Victory of the Losers - According to Heinrich von Kleist

Devil with Manners

"The Chinese security services ... pay close attention to China's image abroad ... One building block is ... literature. And Russian propaganda is ... strongly influenced by the literary theories of post-structuralism, which more or less say that reality is produced, among other things, by literature." Benedikt Franke, quoted from the Süddeutsche Zeitung of April 4, 2024. Nicolas Freund quotes Franke in his article "Security Policy and Literature: The War Oracle"

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"as soon as there is shooting in our calle, we crawl on the floor in the back of the house and continue watching television there, you get used to a lot of things." Flaco

The commander of the attacked citadel (see Spared Palace Wing), who has been pushed to the outer limits of his freedom of choice, is no longer driven by hope. The only reason Julietta's father does not surrender is because he does not trust the conquerors with Pardon's magnanimity. 

With "declining strength", he retreats to a last line. 

Now the Russian, of whom we have already heard so much, glowing with fighting spirit, steps in front of his men and demands that the old colonel surrender. Herr von ... throws himself into the arms of the victor like a bridegroom. 

"I was only waiting for this request," he sighs and gets rid of his sword. The hapless military man turns out the father of the family. He just wants to be allowed to retire to the castle to devote himself entirely to "his family".

Whoever appointed G. as commander of the citadel deserved to be demoted to boot servant. The successful striker and pusher shows a great deal of understanding, as the mild nature of the inferior man suits him. He places a guard at G.'s side. He then hurries back "to the head of a detachment" (and decides), where he may still be in doubt, to fight". He orders the fires to be extinguished, making himself the first fireman.

He performs "miracles of effort", risking his life for the losers. He wields the hose like he used to wield a sword.

This is no small matter. At least consider the arsenals full of gunpowder and bombs. The danger of explosion is in the air. Heinrich von Kleist registers a "shuddering of the Asians", thus implicitly referring to a perceived continuation of the Hun and Mongol storms. The horror and the reflex arc come from the Altaic steppes. The unconscious readily presents a fear form. Just fill in her name, date of birth and telephone number. As far as our heroine is concerned, there is talk of an "accident". The marquise has long since recovered. We see a strong person who makes a point of getting back on her feet without "assistance".

Kleist adds a narrative asterisk to the moment by emphasizing the Russian officer's foresight. The usurper anticipated the entertaining element of indisposition. How could he have known that? Do we have to grant the swashbuckler prophetic abilities?

Julietta was eager to "show her gratitude to the rescuer. She already knew that he was Count F..., lieutenant colonel of the t...n Jägerkorps, and a knight of merit and several other orders".

He should show himself to her, this devil of a man with manners. The father, who has become a supplicant, turns himself into a messenger. He finds the count "on the ramparts, where he is (re)repairing the shot-up ranks". The Magnificent promises to look after Juiletta at the first opportunity. However, events repeatedly drag him back "into the turmoil of war". Now the commander-in-chief rides into the fray. Perhaps it has become too boring for him on his commander's hill. He exchanges phrases with G.. He regrets "that luck did not support (G's) courage better and relieves the sympathetic loser of all restrictions, apart from the right to fight back.

I lack staying power at this point. I will only say that the Count neglects to reveal the names of those who had approached Julietta in a forbidden manner. The maneuver appears to be a mystery. The culprits are nevertheless caught and barely questioned before they are shot. The formidable Count remains locked up and finally fails to say goodbye to Julietta. "And in less than an hour", writes Kleist, "the whole fort was empty of Russians again".

The narrative keeps up the pace of the retreating troops. Julietta and her family regret the lack of expression.

There is no doubt about his final demise. The customer messenger saw "with his own eyes (how the count) was fatally shot through the chest". 

He even knew the last words of the man fired from the saddle: "Julietta! This bullet will avenge you!"

Our marquise is dying of grief. We see a blossoming widow, enslaved by convention, forced to mourn, brutally robbed of the hope that the rascally Russian, a man of manners, merit and moss, could snatch her from her unhappy state at a gallop. And again misfortune strikes, just as if it were pursuing Julietta with personal intentions.