The Marquise of O–

Kleist's "The Marquise of O-" takes the literary movement Sturm und Drang to a whole new level; never, in my experience with romantic literature, have I come across a story with such ludicrously extravagant emotion as this.

On first reading about The Marquise of O-, I thought it sounded a bit bonkers to be honest. On first reading it, I wasn’t really sure what I thought about it so, left it for a day and then read it again. It’s fascinating. It is a short novella, quite fast paced and on the second (and closer) reading, I picked up on all sorts of subtleties that I pretty much raced through the first time around.

New readers will have to set their modern sensibilities aside. The novella was written (and set) during Napoleonic wars, it is very modern for the time and deals with rape and also features a problematic father/daughter relationship. It is about respectability and reputation, guilt and redemption and despite its heavy subject matter, it’s often quite funny and absurd. Lots of heightened emotions, fainting, falling at people’s feet – very gothic/ romantic. It is also quite clever, full of ambiguities, double meanings and foreshadowing. Even after the second reading, I am still left with questions. I can easily understand why Kafka read it over and over again. Fascinating.

My thanks to Pushkin Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to read The Marquise of O-.

I love classic literature - and this fun novella, which at times is just as absurd as confusing, is a prime example of how literature can be sometimes silly and fun.
I would definitely recommend reading this, especially if you enjoy 19th century literature, as it's a short and funny novella, which is easily read in less than a day.

The widowed Marquise of O was the daughter of Colonel G, Commandant of the citadel in Northern Italy during the Napoleonic Wars. Russian soldiers, led by Count F, overran the citadel with heavy artillery fire and set the palace ablaze. Total confusion ensued. The Marquise was "...subject to the most shameful mishandling...a Russian officer appeared and with angry thrusts scattered the dogs lusting after their booty." This officer, (Count F) delivered her to safety. She passed out. Regaining consciousness, the Marquise wanted to express her gratitude to her rescuer but was informed that Count F was killed in a skirmish with the enemy while leaving the fortress.

The Marquise of O had resided with her parents and two children since the death of her husband. By all accounts, she was devoted to her parents, teacher to her children, and enjoyed art and literature. She was chaste and respectable and had decided not to marry again. Imagine her surprise when Count F appeared at her father's house asking for her hand in marriage. He explained that after being seriously wounded, his every thought was of the lovely Marquise. Reports indicated that on the battlefield and suffering from a mortal chest wound, he cried out, "Juliette, this bullet is your revenge".

Confirmed by both a doctor and a midwife, the Marquise learned of her pregnancy. It was incomprehensible to this woman of integrity. By dishonoring her parents, she was banished from home. Gathering her wits about her, "...the idea occurs to her of inserting a newspaper announcement inviting the father of her child to make himself known."

"The Marquise of O" is a novella written by Heinrich von Kleist and published in 1808. The two principal characters are the Marquise and Count F. The Marquise courageously tried to unravel her mind boggling situation and reconcile with her parents. Count F found that "...it was impossible for him to go on living without somehow cleansing his soul...". Could inner peace and redemption be within his reach? Will the father of the Marquise's unborn child come forward? An enjoyable read!

Thank you Pushkin Press and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "The Marquise of O".

"The Marquise of O–" is a fantastic read. I'll definitely be recommending this to patrons and friends alike in the coming months.

First published in Germany in 1808; published in translation by Pushkin Press on January 7, 2020

From a modern perspective, this two-century old novella seems like the stuff of romantic comedy. A scholarly introduction by the translator, Nicholas Jacobs, advises the reader that the story was regarded as scandalous at the time of its publication. Certainly it is meant as drama rather than comedy — “operatic drama,” according to Jacobs — although Jacobs explains that the happy ending is uncharacteristic of Heinrich von Kleist, who apparently had a gloomy worldview that his other work reflects, no doubt accounting for Kleist’s eventual suicide. Whether the ending is happy by modern standards is something that the reader will need to judge.

The story is set in Northern Italy during the War of the Second Coalition at the end of the eighteenth century. European monarchies, fighting against Napoleon’s France, ultimately lost that war, but the Russian army won some campaigns in Italy during 1799.

The Marquise in the title is a widow named Julietta. She has a country house but, given the war, she finds it prudent to stay with her two children at the house of her parents. Her father, the Commandant, is ordered to defend the citadel in which his house is located. Russian troops overrun the citadel and order the Commandant to surrender, which he does as soon as the surrender can be made honorably. The surrender is accepted by a Russian Count who compliments the Commandant on his good manners. War at the time was apparently a civilized conflict between gentlemen.

While the fighting is ongoing, however, Russian soldiers capture Julietta and her mother. One of the soldiers subjects Julietta “to the most shameful mishandling” with the implied intent of having his way with her. Fortunately, the Count comes along and rescues the Marquise from the ungentlemanly assault. He apologizes to the Marquise on behalf of the culprits, then apologizes to the Commandant, who clearly holds the Count in high esteem. The Russians depart and the Commandant is once again free to do whatever aristocrats do when they are not fighting wars on behalf of their conquerors.

After some confusion about the Count’s possible death (leaving the Marquis “inconsolable that she had let the opportunity pass of throwing herself at his feet”), the handsome Russian returns, proclaims his devotion to the Marquise, and proposes marriage. The proposal is complicated by the fact of the Count’s military service, which remains to be discharged. The Commandant won’t have his daughter marrying a deserter, so the Count’s wooing is held in abeyance pending the Count’s efforts to wiggle out of his duty to his country.

The heart of the story begins when the Marquise finds herself “with child.” The bewildered Marquise, who knows how babies are made, is confident that she did not make one. Virgin birth having fallen out of fashion, however, her family is not only disinclined to believe her, but disowns her. “You are despicable!” her father says. “I curse the hour I bore you” and so on.

The story proceeds as a family drama, with the Marquise’s mother hatching a plot to reveal the identity of the baby’s daddy. At a later point, foreshadowed when the story begins, the Marquise resolves to place an ad in the newspaper, promising to wed the father if he will come forward and reveal himself.

Will the Marquise reconcile with her family? Will her honor be intact? Who is the rogue who made her pregnant? Will she marry him and, if so, can she possibly be happy? Kleist answers all of those questions. The answers are not surprising, given the literary and social conventions in effect when the story was written. The notion of an unmarried woman becoming pregnant is no longer scandalous to most modern readers, but the real scandal — the fact that the Marquise became pregnant without her consent — seems to have been lost on Kleist.

Viewed through modern eyes, the way in which the Marquise presumably became pregnant overshadows all else, but Kleist evidently viewed the crime as forgivable under the circumstances. It’s interesting to note the contrast between the “shameful mishandling” by a soldier and what Kleist evidently regarded as less shameful mishandling because it is attributed to love rather than lust. Times have changed for the better, but putting aside that shift in perspective, the story delivers the kind of suspenseful, eyebrow-raising melodrama that should hold a reader’s interest.

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