Part II Summary

Part II begins two and a half years after the events in Part I. Frau Consul or Elizabeth Buddenbrook nee Kroger, delivers a new daughter into the clan, Clara. The Consul, writing in his journal, discusses the new birth, giving thanks to God and wishing the Lord's blessings on everyone in the family. He thinks about his wife Elizabeth noting that his marriage to her was much like his father's second marriage. They certainly did not marry for love, though love did grow between them. Johann Buddenbrook, the elder, took the daughter of a merchant as his first wife. He loved her madly but directly after the birth of their first son, Gotthold, his first wife Josephine died. The elder Buddenbrook always blamed the death of his first wife on Gotthold, going so far as to consider Gotthold Josephine's murderer. Johann's...