Gretchen's infanticide
In the scene At The Well, Gretchen herself describes the sequence of events best and in all their fateful simplicity. It is the progress from "sin" to "shame", that is to public disgrace as soon as her private transgression becomes "visible" as pregnancy. Already here the painful confusion over her private perception ("good, dear love", lines 3585/6) and public judgment ("slut", line 3753) which will eventually drive her mad is obvious. In her derangement and despair she will destroy the evidence against her, that is, drown her child.
| Author: | Herbert Deinert |
|---|---|
| URN: | urn:nbn:de:hebis:30-1147431 |
| URL: | http://courses.cit.cornell.edu/hd11/Gretchen.html |
| Document Type: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Date of Publication (online): | 08.02.2010 |
| Year of first Publication: | 2010 |
| Publishing Institution: | Univ.-Bibliothek Frankfurt am Main |
| SWD-Keyword: | Brandt; Gretchen; Johann Wolfgang von Goethe; Kindesmord ; Susanna Margaretha |
| HeBIS PPN: | 223658286 |
| Dewey Decimal Classification: | 832 Deutsche Dramen |
| Sammlungen: | GiNDok |
| BDSL-Klassifikation: | BDSL-Klassifikation: 13.00.00 Goethezeit > 13.14.00 Zu einzelnen Autoren |
| Note: | Herbert Deinert (Professor of German Studies, Emeritus) Department of German Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca NY 14853. Zusätzliches Material findet sich unter: http://courses.cit.cornell.edu/hd11/ |
| Licence (German): |  Veröffentlichungsvertrag für Publikationen ohne Print on Demand |
