man, secretly admires her. Gritli copies out Wilhelm's letters and sends the copies to Viggi, who is delighted; but, discovering the deception on his return, he maltreats Gritli, locks her in the cellar, and finally turns her out of the house. Divorce proceedings follow, and Gritli successfully claims the return of her dowry, while Wilhelm, dismissed from his teaching post because of his involvement in the divorce, seeks solitude and takes up viticulture. He is sought out by Gritli, who overcomes his shyness. They marry and prosper. Viggi makes a second marriage with Kätter Ambach, a bluestocking, who spends his money and makes his life a misery.

Keller uses the tale to satirize some pretentious, but ungifted, literary contemporaries.