#1: Relationships: Gisela & Gottfried Author: Róisín, Location: IrelandPosted: Wed Oct 31, 2007 2:09 pm — Gisela Marani and Gottfried Mensch are both
Austrians who live in Innsbruck. They meet through Gisela's
schoolfriends who are Gottfried's sisters. They became engaged soon
after Gisela's last term at school (after school she returned home) -
Gottfried was at this point a young doctor in the San. They married and
settled on the Sonnalpe. Their first child was a daughter, Natalie,
followed by another girl, Gisel. They relocated to England during the
war and had a son, Florian, who died shortly after birth. They later
had two more daughters while living in England, Gretchen and Jacquetta,
followed by another son, Toni and a daughter Hilda. The family later
spent a period in the US. They eventually moved back to Innsbruck after
Gottfreid's father's death.
What are your opinions on the relationship shared by this couple? Did
you imagine they would end up together, were you surprised when they
married? Does it seem like a happy partnership? What about their
parenting methods? Any comments on the 'little wife' scenes that frame And Jo?
Please join in the discussion below
#2: Author: Alison H, Location: ManchesterPosted: Wed Oct 31, 2007 2:34 pm — Although they seem well-suited, I think that
really EBD just wanted a way of keeping Gisela in the series and
marrying her off to a doctor at the San was the best way of doing it,
and seeing as we already "knew" Gottfried it seemed better to pair them
up than to introduce a new character.
They seem to represent old-fashioned family values, much as the
elder Mensches and Maranis do. The "little wife" comment grates on me,
but I don't think it's meant to, any more than if Gottfried had called
her "love" or "darling" instead: it's probably just meant as a term of
endearment. You certainly never get the impression that Gisela, any
more than either her mother or her mother-in-law, is dominated by an
overbearing husband. Jack and Jem, who both administer "doses" at
random, seem more overbearing than Gottfried ever does.
In the same way, it grates on me a bit that, in the same
conversation, they obviously assume that Joey will eventually get
married and have children - it's kind of annoying when people assume
that everyone else really wants to live the way that they do - but I'm
sure that they just mean it in a nice way because they are genuinely
happy (Gisela says that her life is "very beautiful" ) and want the
same for their friends.
I wish we saw more of them: they were supposed to be moving to the Platz in Problem but EBD seems to've either forgotten about it or else changed her mind.
