Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
The late stories by an influential writer of singular talent
Between 1799, when he left the Prussian Army, and his suicide in 1811, Kleist developed into a writer of unprecedented and tragically isolated genius. This collection of works from the last period of his life also includes 'The Earthquake in Chile, ' 'Michael Kohlhaas, ' 'The Beggarwoman of Locarno, ' 'St. Cecilia or The Power of Music, ' 'The Betrothal in Santo Domingo, ' 'The Foundling, ' and 'The Duel.'
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Synopsis
In The Marquise of O-, a virtuous widow finds herself unaccountably pregnant. And although the baffled Marquise has no idea when this happened, she must prove her innocence to her doubting family and discover whether the perpetrator is an assailant or lover. Michael Kohlhaas depicts an honourable man who feels compelled to violate the law in his search for justice, while other tales explore the singular realm of the uncanny, such as The Beggarwoman of Locarno, in which an old woman's ghost drives a heartless nobleman to madness, and St Cecilia, which portrays four brothers possessed by an uncontrollable religious mania. The stories collected in this volume reflect the preoccupations of Heinrich von Kleist (1777-1811) with the deceptiveness of human nature and the unpredictability of the physical world.
About the Author
David Luke was born in 1921 and is Tutor in German at Christ Church, Oxford. He has published articles and essays on German literature and various prose and verse translations, including Goethe’s
Selected Verse (1964) for the Penguin Poets, Kleist’s
The Marquise of O and Other Stories (1978) for the Penguin Classics, Thomas Mann’s
Tonio Kröger and Other Stories (1970) and Goethe’s
Roman Elegies (1977).
Nigel Reeves was born in 1939 and graduated at Worcester College, Oxford, in 1963, taking his D.Phil. in 1970. He was an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at the University of Tübingen and, since 1975, has been Professor of German at the University of Surrey. He is also Head of Department of Linguistic and International Studies there, and Dean of the Faculty of Human Studies. He has translated stories by Kleist and Keller for the Penguin Book of German Stories and has published monographs on Heinrich Heine and Friedrich Schiller.
Nigel Reeves was born in 1939 and graduated at Worcester College, Oxford, in 1963, taking his D.Phil. in 1970. He was an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at the University of Tübingen and, since 1975, has been Professor of German at the University of Surrey. He is also Head of Department of Linguistic and International Studies there, and Dean of the Faculty of Human Studies. He has translated stories by Kleist and Keller for the Penguin Book of German Stories and has published monographs on Heinrich Heine and Friedrich Schiller.
Table of Contents
The Marquise of O and Other Stories Introduction
The Earthquake in Chile
The Marquise of O
Michael Kohlhaas
The Beggarwoman of Locarno
St. Cecilia or the Power of Music
The Betrothal in Santo Domingo
The Foundling
The Duel