Maria Concepcion

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Maria Concepcion is a short story by the American writer Katherine Anne Porter , first published in The Century Magazine in 1922 and included in the Flowering Judas and Other Stories collection in 1930 . The story has since been published in various edited volumes. With this short story, Porter established her reputation as a serious author from the perspective of literary criticism and literary studies .

The story focuses on the behavior and revenge of the protagonist Maria Concepcion, who was initially eighteen years old, after an affair between her husband, Juan Villegas, and a minor.

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On the way to excavation sites where Juan's employer, the American archaeologist Givens, is looking for the lost cultural property of the protagonist's Indian ancestors, the pregnant Maria Concepcion surprises her husband at a secret meeting with his fifteen-year-old lover Maria Rosa. With thoughts of murder in her head, the protagonist runs away, disturbed, to continue her domestic duties.

On the same day, Juan goes to war with his lover, while the betrayed Maria Concepcion gives birth to a child who dies a few days after birth. The protagonist then lives alone during the one year absence of her husband and, consumed by grief, withdraws completely from the village community. Her life is apparently only fulfilled by her tireless work and regular church attendance.

Together with his now pregnant lover, the husband finally returns from the war, is arrested as a deserter and sentenced to death. However, his former employer, Givens, is able to prevent the execution and obtain his release.

After his lover Maria Rosa has given birth to her child in the meantime, his father Juan gets drunk after his release from prison in a frenzy of joy with the other men in the village and then returns unintentionally to his former home. The re-encounter with his wife there ends in a violent confrontation.

When Juan falls asleep in his intoxication, Maria Concepcion uses her husband's drunkenness to carry out her plans for revenge and kills her rival with twenty stab wounds.

The police accuse Maria Concepcion of the murder in the subsequent interrogation, but cannot prove the crime because both her husband Juan and the other villagers protect her with false statements.

In the final part of the narrative, the protagonist takes the child of Maria Rosa, who she killed, as her own and re-establishes their domestic marriage by allowing Juan to return to their common home.

Interpretative approach

At the center of this short story by Katherine Anne Porter is the fine balancing act that the protagonist takes between her traditional role as a wife and the emancipation she strives for .

The entrance passages of the stories show Maria Concepcion as a satisfied, self-confident and upright woman who, due to her business acumen and her sense of duty ( "careful sense of duty" , p. 6), enjoys a high reputation among the villagers ( "good reputation with the neighbors" , P. 4). She seems to live in complete harmony with herself and her environment ( “entirely contended” , p. 3, German: “completely satisfied”); She shows her religiosity as openly as her pride ( "energetic religious woman ... proud" , p. 4: "energetic religious woman ... proud"). From the point of view of her fellow men, her proud demeanor gives her an almost regal, sublime nature ( “royalty in exile” , p. 7, German: “Queen in exile”). She is the one who makes a decisive contribution to the livelihood of the couple and who also organized and financed the church marriage (p. 4).

The initial impression of a young emancipated woman who has found her place in life and in marriage, however, turns out to be incorrect for the reader in the further course of the story in this form. In a conversation between Juan and Given it becomes clear that the marriage of the two cannot have been happy even before the affair with Maria Rosa: although she is a conscientious wife and housewife, Maria Concepcion cannot assert herself against her husband; this does not take it as an independent personality and shows her true nor due respect, which is mainly in his numerous escapades and antics reflected (page 7). Juan's emphasized contrasting description of his wife and his lover corroborates the suspicion that the marital relationship lacks any eroticism and that he finds sensual and sexual fulfillment only with Maria Rosa: “You know how she used to keep those clean little bees in their hives. She is like their honey to me ” (p. 12, German:“ You know the clean little bees that she kept in the hives. For me it is like the honey of these bees ”).

As a flirtatious beekeeper , whose external appearance already suggests her sensual properties, she is portrayed as the epitome of seduction in the description of the erotic game in Lupe's garden ; it is just as provocative and charming to Juan as the hum of its bees. In contrast to Maria Concepcion, her opponent Juan gives herself completely and creates perfect physical harmony with him (p. 5); As Juan explains to Givens, he does admittedly admits Maria Concepcion her rightful status as a wife; However, he only finds sexual confirmation and sensual fulfillment in his relationship with Maria Rosa.

During Juan's one year absence, Maria Concepcion lived an ascetic life in which she was purified . Through her tireless work, her accumulation of savings and her deepening devotion to religion, she proves to the villagers and to herself her financial and emotional independence from her husband Juan. In this time after the death of her newborn child, which is very painful for her, she also reconsiders her own role as a wife and the rights, duties and needs associated with it.

When Juan finally returns from the war, he finds a changed wife who persistently resists his violence and gives up her previous passive role as a betrayed and humiliated wife; she is now ready to realize the long-cherished plans for revenge against her rival. The twenty knife wounds in the execution of the murder show the intensity of her previous suffering.

