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Rose Bernd
Silesia, 1903. Every man falls for Rose Bernd. But her actions lead her into danger. In a deeply traditional community how can she avoid disgrace?
Rose Bernd is a compassionate but shocking account of a young woman's downfall. This new translation was performed at the Arcola Theatre in 2005 as part of the 'Last Waltz' season by Oxford Stage Company & Dumbfounded Theatre.
Rose Bernd is a compassionate but shocking account of a young woman's downfall. This new translation was performed at the Arcola Theatre in 2005 as part of the 'Last Waltz' season by Oxford Stage Company & Dumbfounded Theatre.
96 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1903
1 person is currently reading
40 people want to read
About the author
Gerhart Hauptmann
955 books77 followersGerhart Johann Robert Hauptmann was a German dramatist and novelist. He is counted among the most important promoters of literary naturalism, though he integrated other styles into his work as well. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1912.
Life Hauptmann's first drama, Before Dawn (1889) inaugurated the naturalistic movement in modern German literature. It was followed by The Reconciliation (1890), Lonely People (1891) and The Weavers (1892), a powerful drama depicting the rising of the Silesian weavers in 1844 for which he is best known outside of Germany.
Hauptmann's subsequent work includes the comedies Colleague Crampton (1892), The Beaver Coat (1893), and The Conflagration (1901), the symbolist dream play The Assumption of Hannele (1893), and an historical drama Florian Geyer (1895). He also wrote two tragedies of Silesian peasant life, Drayman Henschel (1898) and Rose Bernd (1903), and the dramatic fairy-tales The Sunken Bell (1896) and And Pippa Dances (1906).
Hauptmann's marital life was difficult and in 1904 he divorced his wife. That same year he married the actress Margarete Marschalk, who had borne him a son four years earlier. The following year he had an affair with the 17-year-old Austrian actress Ida Orloff, whom he met in Berlin when she performed in his play The Assumption of Hannele. Orloff inspired characters in several of Hauptmann's works and he later referred to her as his muse.
In 1911 he wrote The Rats. In 1912, Hauptmann was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, "primarily in recognition of his fruitful, varied and outstanding production in the realm of dramatic art."
During the First World War Hauptmann was a pacifist. In this period of his career he wrote several gloomy historical-allegorical plays, such as The Bow of Odysseus (1914), The White Saviour (1912–17), and Winter Ballade (1917). After the war, his dramatic abilities appeared to diminish. He wrote two full-length plays that are similar to the early successes: Dorothea Angermann (1926) and Before Sunset (1932). He remained in Germany after Hitler's Machtergreifung and survived the bombing of Dresden. His last work was the Atriden-Tetralogie (1942–46). His works in German were published by S. Fischer Verlag.
Hauptmann died at the age of 83 at his home in Agnetendorf (now Jagniątków, Poland) in 1946. Since the Polish communist administration did not allow Hauptmann's relatives to bury him in Agnetendorf (although even the Soviet military government had recommended this), his body was transported in an old cattle wagon to occupied Germany more than a month after his death. He was buried near his cottage on Hiddensee.
Under Wilhelm II Hauptmann enjoyed the reputation of a radical writer, on the side of the poor and outcasts. During the Weimar Republic (1918–33) he enjoyed the status of the literary figurehead of the new order, and was even considered for the post of state president. Under Hitler he kept his distance from the regime, but never publicly criticized it. This, and the fact that (unlike so many writers and academics) he stayed in Germany, was strongly held against him after the war. A superb collected edition of his works appeared in the 1960s, and stimulated some impressive studies of his work (e.g. those by Peter Sprengel), but the tide of critical and public opinion remained negative. A few of his plays are still revived from time to time, but otherwise he is neglected. He was certainly an uneven writer, but at his best (as in 'The Weavers', his novel 'The Fool in Christ Emmanuel Quint', and the Novellen 'The Heretic of Soana' and 'Das Meerwunder') he can arguably rank with the best of his German contemporaries.
Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerhart_...
Life Hauptmann's first drama, Before Dawn (1889) inaugurated the naturalistic movement in modern German literature. It was followed by The Reconciliation (1890), Lonely People (1891) and The Weavers (1892), a powerful drama depicting the rising of the Silesian weavers in 1844 for which he is best known outside of Germany.
Hauptmann's subsequent work includes the comedies Colleague Crampton (1892), The Beaver Coat (1893), and The Conflagration (1901), the symbolist dream play The Assumption of Hannele (1893), and an historical drama Florian Geyer (1895). He also wrote two tragedies of Silesian peasant life, Drayman Henschel (1898) and Rose Bernd (1903), and the dramatic fairy-tales The Sunken Bell (1896) and And Pippa Dances (1906).
