1837
Storm and Stress?
Kierkegaard’s Faustian period was very costly, both existentially and finan-
cially .During these years, the fellow who had been called “Søren Sock” by
his schoolmates emerged from his woolly cocoon and developed into a
foppish dandy, tailor-made, as it were, for the late romantic age .Living on
credit and borrowing money in a manner completely foreign to the Mora-
vian frugality of his family home, Kierkegaard acquired amazingly extrava-
gant habits .He spent large sums on the theater, on purchasing volumes of
philosophy and literature, at cafe ́s, and on chic coats—the coat the color of
red cabbage was replaced by a lemon-yellow one .He spent lavishly on hats,
on carriage rides, on food and wine, and on boxes (or to use the sobering
term of the time, “caskets”) of cigars with brand names like Las tres Coronas
and La Paloma, along with the appropriately sized pocket carrying cases.
Every month he consumed five hundred grams of pipe tobacco of the Vene-
zuelan variety called Varinas, a pure, unblended, top-quality product that
was sold in rolls of six, stacked in woven baskets of rushes .There are also
bills for walking sticks, silk scarves, gloves, and other necessities of life,
including a good many bottles of eau de cologne .In the latter part of Octo-
ber 1836 a certain Mr .Sager had to advance the profligate student a week’s
loan of sixty rixdollars, and at the end of the year the governing council of
the Student Association declared that Kierkegaard was now four months in
arrears on his dues and that consequently he would be denied access to the
association’s facilities unless he paid the amount due immediately .As time
went by, doubts grew concerning the creditworthiness of the free-spending
man-about-town, and borrowing money became an embarrassing business.
In June 1836, for example, his journal reported ashamedly on “my situation,
when I was borrowing money from Rask, and Monrad showed up”: Kier-
kegaard had had the misfortune of finding himself in the presence of two
of his creditors at the same time .On September 5, 1837, the theological
student had to humble himself and ask his father for help .In 1836 alone he
had run up a debt of 1,262 rixdollars, of which 381 were owed the book-
seller Reitzel on Købmagergade; 280 were owed the tailor Ku ̈nitzer on102