Morton & Shaw

A story, "A Nervous Splendor," describing how Rudolf Franz met his unfortunate fate in Vienna and his life in 1888-1889, was written by Frederic Morton. He described how Rudolf and his father, Emperor Franz Joseph, had conflicting ideas on the Empire should operate. Franz was a devoted Catholic and was business orientated man who woke up at five in the morning to get work done. On the other hand, Rudolf had a more liberal way of life and approach  to political  which made his relationship with his father difficult. They only did a few activities together, i.e. hunting. Franz only gave Rudolf position in the military, but no real power. Men with lower status would get invited to military discussion over him. The lack of respect and conflicting beliefs Franz had for his son widen the gap between them. Rudolf would write articles against his father rule in the hunting cabin which is where he met his unfortunate fate. Rudolf loved a women name Maria, who was social class for him. They were both passionate and loved to read dark romatic gothic novel. They two thought their deaths would beautiful so Rudolf shot Maria and killed himself. The love and lust of the two tragic gothic characters could be seen in the satire "The Royal Babylon" written by Karl Shaw. Shaw refers to the life style of the German ancestors people living in the empire and their influence. I believe the two pieces work well together so you can really see what life in the empire was like for all it people.