Hauptmann's marital life was difficult and in 1904 he divorced his wife. That same year he married the actress Margarete Marschalk, who had borne him a son four years earlier. The following year he had an affair with the 17-year-old Austrian actress Ida Orloff, whom he met in Berlin when she performed in his play The Assumption of Hannele. Orloff inspired characters in several of Hauptmann's works and he later referred to her as his muse.
In 1911 he wrote The Rats. In 1912, Hauptmann was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, "primarily in recognition of his fruitful, varied and outstanding production in the realm of dramatic art."
During the First World War Hauptmann was a pacifist. In this period of his career he wrote several gloomy historical-allegorical plays, such as The Bow of Odysseus (1914), The White Saviour (1912–17), and Winter Ballade (1917). After the war, his dramatic abilities appeared to diminish. He wrote two full-length plays that are similar to the early successes: Dorothea Angermann (1926) and Before Sunset (1932). He remained in Germany after Hitler's Machtergreifung and survived the bombing of Dresden. His last work was the Atriden-Tetralogie (1942–46). His works in German were published by S. Fischer Verlag.
Hauptmann died at the age of 83 at his home in Agnetendorf (now Jagniątków, Poland) in 1946. Since the Polish communist administration did not allow Hauptmann's relatives to bury him in Agnetendorf (although even the Soviet military government had recommended this), his body was transported in an old cattle wagon to occupied Germany more than a month after his death. He was buried near his cottage on Hiddensee.
Under Wilhelm II Hauptmann enjoyed the reputation of a radical writer, on the side of the poor and outcasts. During the Weimar Republic (1918–33) he enjoyed the status of the literary figurehead of the new order, and was even considered for the post of state president. Under Hitler he kept his distance from the regime, but never publicly criticized it. This, and the fact that (unlike so many writers and academics) he stayed in Germany, was strongly held against him after the war. A superb collected edition of his works appeared in the 1960s, and stimulated some impressive studies of his work (e.g. those by Peter Sprengel), but the tide of critical and public opinion remained negative. A few of his plays are still revived from time to time, but otherwise he is neglected. He was certainly an uneven writer, but at his best (as in 'The Weavers', his novel 'The Fool in Christ Emmanuel Quint', and the Novellen 'The Heretic of Soana' and 'Das Meerwunder') he can arguably rank with the best of his German contemporaries.
Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerhart_...
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 16, 2023
3.5, rounded down.
The only other play I've ever read by Hauptmann is his considered masterpiece, The Weavers, back in grad school, and IIRC, that was rather dull and straining too hard to be Ibsen-esque. This ALSO suffers from that fault, and it may very well be due to Kelly's rather odd translation, but I found it difficult to follow what exactly was going on here (I actually had to consult the Wiki synopsis to sort it all out! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Bernd). In an intro, Kelly says he worked hard to find a way to duplicate the rhythms and speech pattern in the original - but he seems to have erred in truncating the largely monosyllabic utterances of these characters. Both intentions and underlying actions get lost in translation.
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/200...
The only other play I've ever read by Hauptmann is his considered masterpiece, The Weavers, back in grad school, and IIRC, that was rather dull and straining too hard to be Ibsen-esque. This ALSO suffers from that fault, and it may very well be due to Kelly's rather odd translation, but I found it difficult to follow what exactly was going on here (I actually had to consult the Wiki synopsis to sort it all out! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Bernd). In an intro, Kelly says he worked hard to find a way to duplicate the rhythms and speech pattern in the original - but he seems to have erred in truncating the largely monosyllabic utterances of these characters. Both intentions and underlying actions get lost in translation.
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/200...
February 27, 2025
Ein naturalistisches Drama mit schlesischem Sprachjargon. Rose trifft diverse Entscheidungen, die ihre Ehre beflecken. Dies führt zu ihrem Untergang und zur finalen Katastrophe. Das Stück ist sehr simpel aufgebaut und weist die habituellen Lebensformen eines ländlichen Settings dar. Nett für zwischendurch.
March 17, 2020
İnsanın yaşadıklarını çevresinin, çevresini ise doğasının etkileri içinde anlatma ustası Nobelli naturalist Hauptmann, bu oyununda, Rose Bernd'in imkânım olsa hemen kaçardım dediği, erkeklerin ve gücün egemenliğinde ve adetlerin boyunduruğu altındaki, içi kurt kaynayan insanların, sahtekârlıkların, softalığın, yalanın, iftiranın ve monotonluğun hüküm sürdüğü kırsal yerleşimde, Sodom ve Gomorra benzeri zihinlerin acımasız pisliklerini içinde yaşamışçasına çok canlı ve etkili bir şekilde anlatıyor.
Not: Önsözün ikinci kısmını keşke kitabın sonuna koysalarmış, zira fazla bilgi var öyküye ait.
