Siebenkäs
Blumen-, Frucht- und Dornenstücke oder Ehestand, Tod und Hochzeit des Armenadvokaten F. St. Siebenkäs im Reichsmarktflecken Kuhschnappel, better known simply as Siebenkäs, is a German Romantic novel by Jean Paul, published in Berlin in three volumes between 1796 and 1797.
Plot
As the title suggests, the story concerns the life of Firmian Stanislaus Siebenkäs and is told in a comedic style. Unhappily married, Siebenkäs goes to consult his friend, Leibgeber, who, in reality, is his alter ego, or Doppelgänger. Leibgeber convinces Siebenkäs to fake his own death, in order to begin a new life. Siebenkäs takes the advice of his alter ego, and soon meets the beautiful Natalie. The two fall in love; hence, the "wedding after death" noted in the title.Trivia
Siebenkäs is the first novel in which a lookalike is described as a "Doppelgänger". It is a word of Jean Paul's own invention.The sudden meeting of satire and touching moments moves the reader to want to know about philosophical honesty as well as comfort of soul. The inconsistency and being torn apart of Siebenkäs is programmatic, and still today a sign of sensitivities of bourgeois individuals.