With the murder of her rival, Maria Concepcion now appears to her husband in a completely different light; The previously insignificant wife becomes a mysterious, valuable being who is superior to him and no longer has anything in common with the woman he knew before (p. 14); his previous irreverent ignorance of her personality and needs turns into recognition of her particularity and uniqueness; only now does he accept them as belonging to himself (p. 16).

This changed perception leads to a realignment of the balance of power in the marital relationship; from now on Maria Concepcion has the reins in hand. It is true that Juan initially believes that he has regained his superiority by playing the role of protector for a short time and trying to save his wife from being arrested by the police. However, the policemen only let go of Maria Concepcion when she, too, takes on the classic role of a wife in a staged self-portrayal, who accepts the erotic antics of her husband and retreats to her traditional place at the stove.

When the couple returns to their home after the interrogation, Juan, who is still completely exhausted from the previous staging of his virility , collapses (p. 20). Full of resentment and bitterness ( "bitterness" , p. 20), he now has to recognize the reorganization of his life and the marital relationship and, as it were, ritually bids farewell to his previous selfish, male dominance by giving up his "heavy finery" (p. 21 , dt .: "his heavy cleaning",) got rid of. His earlier image of women has wavered, which triggers a feeling of alienation and ghostly unreality in him ( “unreal ... ghostly” , p. 21).

As if in a crucifixion scene , he sinks to the floor with his arms stretched out; his need for sleep symbolically indicates his death wish; he has the feeling that his previous life is over. With his lover, eroticism is also extinguished in his life; I get the feeling of descending into a grave myself (p. 20). Instead of his old life as a womanizer " Don Juan ", as it tellingly sounds in his name, he is now fulfilling his marital duties as father and breadwinner of the family, which triggers a feeling of bitterness and melancholy in him , that in his self-abandonment culminates (p. 20 f.). At the same time, however, his enthusiasm for Maria Concepcion dies; their triumph at the end of the short story is not without its downsides.

Relationship of the sexes

The differences in the characterization of Juan and Maria Concepcion clearly show that in this story by Katherine Anne Porter the female figures are portrayed more positively overall. For example, Maria Concepcion previously largely earned the couple's livelihood alone, while Juan was mainly devoted to his criminal adventures and amorous entanglements; In the final scene, the negative drawing of the narrative character of Juan increases to the “ caricature of a Mexican macho who chooses himself a hero for no reason ” and “never admits his missteps”. For him women are mere objects that he can dispose of at will; his clothes and appearance also make him appear ridiculous (pp. 5 and 10). In his self-portrayal, Juan is revealed as an ignorant tyrant who z. B. in his supposed generosity refrained from physically abusing his wife (p. 11 f.). His male vanity and arrogance is based solely on the "rivalry between two desirable women for his person."

In his naivety and narrow-mindedness, however, Juan is not clear that he is completely dependent on the two women in the story in every respect. On the one hand, he is dependent on Maria Rosa in order to achieve the fulfillment of his erotic needs; moreover, she has conquered his magnificent clothing on the battlefield. Like him, she also goes to war and fights just as relentlessly with her sex comrades as the male soldiers. Maria Concepcion, on the other hand, ensures the couple's financial security through her energetic work, decides on the marriage and ultimately asserts her claims as wife against Juan. From this perspective, Juan appears as a completely passive character for whom the others must stand up and act. Likewise, Givens also frees him repeatedly from countless unfortunate situations into which he has maneuvered himself.

By contrast, with the retaliation for adultery , the protagonist of the story initiated her own self-discovery; However, as Petra Bidzun writes in her interpretation of the story, this process could be impaired by the fact that Maria Concepcion rejected the solidarity of the villagers from the start, who, with the old Soledad as their mouthpiece, clearly express that women in this society can only assert themselves if they act together against the grievances that affect them all in the same way.

Instead of condemning her husband for his behavior , the protagonist projects her anger and pain onto the other women in the village, although she can remember having been in Maria Rosa's situation herself and acting in a similar way to her. Despite this memory, she withdraws from the village community and consumes herself in isolation in her grief, instead of fighting together with the other women against the patriarchal supremacy of men. After killing her rival , she is sometimes quite inclined to fall back into her old role as a humble wife, for example when she tries to hide behind her husband in a kind of submission gesture. At this moment her husband believes he can regain his old position; however, Maria Concepcion immediately removes this illusion from him by emphasizing the legitimacy of her behavior. At the same time she dismantles Juan's self-image; this becomes a child ( “a very small child” , p. 15, German: “a very small child”) and accepts the redesign of the power relations in the couple's relationship.