Not: Önsözün ikinci kısmını keşke kitabın sonuna koysalarmış, zira fazla bilgi var öyküye ait.
January 8, 2013
Das Drama um das junge Bauernmädchen Rose Bernd beschreibt ihre tragische gesellschaftliche Ächtung.
Rose, eigentlich dem frommen Waisen August Keil versprochen, schiebt die Hochzeit seit 3 Jahren vor sich her, da sie in eine Affäre mit Christoph Flamm, dem fast doppelt so alten Erbscholtiseibesitzer, verwickelt ist.
Nun, da ihre Hochzeit mit August aber nicht länger zu verzögern ist, nehmen beide Abschied voneinander - das Ende einer unglücklichen, aber festen Liebe, denn Flamm ist eh schon seit geraumer Zeit verheiratet.
Unglücklicherweise kriegt der tückische Lokomobilenmaschinist Arthur Streckmann von Roses Fehltritt Wind und erpresst sie mit diesem Wissen; er verlangt ihre Hingabe für sein Schweigen.
Mittlerweile erahnt Flamms Ehefrau Roses Schwangerschaft; allerdings kennt sie den wahren Vater nicht.
Sie fühlt sich für Rose verantwortlich, da ihr einziger Sohn Kurt Roses bester Freund war und im Kindesalter von 5Jahren verstarb, zur selben Zeit, da auch Roses Mutter verstarb. Daher sieht Frau Flamm Rose zum Teil als ihr eigenes Kind an. Sie verspricht Rose Stillschweigen über ihren Zustand.
Monate vergehen. Im Herbst, erneut kurz vor der Hochzeit mit August, kommt es zu einem hitzigen Streitgespräch zwischen Rose und Streckmann, indem deutlich wird, dass er sie damals vergewaltigte. Streckmann droht wider seinem Versprechen von Roses Affäre mit Flamm zu sprechen; es kommen Feldarbeiter hinzu, darunter Roses streng gläubiger Vater und ihr Verlobter August. Streckmann schlägt August, dabei geht sein linkes Auge unwiderbringlich verloren.
Roses Vater zeigt Streckmann an, um die Ehre seiner Tochter zu retten, die er tödlich beleidigt sieht, da er in seiner Tochter das unschuldige Mädchen sieht. Streckmann, Flamm und Rose werden unter Eid vernommen. Während Streckmann und Flamm beide aussagen, es hätte jeweils eine Affäre gegeben, streitet Rose alles ab.
Flamm, der denkt, Rose hätte eine freiwillige Liebschaft mit Streckmann gehabt, fühlt sich nicht für ihre Schwangerschaft verantwortlich.
Inzwischen erfährt nicht nur Flamms Frau, sondern auch August von der Vergangenheit Roses. Rose kommt heimlich allein auf dem Dachboden nieder und erwürgt das Kind. Anschließend gesteht sie es dem Gendarm - ihr Schicksal steht fest.
Ohne Zweifel ein spannendes und tragisches Drama Hauptmanns; allerdings in der heutigen Zeit vermutlich bei Inszenierungen wie so oft schwerlich nachvollziehbar durch die Ent-Tabuisierung der vorehelichen Kinder.
Außerdem finde ich das Drama im Vergleich zu "Die Ratten", in dem es ja auch um die Thematik der vorehelichen Kinder geht, nicht außergewöhnlich. Wenn ich diese beiden Dramen vergleiche, finde ich "Die Ratten" noch eine Spur interessanter, da es nicht allein um ein voreheliches Kind geht, sondern auch um den Kinderraub etc.
Wenig einleichtend, eher etwas verwirrend, fand ich die Nebenerzählung mit Kurt, dem einzigen Kind der Frau Flamm. Ich hatte den Eindruck, er ließe sich auch ohne weiteres rausstreichen.
Zu lang gezogen fand ich auch den Anfang des 3.Akts; außerdem verstand ich den Streitmoment nicht, da die alte Golischen Streckmann zuruckruft ("Streckmann, wie is denn das neulich geworn? - Vor 3 Woch'n aso bei d'r Dreschmaschine! Da mir a Raps rausmacht'n dohier? -" ff. Meiner Meinung nach wird dieser Streit auch nicht noch einmal erklärt bzw. aufgegriffen. Allerdings kann das an persönlichen Verständnisschwierigkeiten aufgrund des Dialekts liegen, die bei Gerhart Hauptmann ja grundsätzlich vorhanden sind.
Rose, eigentlich dem frommen Waisen August Keil versprochen, schiebt die Hochzeit seit 3 Jahren vor sich her, da sie in eine Affäre mit Christoph Flamm, dem fast doppelt so alten Erbscholtiseibesitzer, verwickelt ist.
