The Beggarwoman of Locarno (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Heinrich von Kleist
- First Published: 1810
- Type of Plot: Ghost story
- Time of Work: The fifteenth or sixteenth century
- Setting: A castle on the edge of the Italian Alps, near Locarno
- Principal Characters: The beggarwoman, The Marquis, The Marquise, The nobleman
- Genres: Short fiction, Ghost story
- Subjects: Dogs, Ghosts or apparitions, Guilt, Fear, Punishment, Death or dying, Castles, Begging or beggars
- Locales: Alps, Italy, Locarno, Switzerland
The Story
The apparent impetus for telling this strange history is the sight of a castle ruin as it might be noticed by a traveler descending into northern Italy from the St. Gotthard Pass. As if in reply to such a traveler's question of how the castle has fallen into disuse and ruin, the narrator tells the story of the beggarwoman of Locarno, in which an old woman comes begging at the castle gate, is taken in at the Marquise's orders, and is given a place to sleep for the night in one of the castle's unused rooms. When the Marquis returns from the day's hunting, however, he...
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