Ultimately, the protagonist does not find her happiness in reconciliation and reunification with her husband, but in her new role as mother, when she takes the child of the dead Maria Rosa into her own. The circle of history is closed here; As in her previous existence, the protagonist is again in harmony with herself and the world around her. By releasing her repressed emotions and killing her rival, she gains new dignity in the eyes of her husband as well as the rest of the villagers . The consistently negative portrayal of the male protagonist also justifies the murder of Maria Rosa for the reader in a certain way, since Maria Concepcion only wins husband and child through this crime.

Religious content

Maria Concepcion also reflects the author's critical attitude towards the Catholic Church and the religious zeal of the rural population. In describing the behavior of Juan and Maria Concepcion, the author ironically reverses Christian rituals. Maria crawls obsequiously towards Juan, as if to a shrine or a godlike figure. At this point, Juan often uses archaisms in his speech that are reminiscent of the biblical form of language: "I thy own man will protect thee [...] thou shalt have nothing to fear" , p. 14 f. (German: "I, your own husband, want to protect you [...] don't be afraid"). Ironically, however, his biblical address is accompanied by secret curses ( “cursed under his breath” , p. 14). Then he lights a candle, not to ask God for help or support, but to cleanse the blood-stained murder weapon.

Mary, whose name evokes associations with the Immaculate Virgin Mary , is at the same time busy washing the traces of blood from her clothes and hands; this ritual cleansing scene is reminiscent of the behavior of Pontius Pilate in the New Testament .

Doubts about the Christian attitude of the protagonist are aroused in the reader at the beginning of the story, because Maria Concepcion rejects talismans , but is not free from pagan superstitions if she assumes that she can harm her unborn child if she does not follow her desire Honey gives way. During Juan's absence, her church attendance increased and she regularly lit candles in front of the images of saints ; However, this turns out to be more and more a meaningless ritual, as her subsequent description as "blind-looking" suggests.

The theme of theodicy , which echoes in these passages of the story, is explicitly formulated by Lupe when she asks: “Have you prayed for what you have now?” (P. 13). Despite her suffering, Maria Concepcion does not receive any divine help or assistance; after Juan's return, she is now consistently turning away from Christian ethics and morals and decides to play God herself by killing her rival. Before the act is carried out, the protagonist seems to be literally "abandoned by all good spirits"; the sweat breaks out of her skin, as the narrator describes, as if salty pus was flowing out of all the wounds of her life ( “salt ichor” , p. 13).

Maria Concepcion's demonic traits are emphasized in several places . For example, the villagers have the impression that they are possessed by the devil (p. 9) or during the interrogation by Lupe they are referred to as an “evil spirit” (p. 18 f., German: “evil spirit”).

In this way Katharine Anne Porter seems to suggest to the reader that Maria Concepcion as a betrayed and abandoned wife can only overcome her suffering and bring order back into her life by turning away from the Christian religion and the dark, Indian side of her personality as determinative. Lupe's judgment, which Maria Concepcion and Juan describes as “honest people” (p. 19, English: “honorable people”) despite their crimes , also expresses the different moral and ethical ideas of the Mexican village community; Far be it from him to condemn the murderess. Ironically, in this short story, Katherine Anne Porter's villagers give absolution to the protagonist , but not God. Maria Concepcion then grants herself the right to take the child of the rival she killed.

Against this background, the ironic intention of the author in the naming of the title character becomes clear. The expectation of the reader, evoked by this name, that the protagonist is a virgin who is about to give birth to her child, is not fulfilled: instead the story ends in a " subversive form of conception" in which the protagonist only through the Murder of her rival to a child. The supposed Virgin Mary Concepcion thus becomes a woman whose "outstanding attribute is her butcher's knife, with which she kills both animals and people in cold blood."

Impact history

This story occupies a special position in the work of Katherine Anne Porter, as it is her first short story, which was first published in a well-known magazine in 1922 and at the same time established the author's reputation not only as a journalist but also as a literary author .

From 1918 to 1924, Katherine Anne Porter herself lived mainly in Mexico and studied local art . During this time, in which she was also involved in the turmoil of the revolution in Mexico at the time , she collected important ideas for these and other short stories. She achieved widespread fame in 1929 with the publication of her story Flowering Judas (Eng. Blooming Judas Tree ), which is also set in Mexico and thematically focuses on the relationship between love, violence and betrayal in the context of the revolution. Maria Concepcion was also included in the anthology of the same name from 1929 .

