She travels with them from town to town,
dancing in the streets to the delight of the crowd. One day in a German
city she refuses to dance, and Jarno the gipsy chief threatens her with
his whip. Wilhelm Meister, who happens to be passing, saves her from a
beating, and, pitying the half-starved child, buys her from the gipsies.
Among the spectators of this scene are Laertes, the manager of a troupe
of strolling players, and Philine, his leading lady. Philine is an
accomplished coquette, and determines to subjugate Wilhelm. In this she
easily succeeds, and he joins the company as poet, proceeding with them
to the Castle of Rosenberg, where a grand performance of 'A Midsummer
Night's Dream' is to be given. Mignon, at her earnest request,
accompanies him, disguised as a page. While at the castle Mignon is
distracted by Wilhelm's infatuation for Philine, and when Wilhelm,
prompted by Philine, tries to dismiss her, she puts on her old gipsy
clothes and rushes away. Outside the walls of the castle she meets with
an old half-witted harper, Lothario, who soothes the passion of her
grief. In a moment of jealous fury at the thought of Philine she utters
a wish that the castle were in flames. Lothario hears her words and
proves his devotion by setting fire to the theatre while the performance
is in progress. Mignon had been sent by Philine to fetch her bouquet
from the green-room.
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