Victory of the Losers - According to Heinrich von Kleist

Spared Palace Wing

"Her conscience struck regularly, but it didn't change her behavior at all." Dana Spiotta

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"Everything was going so well until it went wrong." Lars Mytting

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People always talk about originality, but what does that mean." Goethe to Eckermann 1825

"Just as the Russian troops entered from the outside with a fierce barrage of howitzers, the left wing of the commandant's house caught fire and forced the women to leave."

In the present tense of failureJulietta's father, Colonel Lorenzo G... (three dots after Kleist), loses out as chief defender of the M. citadel. Julietta and her children seek shelter in various places in the fort in vain. Finally, "she encounters a troop of enemy snipers who, at the sight of her ... hang their rifles over their shoulders and carry her away with hideous gestures". A Russian officer intervenes powerfully. He scatters "the dogs". Julietta recognizes an angel in him. "He thrusts the handle of his sword into the face of the last beastly murderer who was holding her slender body."

In the present tense of failure

Julietta's father, Colonel Lorenzo G... (three points after Kleist), loses out as the chief defender of the citadel of M.. Julietta and her children search in vain for protection in various places in the fort. Finally "(Julietta) is met by a group of enemy snipers who, "upon seeing them, hang their rifles over their shoulders and carry them away with hideous gestures". A Russian officer intervenes powerfully. He scatters "the dogs". Julietta recognizes him as an angel.

"He hits the last beastly murderer who was holding her slender body in the face with the handle of his sword."  

He presents himself to the lady in perfect form with a "French salutation". Kleist depicts an elegiac moment; a supernova of the most cold-blooded politeness. The officer gallantly offers the bewildered woman an arm and leads her through the hail of grenades to a spared wing of the fortress. Julietta sinks unconscious to the ground. Other civilians soon appear. The officer assures the Panicans that there is no cause for concern. He puts on his hat, Kleist notices the detail without putting a feather in his cap, "and (returns) to the fight".

Kleist uses the laconic manner masterfully. The author is undoubtedly alluding to the Leda-and-the-Swan subject. For centuries, the Leda myth provided questionable erotic motifs. In the art-historical commonplace, an essential aspect remained unnoticed for a long time. The affirmative view ignored a divine (vulgarly male) assault. It ignored the justiciable process. Zeus, appearing as a swan, behaves as if he is not dependent on Leda's consent.