Death of his mistress Mary Burns - The greatest crisis of Engels-Marx friendship "Learning from the Life and Thought Background of Marx Engels" (49)
In the above article, we have provided a brief chronological overview of the lives of Marx and Engels, but in this series, "Learning from the Life and Thought Background of Marx and Engels," we will look at the lives and thought of Marx and Engels in more detail.
I will now refer to the book by Tristram Hunt.Engels, The Man Marx Called General.This is a biography of Engels called.
What makes this book excellent is that it explains in an easy-to-understand manner which ideas influenced Engels and how his writings were produced from them.
It is very easy to understand the flow of history because you can learn along with the historical background of the time and the ideas that were popular at the time. It is easy to understand how the ideas of Engels and Marx were developed. The book also gives me a road map of what to read next to learn more about Marx and Engels. I appreciated this.
And this book made me realize how much Engels had influenced Marx's writings. It is quite amazing.
Although this book is a biography of Engels, it also goes into great detail about Marx. It was such a great biography that I thought I could learn more about Marx by reading this book than by reading a biography or commentary on Marx.
We may use other Marx biographies to supplement some of Marx's life and interesting episodes, but basically we will focus on this book and take a closer look at the lives of Marx and Engels.
For other reference books, see the following articles"List of 12 recommended Marx biographies--to learn more about the life and thought of Marx Engels."Please refer to this page for a summary.
So let's get started.
Death of Engels' mistress Mary Burns
In the winter of 1863, Engels sent a letter to Moore (Marx's nickname). The present passage begins with that letter.
Dear Moore,
Mary is dead. She went to bed early last night, and when Lizzie decided to go to bed shortly before midnight, she was already dead. It was so sudden. It was probably heart failure or stroke. I hadn't heard about it this morning either. She was still quite healthy on Monday night. I can't tell you how I feel. That poor girl loved me with all her heart.Mary's sudden death was a painful blow to a man who was still recovering from a bad year in 1860. Despite his womanizing and flamboyant appearance, he was a devoted partner to Mary. They had been together - attached and detached - for two decades, ever since the days when the young Hegelian first arrived in Manchester with his first fresh face and worked in a factory in Solford.
cotton cityIt was she who initiated his entry into the lower classes of the "Mere Old Man," and it was with her and her companions that Engels felt most at home. For Engels, her death felt like "burying the last vestiges of his youth.
Equally unsettling was Marx's reaction to Mary's passing. He began his letter of condolence in a courteous manner: "I was both upset and surprised by the news of Mary's passing. The news of Mary's death both shook and surprised me. She was indeed good-natured, witty, and always there for you.
There, after clearing his throat, he launched into an extremely self-centered long-winded diatribe about his own misfortunes - high tuition and steep rent - in a completely out-of-place, half-jokingly gloomy tone.
'It is terribly selfish of me to tell you such a terrible story at a time like this. But this ishomeopathyWhat is it? Something bad distracts me from something else bad," he wrote, then cheerfully "Well then!" and signed his name with a concluding remark.
Perhaps because he never once recognized Mary as a social equal or a companion worthy of a "general," Marx considered her death a minor event.
Engels was appalled by the coldness of the letter, which caused the biggest rift in their friendship. You will understand that my own misfortune and your cold attitude toward it have made it impossible for me to write back any sooner," he replied after five days. Engels' "snobbish acquaintances"-those from whom he had for years concealed Mary's existence-showed more sympathy and affection than his closest friends. You saw it as an appropriate place to assert the superiority of your 'unfeeling temperament. Good!"
Marx was naturally embarrassed. 'I was terribly wrong to write that letter to you. I regretted it as soon as I sent the letter. But it was not out of sheer spite that it happened," he wrote back a week later, making excuses for his family's dire situation.
Despite the awkward bowing, Marx was unusually apologetic here, and a heartbroken Engels accepted it immediately. 'Thank you for being so frank,' he replied. 'You can't live with one woman for all those years and not be dealt a terrible blow by her death ....... When your letter arrived, she had not even been buried yet....... This letter makes up for that and I am glad that I did not lose my oldest and best friend after losing Mary."
The argument ended, and to reaffirm their friendship, Engels bailed Marx out by skimming 100 pounds from the Elmen & Engels Trading Company.
Chikuma Shobo, Tristram Hunt, translated by Erika Togo, Engels: The Man Called General by Marx, p. 295-296
Some line breaks have been made.
As for the relationship between Mary Burns and Engels."Mary Burns, Engels' First Mistress - The Female Worker Who Guided Engels through the favelas "Learning from the Life and Thought Background of Marx Engels" (24)"and"Marx Engels' Research Trip to England and Engels' Mistress Problem: "Learning from Marx Engels' Life and Thought Background" (30)article.
I can't talk about their relationship in this article, but as you can see in the quote above, Mary Burns died suddenly one day.
Engels is shocked by the sudden separation.
But what an unkind thing for Marx to say in response...
As mentioned in the above quote, Marx probably had no idea that Engels, who had never officially married and was playing around, loved Mary Burns so much.
If their relationship had not been restored at this time, "Capitalism" would never have been published. It is nonsense to say "if" in history, but I wonder how Engels could have forgiven him. I do not know whether he had such high expectations for Marx or whether he had something in mind based on their past relationship, but I felt Engels' broad-mindedness here.
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