The Marquise of O

The Marquise of O, novella by German writer Heinrich von Kleist, published in 1808 in the literary journal Phöbus (which he coedited) as Die Marquise von O. It was collected in Erzählungen (1810–11; “Stories”). Like much of Kleist’s fiction, this work is suffused with ambiguity, irony, paradox, and impulsive, erotic passion. The title character, Julietta, is a celibate young widow with two children who finds herself inexplicably pregnant. In desperation, she makes an appeal in...