Showing posts with label Heinrich von Kleist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Heinrich von Kleist. Show all posts

Monday, May 10, 2010

The Beggarwoman Of Locarno, by Heinrich von Kleist

The Beggarwoman of Locarno is a short story by Heinrich von Kleist. Kleist is more famously known for his stories Michael Kohlhaas and The Marquise of O–.  He was a German Romantic, first making a name for himself with his plays; he was also a poet and novelist.


The Beggarwoman of Locarno is surprisingly, a ghost story. I didn’t know it would be. It was a great little story about the punishment suffered if you don’t show charity to the poor. It was an easy read, which I did expect, having read The Marquise of O—. As I mentioned in a previous post, I don’t know if the likability of the writing style comes from the author or the translator. What I do know is that I enjoyed the story immensely. I hope, with this story, Kleist was able to teach a few rich men how to be nicer to the poor.

A copy of the text can be found here.

The post was written in conjunction with Short Story Monday hosted at The Book Mine Set.