The Marquise of O... (1808), Heinrich von Kleist

The unexpected pregnancy of a virtuous young widow shatters her family. Unruffled, she advertises in the newspapers asking the father to make himself known so that she can marry him. How is it possible that she didn’t know him?

There is often something disturbing about 19th century German literature, something “unheimisch” or “uncanny.” That is certainly the case in this novella by Von Kleist, which indeed has an indefinable strangeness.

[Kleist monument in Frankfurt (Oder)]

The time is the late 18th century and the setting a small garrison town in northern Italy where the Marquise of O..., a beautiful, virtuous young widow lives with her two small children in the fortress where her father is the commander. The night the Russians take the town, the highly principled marquise is saved from a brutal rape by rough soldiers through the intervention of a handsome, courtly Russian officer. The officer even wants to marry her, but she refuses as she has vowed never to marry again upon the death of her husband.

A month or so later, the marquise suspects she may be pregnant, but the idea is so absurd she and her mother laugh it away. A few more days pass. The marquise becomes worried. She swears to her mother that she has a clear conscience, but also asks her mother to bring a midwife to examine her.

The pregnancy continues. The marquise's father and mother, scandalized, banish their wayward daughter to her country estate, where she is bound to live in seclusion. After a while, though, she publishes a public notice to the effect that "the Marquise of O., having become pregnant without her knowing how," will marry the father "for family reasons, if he will present himself."

The one who appears is the Russian count. But how can that be? Has he taken advantage of the situation when he “saved” her, when she indeed fainted for a few moments (indicated by the most famous “–” in literature).

This is a wonderful novella, a gem in Kleist's small oeuvre - Kleist died early, by suicide at the age of 34, in 1811. Another interesting stories is "The Earthquake in Chili," besides of course the longer novella "Michael Kohlhaas."

The Marquise of O was filmed by Éric Rohmer in 1976.

Unfortunately, there is no public domain English translation of this story available. Recent translations are, however, available from Pushkin Press and Hesperus (as well as a rather old Penguin). The German original can be found at Project Gutenberg.