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Part 3, Chapter 13
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Buddenbrooks, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Family and Sacrifice
Tradition, Modernity, and Change
The Protestant Ethic
Personal Fulfillment and Self-Knowledge
Pretense and Etiquette
Summary
Analysis
Herr Grünlich and Consul Buddenbrook meet to discuss Tony’s dowry. Herr Grünlich negotiates the consul’s offer of 70,000 marks up to 80,000. Then, Herr Grünlich leaves for Hamburg. In October, Tony attends a party hosted by the Möllendorpfs’ to celebrate the engagement of August Möllendorpf to Julie Hagenström. To her surprise, she has a great time. She also busies herself with ordering dresses and other exquisite goods for her trousseau.
Once Grünlich has secured Tony as his bride, all the affection he showed while courting her vanishes. His and Consul Buddenbrook’s meeting to discuss the terms of Tony’s dowry characterizes the upcoming nuptials as a business arrangement, not a celebration of love. Tony, for her part, leans into the material aspects of the arrangement. Her focus on ordering expensive dresses and other niceties for her trousseau might be superficial, but it’s also a means for her to maintain some agency while the men in her life treat her as a commodity to be traded rather than a young woman with wants and needs of her own.
Active
Themes
Grünlich spends the holidays with the Buddenbrooks and regards Tony with “the air of a satisfied owner.” He returns to Hamburg after the holidays to tend to business matters. Tony, who is used to the hustle and bustle of city life, wants to live in Hamburg’s city center, near Grünlich’s office. Grünlich ignores Tony and purchases a villa on the outskirts of town.
The narration’s description of Grünlich’s attitude toward Tony as that of “a satisfied owner” toward a shiny new commodity he has bought further emphasizes the business aspect of the upcoming marriage—and the dehumanizing effect it has on Tony.
Active
Themes
The wedding takes place in January of 1846. After, Tony and Grünlich make their way to their carriage, and the family assembles outside to bid Tony goodbye. Tony wraps the consul in a tight hug and whispers in his ear, “Are you proud of me?” Then, Tony steps back into the carriage, and she and Grünlich depart. Alone with her husband, Bethsy asks if he thinks Tony will be happy with Grünlich. The consul thinks that Tony “is at peace with herself,” which is all “we can ever achieve on earth.”
Active
Themes
