In search of morten: literary precursors of a character in Thomas Mann’s Buddenbrooks

Abstract

In Thomas Mann's novel Buddenbrooks, Morten stands out because he is the only major character to break successfully with family tradition. A student with liberal political views, which he knows would be anathema to his parents, he completes his medical studies and becomes a doctor in Breslau, moving away from his modest lower-class background into the world of the educated middle class.