Short stories
The Marquise of O—
Die Marquise von O…
Heinrich von Kleist · 1808
Opening lines
In M..., einer bedeutenden Stadt im oberen Italien, ließ die verwitwete Marquise von O..., eine Dame von vortrefflichem Ruf, und Mutter von mehreren wohlerzogenen Kindern, durch die Zeitungen bekanntmachen: daß sie, ohne ihr Wissen, in andre Umstände gekommen sei […]
In M..., an important town in northern Italy, the widowed Marquise of O..., a lady of excellent repute and the mother of several well-brought-up children, had it announced in the newspapers that she had, without her knowledge, found herself with child […]
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from zeno.org
Synopsis
In a town in northern Italy, a widow of spotless reputation announces in the newspaper that she is pregnant without knowing how, and that she will marry the father if he makes himself known. The story then goes back to the capture of the citadel her father commanded: a Russian officer, Count F., snatched her from soldiers, then asked for her hand with strange haste. When her pregnancy is established, her father drives her out, and she withdraws to the estate of her late husband.
Context
The text appeared in February 1808 in Phöbus, the journal its author had just founded in Dresden with Adam Müller, and reappeared in 1810 in the first volume of his stories. A subtitle presents it as drawn from a real event whose scene has been moved from the north to the south; the action is set in Italy during the War of the Second Coalition. The reception was cold, and readers such as Varnhagen judged the subject unworthy of a poet. The title carries four dots of suspension in the two printings overseen by the author; modern usage often keeps only three.
Who it is for
About thirty pages, with long, nested sentences; several French translations are available.
Prizes and reception
Adapted for the screen by Éric Rohmer and by Hans-Jürgen Syberberg, and adapted several times as an opera, from Salzburg in 1959 to Monte Carlo in 2011.