expenditure

  • Katherine Anne Porter: Maria Concepión . In: The Century Magazine , December 1922, pp. 224-239
  • Katherine Anne Porter: Maria Concepcion . In: Flowering Judas and Other Stories . New York: Harcourt, Brace & World Verlag 1935
  • Katherine Anne Porter: Maria Concepcion . In: The Collected Stories . New York: Harcourt, Brace & World Verlag 1965
  • Katherine Anne Porter: Under the Hot Skies: Stories . From the American. transfer by Hansi Bochow-Blüthgen . Bad Wörishofen: Kindler u. Schiermeyer 1951
  • Katherine Anne Porter: Maria Concepcion . In: Blooming Judas Tree: Stories . From d. American. transfer by Joachim Uhlmann . Sign. by Peter Wezel. Zurich: Diogenes Verlag 1964
  • Katherine Anne Porter: Maria Concepcion . In: Judas flowers and other stories . From d. American. trans. by Helga Huisgen. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta Verlag 1984

Secondary literature

  • Petra Bridzun: Katherine Anne Porter: Maria Concepcion . In: Michael Hanke (Ed.): Interpretations · American Short Stories of the 20th Century . Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-15-017506-2 , pp. 27-35.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Petra Bridzun: Katherine Anne Porter: Maria Concepcion . In: Michael Hanke (Ed.): Interpretations · American Short Stories of the 20th Century . Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-15-017506-2 , p. 27. The story was also included in the online collection of Katherine Anne Porter: The Collected Stories . Harcourt, Brace & World, New York 1965, pp. 3-21, included (see web link). The original English text is quoted after this edition; the German translation after the translation by Joachim Uhlmann, published in Blühender Judasbaum and other stories by Diogenes Verlag 1964 and Rowohlt Verlag 1966.
  2. ↑ On this interpretation, see as far as Petra Bridzun: Katherine Anne Porter: Maria Concepcion . In: Michael Hanke (Ed.): Interpretations · American Short Stories of the 20th Century . Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-15-017506-2 , p. 28f.
  3. ↑ Cf. Petra Bridzun: Katherine Anne Porter: Maria Concepcion . In: Michael Hanke (Ed.): Interpretations · American Short Stories of the 20th Century . Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-15-017506-2 , p. 29 f.
  4. ↑ Cf. Petra Bridzun: Katherine Anne Porter: Maria Concepcion . In: Michael Hanke (Ed.): Interpretations · American Short Stories of the 20th Century . Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-15-017506-2 , p. 30 ff.
  5. ↑ See also Petra Bridzun: Katherine Anne Porter: Maria Concepcion . In: Michael Hanke (Ed.): Interpretations · American Short Stories of the 20th Century . Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-15-017506-2 , p. 31
  6. ↑ Petra Bridzun: Katherine Anne Porter: Maria Concepcion . In: Michael Hanke (Ed.): Interpretations · American Short Stories of the 20th Century . Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-15-017506-2 , p. 31 f.
  7. ↑ Cf. Petra Bridzun: Katherine Anne Porter: Maria Concepcion . In: Michael Hanke (Ed.): Interpretations · American Short Stories of the 20th Century . Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-15-017506-2 , p. 32.
  8. ↑ Cf. Petra Bridzun: Katherine Anne Porter: Maria Concepcion . In: Michael Hanke (Ed.): Interpretations · American Short Stories of the 20th Century . Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-15-017506-2 , p. 32.
  9. ↑ Cf. Petra Bridzun: Katherine Anne Porter: Maria Concepcion . In: Michael Hanke (Ed.): Interpretations · American Short Stories of the 20th Century . Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-15-017506-2 , p. 32 f.
  10. ↑ Cf. Petra Bridzun: Katherine Anne Porter: Maria Concepcion . In: Michael Hanke (Ed.): Interpretations · American Short Stories of the 20th Century . Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-15-017506-2 , p. 33.
  11. ↑ On the religious level of meaning, see Petra Bridzun: Katherine Anne Porter: Maria Concepcion . In: Michael Hanke (Ed.): Interpretations · American Short Stories of the 20th Century . Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-15-017506-2 , pp. 33-35.
  12. ↑ Cf. Petra Bridzun: Katherine Anne Porter: Maria Concepcion . In: Michael Hanke (Ed.): Interpretations · American Short Stories of the 20th Century . Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-15-017506-2 , p. 34.
  13. ↑ Cf. Petra Bridzun: Katherine Anne Porter: Maria Concepcion . In: Michael Hanke (Ed.): Interpretations · American Short Stories of the 20th Century . Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-15-017506-2 , p. 34 f.
  14. ↑ Cf. Petra Bridzun: Katherine Anne Porter: Maria Concepcion . In: Michael Hanke (Ed.): Interpretations · American Short Stories of the 20th Century . Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-15-017506-2 , p. 35.
  15. ↑ Cf. Petra Bridzun: Katherine Anne Porter: Maria Concepcion . In: Michael Hanke (Ed.): Interpretations · American Short Stories of the 20th Century . Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-15-017506-2 , p. 27. See also Hubert Zapf: Amerikanische Literaturgeschichte . Metzler Verlag, 2nd act. Edition, Stuttgart a. Weimar, ISBN 3-476-02036-3 , p. 323.