The Broken Jug

Heinrich von KleistProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 4.7

Word count: 100K words
Chapters: 10

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Der Zerbrochene Krug by Heinrich von KleistAuthor: Kleist, Heinrich von, 1777-1811,Language: German, Class: PT: Language and Literatures: Germanic, Scandinavian, and Icelandic literatures, Release Date: Oct 1, 2004

Editor's review

The Broken Jug is Kleist's only comedy and a rare example in German literature of a comedy framed around a courtroom trial. The story revolves around a shattered clay jug; as Judge Adam hears the case, his own entanglement in it gradually comes to light, and the roles of interrogator and interrogated keep reversing, building layer upon layer of comic tension. Kleist's language is precise and suggestive, with foreshadowing buried in every line of dialogue, so the play is both entertaining and rewarding as a piece of detection. It is short and tightly structured, making it a good entry point to Kleist's drama and a suitable text for classroom discussion in German literature or theatre studies of the relationship between justice, power, and truth. The Project Gutenberg edition provides the original German text, allowing readers to compare it with the original and appreciate the puns and rhythm of the dialogue.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers curious about a German classic comedy but worried it might be too long
German majors using it as practice material for reading in the original and dramatic analysis
Literary readers interested in courtroom themes and the relationship between truth and power
Theatre enthusiasts looking for a compact, finely structured stage play

Not a good fit for

Readers with no German at all who are unwilling to use a translation
Readers expecting a fast-paced modern suspense plot and impatient with classical dramatic form
Beginners who need detailed annotations and background guidance

Reading tips

Read through once to grasp the flow of the trial, then go back over each of Adam's statements and watch for contradictions.
Read alongside a Chinese or English translation to help with puns and colloquial flavor in the German original.
After finishing, try to reconstruct the timeline of the case and check whether you saw the truth before the reveal.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is the electronic edition of this book the original German text?

Yes. This edition comes from Project Gutenberg, is labeled as German, and is a free public-domain e-book suitable for reading in the original or alongside a translation.

Can I read this comedy without any German?

The original-language edition requires some German. If you do not know German, a reliable Chinese translation is recommended; the plot and structure are not complex, and a translation conveys the main pleasures well enough.

Why is it said to be a good entry point to Kleist?

It is short, has a small cast and clear plot lines, and its comic form is easier to get into than Kleist's other plays, so readers can first become familiar with his language and structural techniques.

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About the author

Heinrich von Kleist Author · German · 1777–1811

Heinrich von Kleist (1777–1811) was a German dramatist and novelist born into a Prussian officer's family. His plays, such as Der Zerbrochene Krug, Penthesilea, Prinz Friedrich von Homburg, and Das Käthchen von Heilbronn, along with stories like Michael Kohlhaas and The Marquise of O, often explore the conflict between reason and emotion and the dialectic of appearance and essence. Though his fame was limited during his lifetime, later generations have regarded him as one of the most important and complex writers in German literary history. He took his own life at the Wannsee in 1811. Public information is limited, so readers should focus on his subjects and style.