„Lineman Thiel“.
A
novella written by Gerhart Hauptmann, translated into Latin by Nikolaus
Groß. This novella told with an amazing dramatic strength has
great meaning for the history of German literature. A detailed glossary
is added.
Lineman
Thiel is a pious and conscientious man who does his work reliably. One
year after the death of his beloved wife Minna for reasons of common
sense he marries a stout maidservant named Lene. His new wife bears him
a child and neglects his first, Tobias, borne by Minna. Thiel who is
bound by a deep veneration to his former wife, more and more becomes
dependent from his second wife who is the new head of the family.
Although he notices that Lene ill-uses Tobias, Thiel because of his
sexual dependence from her does nothing to protect his son. But the
father, who is otherwise careful, spends much time with Tobias and
minds him lovingly.
This
situation makes Thiel a scared man who more and more takes refuge to
visions of his deceased wife Minna. In his cabin near the railroad line
Berlin-Breslau in the forest he becomes lost in nocturnal adorations of
his Minna - a state that by degrees gets morbid.
When
Tobias is run over by the train, because Lene didn’t care him,
Thiel gets insane. He has visions again, speaks with his unvisable wife
and promises her to take vengeance. The man „as good as a
child“ becomes a dreadful murderer...
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