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A review by roach
Die Kindermörderin by H.L. Wagner
challenging
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
You didn't keep your promise and abandoned me to my fate, to carry the whole weight of shame, the wrath of my relatives, the anger of my father. Do you think I would just sit all of that out? I could sit all of this out? - Surely not! - [...] and when the sky by a miracle would receive me and the unfortunate creature, that's an orphan before it ever had a father, alive, then I would want to, as soon as it began to stutter, tell it not of father and mother but the dreadful words whore and perjury, scream them in its ear until it would start to repeat them.
(Quote translated from German.)
I don't claim to know much about the subject, but I remember a bit of the German literary period of "Sturm und Drang" (transl. "storm and stress") from high school and how it was a movement to embrace strong emotions in storytelling.
So, I was very curious when I stumbled over Wagner's Die Kindermörderin that was written as part of that movement and aims to tackle the consequences of sexualized violence. Rape, to be exact.
I wasn't expecting too much given that this doesn't seem to be a very notable play in comparison to the big titles of the time but I thought it could be interesting at least to see how such a difficult and heavy subject was discussed and worked through in fiction during that time.
Maybe unexpectedly so, Wagner's story deals more with the societal shame of sex out of wedlock than really focusing on the problem of physical violence and missing consent. Obviously sensibilities have changed in regard to that. But exactly this difference could have made for a curious sociological time capsule.
Unfortunately, I never felt like the themes were explored in a very satisfying or interesting way. The characters are not very interesting, especially the male main character and perpetrator of the crime with his wishy-washy moral compass and unconvincing character development. At least in the second half, the woman gets more opportunity to express herself, which probably made for the better bits of writing. But for the most part, this was surprisingly dull and doesn't do a great job at digging into the actually interesting bits of this complicated conflict.
It would be interesting to see this play actually be performed on stage, even if just because it does seem surprisingly gruesome at points, but there are long stretches of little interest throughout.
I don't claim to know much about the subject, but I remember a bit of the German literary period of "Sturm und Drang" (transl. "storm and stress") from high school and how it was a movement to embrace strong emotions in storytelling.
So, I was very curious when I stumbled over Wagner's Die Kindermörderin that was written as part of that movement and aims to tackle the consequences of sexualized violence. Rape, to be exact.
I wasn't expecting too much given that this doesn't seem to be a very notable play in comparison to the big titles of the time but I thought it could be interesting at least to see how such a difficult and heavy subject was discussed and worked through in fiction during that time.
Maybe unexpectedly so, Wagner's story deals more with the societal shame of sex out of wedlock than really focusing on the problem of physical violence and missing consent. Obviously sensibilities have changed in regard to that. But exactly this difference could have made for a curious sociological time capsule.
Unfortunately, I never felt like the themes were explored in a very satisfying or interesting way. The characters are not very interesting, especially the male main character and perpetrator of the crime with his wishy-washy moral compass and unconvincing character development. At least in the second half, the woman gets more opportunity to express herself, which probably made for the better bits of writing. But for the most part, this was surprisingly dull and doesn't do a great job at digging into the actually interesting bits of this complicated conflict.
It would be interesting to see this play actually be performed on stage, even if just because it does seem surprisingly gruesome at points, but there are long stretches of little interest throughout.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Misogyny
Moderate: Rape