Two stories worthy of comparison are The Foundling by Heinrich von Kleist and Blond Eckbert by Ludwig Tieck. Both are themed around another person's invasion of a person's life and are full of betrayal, drama, and tragedy. Their similarities do not stop at these themes, however. They also have very similar aesops, similar character archetypes and relationships, and a similar use of surreal storytelling to advance the plot. One main difference, however, is that their use of surreal and fantastical storytelling is very different between the two, many of their characters, while having similar roles and archetypes, are also very different. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The Foundling and Blond Eckbert both have a similarity in their themes, one of the most important being betrayal. This is made very clear at the end of both stories, where in each case the main characters' lives end in tragedy, due to their actions aimed at harming the people who trusted them. Nicolo, who betrayed his adoptive father after all he had given him when he "began to revive [Elvira] with burning kisses on the lips and breasts", was similar to Bertha, who also betrayed the old woman who had shown kindness, perhaps the first true kindness ever shown to her (Kleist 284). The first parallel here is that Nicolo and Bertha were "adopted" by the older people they had met after fleeing the miserable fate of being an orphan in the city or living in a hovel with abusive parents. The betrayal of the one who had welcomed them was the turning point in both stories and ended with the loss of everything they had gained in this betrayal. Another parallel is the relationship with their “parental” figure, particularly between Nicolo and Piachi. in The Foundling and Bertha and the Old Woman in Blond Eckbert. The Old Woman and Piachi take on the role of parent after Nicolo and Bertha no longer have parents. Even though Nicolo's relationship with Piachi had been more developed than Bertha's with The Old Woman, they had always gotten what they wanted. Nicolo was taken to a rich estate, as was Bertha, in her own way, and they betrayed their elder's trust after he promised to give them so much. Both Bertha and Nicolo make a choice based solely on selfish desire, sexual in Nicolo's case and material in Bertha's, even after Bertha is told she will get whatever she wants if she doesn't did not “depart from the path of righteousness” as she did. done (Tieck 9). Despite this, she still betrayed the Old Woman and left with the bird and the dog, rebelling against what the Old Woman had organized for Bertha, just like Nicolo, in whom Piachi had spent his whole life trying to instill virtue, had betrayed Piachi once. we gave him everything. This is all the more surprising since Bertha and Nicolo were treated well, so much so that Bertha and Nicolo were both made happy by the actions of their adoptive parents, by their own admission. Nicolo's womanhood was "cured at the source" by his marriage and he obtained his father's wealth and property (Kleist 273). Bertha was also happy, saying she “never wished things were different” after four years of living in solitude with her new family (Tieck 8). Another feature of the two stories that makes them similar is the use of an Aesop. The Aesop in both stories seems to be that therevenge and betrayal will always end in misery. Every instance of betrayal ends up being rewarded in one way or another in this story. For example, Bertha and Nicolo, once again, meet an unhappy end because of their actions. Nicolo, for his promiscuity and lack of respect for his wife, finds himself alone and embarrassed by his father after showing up at the funeral of his recently deceased wife when he was under the impression that he was going to meet Xaviera, a woman he had seen before and during his relationship with his wife. He takes revenge on Piachi by seducing Piachi's wife and his mother-in-law, then removes Piachi from the house because. Almost every decision Nicolo makes during the novel is a deceptive choice aimed at betraying someone, knowingly and maliciously in some cases. Bertha, on the other hand, was less malicious about it, but her whole life is built on the foundation of her betrayal of the Old Woman, who served as her parent just as Piachi did. However, her betrayal came simply from the fact that "only [she] could decide whether [she] should take the bird and the jewels while the old woman was away and go to the world [she] had heard about." (Tieck 9). Eckbert, too, had committed treason when he killed Walther to learn more about Bertha's story than he had let on, and Piachi, in some ways, can be seen as having betrayed Nicolo after his wife died embarrassing him, and Elvira had betrayed Piachi in secret. wanting Colino and sleeping with Nicolo while Piachi was away. All these betrayals are rewarded in kind. Nicolo first loses his family then his life, Piachi and Elvira die by execution and illness respectively. Eckbert is deceived by the Old Woman for what he has done, and Bertha dies of illness after Eckbert kills Walther. Almost everyone in both stories meets a tragic fate due to their acts of betrayal committed earlier in the stories. The Old Woman's statement: "Whoever strays from the righteous life will never prosper, and punishment will follow, no matter how late" rings true in every situation and describes the Aesop told in both stories (Tieck 9). also have surreal, almost fantastical features. In Blond Eckbert, the Old Woman serves as a source of supernatural powers, having a bird that drops gems and the ability to transform into Walther and Hugo and act convincingly enough to fool Eckbert and Bertha for years, as well than similar abilities. to a seer, knowing that Bertha is the daughter of a knight and the sister of Eckbert. She seems almost omniscient in the context of this story. The Foundling also has a notable surrealist feature, namely that Nicolo and Colino have an uncanny similarity in their appearance, clearly illustrated when Xaviera's daughter said, "[why, God bless us, Signor Nicolo! It's a photo of you! in reference to Colino's portrait in Elvira's room. This similarity is made even more obvious by the fact that they both have very similar names which are anagrams of each other. While these stories have many similarities, they also have some key differences. For example, Blond Eckbert has much more fantastical, almost magical references. The story begins when a child runs away from her abusive and poor home, then she finds a witch, only to leave, and is brought to a happy life with her knight in shining armor. This is a very basic and romantic fairy tale story. The Foundling, on the other hand, uses its surreal element between Nicolo and Colino only, and.