Response to the Marquise of O excerpt

¶ … Marquise of O

"…a lady of unblemished reputation and the mother of several well-brought up children, inserted the following announcement in the newspaper: that she had, without knowledge of the cause, come to find herself in a certain situation; that she would like the father of the child she was expecting to disclose his identity to her; and that she was resolved out of consideration to her family, to marry him."

These opening words from the Marquise of O. By Heinrich von Kleist immediately raise the central problem of the short novel, namely the question of who fathered the title Marquise's child. The presentation of the crux of the plot is designed to pique the reader's interest. However, despite the matter-of-fact tone of the statement, the words of the newspaper advertisement raise more questions than they answer. Why would an aristocratic woman resort to a newspaper advertisement to discover the father of her child? How is it possible for a woman not to know who fathered her child? The words which are paraphrased make it clear that she has several children, so clearly she has some idea of how the process of pregnancy is instigated. Yet the wording of the piece suggests a sense of surprise and bafflement.

This mystery, combined with the rather tortured and oblique nature of the language, implies a strangely reticent attitude about sexuality, even while the Marquise is plainly proclaiming to the entire world that she is pregnant by a man who is not her husband. Her protest that she is a 'respectable' woman also sounds strange, given the presumption of her society that a woman could not simultaneously be respectable and have a child out of wedlock. Also, one would think that an unmarried woman would wish to conceal the fact she was pregnant rather than take out an advertisement.

However, the Marquise seems confident that her statement of her pregnancy and the fact she does not know whom the father is will not compromise her respectability or reputation because of some innate quality of innocence attached to the matter. Despite the fact she is a widow who already has children, there is a detached attitude in her prose. It is almost implied as if any 'respectable' woman must be taken by surprise by sexuality, no matter how mature and experienced she might be in reality. This is further underlined by the phrases "without knowledge of the cause" and "come to find herself in a certain situation." Presumably she does know the 'cause' of pregnancy even though she euphemistically refers to it as a 'certain situation.'

The oblique nature of her wording is even more circumspect because the advertisement is not even really being directly quoted by the author; he is merely repeating her advertisement second-hand, and her advertisement might be even more oblique than his actual words. In terms of the cause, the only presumption one could conceivably make is that the Marquise may have been raped (although this is not necessarily established in the first sentences). Later in the story it will become clear that the Marquise was raped at night by a Count who ironically had saved her from being raped by soldiers. Even without this knowledge, there is a suggestion of rape because she is said to have 'found' herself in a particular situation rather than have chosen to have sexual relations with her child's father. But if that is the case, then why is she seeking to marry him? And if it was a rape, how can she have no clue as to who it was, given the violent nature of the act?

The passivity of the feminine role in the story's society is suggested by her acquiescence to her family, who is the reason she says she is submitting the advertisement to the newspaper. She is not marrying because she wants to or feels a particular sense of affection for the unknown father, but is doing so out of consideration for her family's feelings. Her family has estranged her because they no longer believe her to be a virtuous woman, yet her advertisement supports both her claims of innocence and incomprehension as to why she is pregnant. Her dutiful action -- even her willingness to marry a rapist -- suggests that there is little place for female pleasure in marriage at all, although the Marquise apparently loved her late husband very much. But if pleasure occurs for women in marriage, it is fleeting and accidental. Ultimately the purpose of marriage is a societal construct, not one which is driven by true affection. Thus the 'respectable' woman to preserve her 'respectable' reputation will marry whatever suitor presents himself to her, regardless of what he may have done to her to achieve that coveted status of husband of a honorable lady -- even rape.