Even after the betrothal the relations between the two families did
not become more cordial. Not only were they divided by difference of
social standing; a deeper ground of mutual antagonism lay in their
religion. The Schoenemanns belonged to the Reformed persuasion, the
Protestantism of the higher classes, while the Goethes were Lutheran,
as were the majority of the class to which they belonged; and
between the two denominations there was bitter and permanent
estrangement.[216] And there was still another stumbling-block in the
way of a probable happy union. Goethe was not earning an independent
income, and, in the event of his marriage, he and his bride would have
to take up their quarters under his parental roof. But, accustomed to
the gay pleasures of a fashionable circle, how would Lili accommodate
herself to the homely ways and surroundings of the Goethe household?
Moreover, we have it from Goethe himself that Lili was distasteful
equally to his father and mother--the former sarcastically speaking of
her as "Die Stadtdame." Such, he realised, was the future before him
as the husband of Lili; and he had no sooner bound himself to her than
he was reduced to distraction by conflicting desires.
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