Nun, da ihre Hochzeit mit August aber nicht länger zu verzögern ist, nehmen beide Abschied voneinander - das Ende einer unglücklichen, aber festen Liebe, denn Flamm ist eh schon seit geraumer Zeit verheiratet.
Unglücklicherweise kriegt der tückische Lokomobilenmaschinist Arthur Streckmann von Roses Fehltritt Wind und erpresst sie mit diesem Wissen; er verlangt ihre Hingabe für sein Schweigen.
Mittlerweile erahnt Flamms Ehefrau Roses Schwangerschaft; allerdings kennt sie den wahren Vater nicht.
Sie fühlt sich für Rose verantwortlich, da ihr einziger Sohn Kurt Roses bester Freund war und im Kindesalter von 5Jahren verstarb, zur selben Zeit, da auch Roses Mutter verstarb. Daher sieht Frau Flamm Rose zum Teil als ihr eigenes Kind an. Sie verspricht Rose Stillschweigen über ihren Zustand.
Monate vergehen. Im Herbst, erneut kurz vor der Hochzeit mit August, kommt es zu einem hitzigen Streitgespräch zwischen Rose und Streckmann, indem deutlich wird, dass er sie damals vergewaltigte. Streckmann droht wider seinem Versprechen von Roses Affäre mit Flamm zu sprechen; es kommen Feldarbeiter hinzu, darunter Roses streng gläubiger Vater und ihr Verlobter August. Streckmann schlägt August, dabei geht sein linkes Auge unwiderbringlich verloren.
Roses Vater zeigt Streckmann an, um die Ehre seiner Tochter zu retten, die er tödlich beleidigt sieht, da er in seiner Tochter das unschuldige Mädchen sieht. Streckmann, Flamm und Rose werden unter Eid vernommen. Während Streckmann und Flamm beide aussagen, es hätte jeweils eine Affäre gegeben, streitet Rose alles ab.
Flamm, der denkt, Rose hätte eine freiwillige Liebschaft mit Streckmann gehabt, fühlt sich nicht für ihre Schwangerschaft verantwortlich.
Inzwischen erfährt nicht nur Flamms Frau, sondern auch August von der Vergangenheit Roses. Rose kommt heimlich allein auf dem Dachboden nieder und erwürgt das Kind. Anschließend gesteht sie es dem Gendarm - ihr Schicksal steht fest.
Ohne Zweifel ein spannendes und tragisches Drama Hauptmanns; allerdings in der heutigen Zeit vermutlich bei Inszenierungen wie so oft schwerlich nachvollziehbar durch die Ent-Tabuisierung der vorehelichen Kinder.
Außerdem finde ich das Drama im Vergleich zu "Die Ratten", in dem es ja auch um die Thematik der vorehelichen Kinder geht, nicht außergewöhnlich. Wenn ich diese beiden Dramen vergleiche, finde ich "Die Ratten" noch eine Spur interessanter, da es nicht allein um ein voreheliches Kind geht, sondern auch um den Kinderraub etc.
Wenig einleichtend, eher etwas verwirrend, fand ich die Nebenerzählung mit Kurt, dem einzigen Kind der Frau Flamm. Ich hatte den Eindruck, er ließe sich auch ohne weiteres rausstreichen.
Zu lang gezogen fand ich auch den Anfang des 3.Akts; außerdem verstand ich den Streitmoment nicht, da die alte Golischen Streckmann zuruckruft ("Streckmann, wie is denn das neulich geworn? - Vor 3 Woch'n aso bei d'r Dreschmaschine! Da mir a Raps rausmacht'n dohier? -" ff. Meiner Meinung nach wird dieser Streit auch nicht noch einmal erklärt bzw. aufgegriffen. Allerdings kann das an persönlichen Verständnisschwierigkeiten aufgrund des Dialekts liegen, die bei Gerhart Hauptmann ja grundsätzlich vorhanden sind.
May 24, 2021
I read this in German and to say it wasn't easy to read is an understatement. The text is written in the Silesian dialect which has become nearly extinct since 1945 when Silesia was given to Poland and the Czech Republic in war reparations. The Germans were dispersed into the remaining country. By now most of them will have died and their accent with them.
While it got somewhat easier as I read more by force of habit it remained tough.
I didn't go into this blindly and I did know Hauptmann wrote tragedies with Capital 'T'. In that he didn't let me down. It's grim to the very end.
While it got somewhat easier as I read more by force of habit it remained tough.
I didn't go into this blindly and I did know Hauptmann wrote tragedies with Capital 'T'. In that he didn't let me down. It's grim to the very end.
March 17, 2019
Sehr schwer zu lesen und verstehen wegen des Dialekts.
December 10, 2019
Difficult to assess drama from the page, even harder in translation.
August 2, 2024
Viel zu viel dialekt 🥲
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews