Lorelei, Source: Wikipedia
This next story completely baffles me. It is one of a woman named Isabella, who loved to be in love, and men loved to pursue her. The people of her town did not approve. The bishop, being entranced by her beauty, could not issue her a death sentence as many of the town’s women insisted. (I honestly think they were so insistent because they were afraid of their husbands being tempted.) The town bishop ordered that she spend the rest of her life devoting her life to God. We will soon discover that a chaste life was not in the books for her. In order to truly allow you inside her mind, I am going to show you a collection of journal entries that we discovered at her residence after she died. These will tell the story better than I can…
_____________________________________________________________________________________
June 1, 1900,
Dear Journal,
Today was a fine day. I met with John. He is one of my lovers. He brought me the most beautiful bouquet of flowers. He said that they reminded him of me with their beauty! How grand of a statement that was. He makes me feel warm inside. John is so comfortable to be with. I fear life with him though might be a bit of a bore though...
--Isabella
_____________________________________________________________________________________
June 4, 1900,
Dear Journal,
I feel guilty.I told John I couldn’t meet with him because I had a family affair to attend to. That wasn’t the truth. I actually met with Seth. My goodness he is my knight in shining armor! He is strong and bold. His body is sculpted as one of the ancient Greek statues. He is perfect. The only problem is he also believes he is perfect and arrogance is unbecoming. He really is a dream to look at though!
--Isabella
_____________________________________________________________________________________
June 10, 1900
I saw Mitchell today. He is a doctor’s apprentice. He has been to the university and he is ever so smart! His stature is small, and I don’t feel very feminine with him because his touch can be somewhat cold. I just can’t help but think of the money he is going to make when he goes on his own as a doctor! I would be provided with a life of luxury. I just can’t stomach the thought of his body lying next to mine each night in a marital bed…
-Isabella
_____________________________________________________________________________________
June 14, 1900
Dear Journal,
I don’t know what to do. I continue to see multiple men in my life and not a single one knows about the others. I get stared at in town as though my secret is widely known, but how could they know? One by one each of my lovers has asked for my hand in marriage. I don’t know what to do. I love each of them for different reasons. It is as if they were combined I could have the perfect husband. Alas I know this cannot be done. I just don’t know.
--Isabella
_____________________________________________________________________________________
June 21, 1900
Dear Journal,
I am outraged!! The townspeople have decided that I am a menace to society. Today in the courtyard all of the women in town were rallying, insisting that I be hanged for my immorality. What business is it of theirs what I choose to do with myself? The crazy thing is that the bishop actually considered it!! He in the end couldn’t pass that sort of judgment on me or so he said. He then announced that my sentence should be served in a convent! That I should live my life devoted to God! It is no one’s business what I do with my life and I cannot be forced into this. I fear I may do something drastic. I cannot be enclosed in four walls for the rest of my life. I was born to be free. Free in my mind body and spirit. I will write and let you know how this goes…
--Isabella
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That was the last time she made a journal entry. We found her body on the beach, mangled and bruised. Witnesses say that there were three local officers accompanying her to the convent that would be her new permanent home. They made it to a cliff. She begged the officers to let her see the river one more time. As she stepped to the edge she simply kept walking. She stepped right off of the cliff into the coursing water below. The men that were with her simultaneously tried to catch her and went over the cliff as well. Their bodies never resurfaced. There are many unanswered questions about this case. Some people say the men pushed her and fell off accidentally. Some say that she accidentally stepped off the edge, having gotten too close without realizing it. Still yet some believe that she did it on purpose, preferring to die rather than be condemned to a convent for the rest of her life. Judging by her journals I’d say the latter is probably the most accurate.
Author’s note: This was another fairly short story. So, I again had a lot of room to expand. The original story, Lorelei, told of a woman who could not resist the advances of men, and men could not resist her charms. The townspeople, not wanting this sort of scandal about, insisted she be executed. Her charms worked on the bishop as well because he could not bring himself to issue such an order. Instead he condemned her to a convent to devote herself to God. In the original story when they reach the cliff it says she jumps off of the cliff. I tried to leave that to mystery. It also doesn’t say how the men died, whether they also jumped, or they were trying to save her etc. I expanded on this story by giving the girl’s many lovers names. I also changed the story to a journal-like entry so as to be able to put things in her point of view but still keep the original “storyteller” as my main character Isabella. There isn’t really much of a crime in this story, but if anyone watches CSI or Law and Order, you know that they have to investigate suicides as well, and there are plenty of scandals to go around. I tried to convey that Isabella showed no remorse for her immoral actions. She wanted certain qualities in a man, and she ever only found bits and pieces so she saw no reason wrong with seeing multiple men. I am sure this mentality is seen in present time. People don’t want to sacrifice, so they take what they believe to be the “best of both worlds” and end up paying in the end.
Bibliography:
Title: Lorelei
Author: Clemens Brentano
Year: 1801
Source: Water Spirits