„Vielleicht haben wir den Kaiser vis à vis“: Neue Beobachtungen zu Theodor Fontanes Nachlassroman Mathilde Möhring

This article deals with the role plays in Theodor Fontane’s posthumously published novel Mathilde Möhring, which are cleverly hidden in the text by the novelist and have been little noticed in prior scholarship. While the German Emperor Frederick III is subtly associated with the male protagonist Hugo Großmann, the title heroine turns out to be a masked figure of Melusine – a constellation that runs like a red thread through the whole text and can only be revealed by a close reading of a series of artistic and difficult “finesses”.