49. Gottfried Keller, Narrative describing the choice of costumes and clothing for the play William Tell

If you ever had to design a costume for Halloween, you will enjoy Green Henry's description of how he designed and prepared the "historical" clothing and costumes for himself and Anna, a real teenager who was just younger than Green Henry.  Anna was shy and had to be coaxed into the actress mode.  

As a youngster Green Henry wore green garments ("a suit for Sundays and one for week-days").   That is how he got his name.   His mother made these clothes out of his (deceased) father's uniforms and civilian clothes -- which were all green.   Henry got a reputation for wearing renewed green garments and he states,  "... I made use of my green popularity..." 

In this passage, the character Gessler was the enemy the tyrant.   Green Henry acted the role Rudenz, a less important character (whose role had few speaking parts).   Anna was playing a girl's part and had no lines to recite.  

[Permission to quote from Gottfried Keller's book was granted to me on May 2, 2013 by Alma Books / Alma Classics, London House, 243-253 Lower Mortlake Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 2LL, United Kingdom.]     

Excerpt from Chapter 13

The Carnival Play

by Gottfried Keller

In my uncle's house I was a veritable factotum, trying hard to make the clothing of the sons as historical as possible, and to restrain the daughters in their desire to dress themselves up in very modern fashion...  All my uncle's children wanted to take part, and they tried too to persuade Anna...  But she absolutely refused to consent... until the schoolmaster, who had for a long time been enthusiastic over this matter of making the old crude buffoonery into something more dignified, definitely desired her to do her share too...  She could easily grace Gessler's knightly train as a silent character.   Gessler's train had formerly been presented, in accordance with the popular sense of humour, as rather shoddy and uncouth-looking, the tyrant in particular being very grotesque and ridiculous; but I had now carried my point that the governor's procession must be most brilliant and lordly, because there was nothing striking in a victory over an abject-looking foe...  The most difficult thing was to make [Anna] ride;  in my uncle's stable there was a white horse, round as a ball and easy-tempered, which had never hurt a hair of anybody's head, and which my uncle used to ride across the country.  In the loft there was a lady's saddle, forgotten relic of the old times;  this was covered afresh with red plush taken from a venerable armchair, and the first time Anna was in the saddle everything went splendidly, especially as the miller, our neighbour and an expert rider, gave her a few lessons, and in the end Anna had a good deal of pleasure from the old horse.   A great curtain of bright green Damask which had once been the hangings of a four-poster bed was cut up and transformed into a riding-habit, and the schoolmaster possessed as an old heirloom a crown made of plaited silver filigree, such as brides used to wear.   Anna's bright golden hair was delicately braided about the temples, but below it was spread out and hung down its full length, and then the crown was set on it;  she wore a broad gold necklace too, and on my advice some rings, put on over her white gloves, and when she tried on this whole costume for the first time, she looked not only like a knight's lady, but like a Queen of the Fairies too, and the whole household was lost in admiration of her loveliness...  Meanwhile I had not been idle; I and my cousins had been dabbling in the saddler's craft, and had covered my uncle's not over-clean bridle reins with some red silk stuff that we had bought cheap... for it would not do for Anna's hands to come into contact with the old leather.  

I had long since made the arrangements for my own costume, choosing one that was green and sportsmanlike, and on account of its extreme simplicity within reach of my moderate means.   Yet it was still tolerably true to period;  a big cinnamon-brown quilt was, without being injured, turned into a cloak with voluminous folds and it covered the deficiencies; on my back I carried a crossbow, and on my head I wore a grey felt hat.   But, since there is a weak side to everybody, I buckled around me the long sword of Toledo [Spain] steel from the attic;  I had admonished all the rest to be historically correct, had myself fetched from the armouries quantities of weapons of the right period, and yet I chose this Spanish spit, and I cannot to this day imagine what my idea was!   

[excerpts from pp. 263-265]