Pilate's wife

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Pilate's wife is a novella by Gertrud von le Fort that was published by Insel-Verlag in Wiesbaden in 1955 .

Claudia Procula sacrifices herself for her beloved husband Pontius Pilate and for Christianity .

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In the 1st century AD, it is said in Rome that Pontius Pilate, who at that time had Jesus of Nazareth crucified as procurator in Judea , committed suicide in Helvetia .

On the eve of the merciless condemnation of the innocent Jesus of Nazareth, Claudia Procula had a momentous dream face in Jerusalem . Thereupon Claudia asked the husband to release the accused. Pilate simply ignored the request because he did not understand it at all. It was about the mercy of God that spoke from the eyes of Jesus. But a Roman procurator shows no mercy.

Years later, when Pilate - now aged - had long since been called back from Judea, the guilty party for a fire in the poor district of Rome was sought and found in the innocent Roman Nazarene . The emperor entrusts Pilate with the arrest of the Nazarenes. Pilate, who was not personally present at the time of the arrests, was dismayed to learn that his beloved wife was among the prisoners. Claudia had repeatedly attended Nazarene meetings, but had avoided baptism. Thus, she was viewed as a suspect by the persecuted Nazarenes. On the day of her capture, she had gone back to the Nazarenes, had fearlessly opposed the laughing legionnaires and had been arrested along with the Christians.

It was said that a slave of Pilate had betrayed Claudia as a Nazarene. When Claudia and the Nazarenes have to step in front of the lions in the circus, the emperor revels in Pilate's horror. Claudia receives the baptism of blood .

shape

The text is written in letter form. The Legion of Quintus Crassus is moved from Rome to Gaul . The Greek Praxedis, a freedwoman , entrusts one of the tribunes with a report for Julia, the wife of Decius Gallicus in Vienna . In the letter, the fate of Claudia Procula - that was the mistress of the Greek woman - is described.

The novella lives from the element of the single repetition of a desire. As a young woman, Claudia asks her husband, as outlined above, to refrain from condemning the prisoner Jesus of Nazareth. Pilate does not understand the effect of Jesus Christ's gaze on the people around him. About thirty years later, Claudia repeats her request. This time the woman begs Pilate not to imprison the Roman Christians who were innocent in the fire. The aging Pilate makes more extensive attempts to justify himself the second time, but again he does not listen. Claudia then faces the legionnaires fearlessly; poses - as if protective - before the Roman Nazarenes in order to "save the beloved husband from a second guilt".

literature

Used edition
Secondary literature
  • Karina Binder: Not to be hated, I am there to be loved. The role of women in Gertrud von le Fort illustrated by the works “The Last on the Scaffold”, “The Woman of Pilate” and “The Court of the Sea” . Thesis. Faculty of Philological and Cultural Studies at the University of Vienna, 2013 ( Online [PDF; 1,2 MB ]).
  • Nicholas J. Meyerhofer: Gertrud von LeFort (= heads of the 20th century. Vol. 119). Morgenbuch-Verlag, Berlin 1993, ISBN 3-371-00376-0 .
  • Gero von Wilpert : Lexicon of world literature. German authors A - Z. 4th, completely revised edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-520-83704-8 , p. 382, ​​left column, 9th Zvo

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ It was claimed that Jesus of Nazareth wanted to make himself king (edition used, p. 220, 6. Zvo).
  2. ↑ When Gertrud von le Fort writes about the emperor, she means either Tiberius , whom she also mentions in the text (edition used, p. 230, 5th Zvo) or one of his successors .
  3. ↑ That is, she dies a martyr's death.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Meyerhofer, p. 103, entry from 1955
  2. ↑ Edition used, p. 226, 18. Zvo
  3. ↑ Edition used, p. 238, 6. Zvo
  4. ↑ Edition used, p. 248, 18. Zvo