The Marquise of O

An ingenious “whodunit” and one of the greatest works of German literature, The Marquise of O– subverts the 18th-century notion of the infallibility of man and reveals the true ambiguity and caprice of humanity. Held captive by a band of unspeakable ruffians, the Marquise of O– is rescued before they can subject her to a fate worse than death. So how can it be that, some months later, she finds herself pregnant? Believing herself fully innocent, although failing to convince her prudish family of her honor, she places an advertisement asking the perpetrator to identify himself. Heinrich von Kleist is the first of the great dramatists of 19th-century German literature.