Friday 20 May 2011

Tradgic.

Nazi Germany, 1941

Act One:
Best friends, Benedick and Claudio; both young German men from well to do families in Berlin, enlist in the Third Reich together and are scheduled to ship out in one month.
Benedick and his fiancée, Beatrice, discover that she is 1/16 Jewish. Benedick disowns her and turns her, and her family, in to the soldiers.
Claudio and Benedick’s sister, Hero, are discussing his going away and the lives that they want after Germany wins the war. They reminisce about when they were children and Claudio confesses that he has always loved her. Hero confesses her love in return and Claudio proposes.  
Before Claudio has the chance to ask Hero’s father, Leonarto, for his permission to marry his daughter, Sir John, a wealthy commanding officer in the Third Reich, asks Leonarto for Hero’s hand. In return Sir John offers to keep Benedick safe at the war, and so Leonarto gives his consent. When Hero begs him not to make her marry Sir John, Leonarto tells her that he has always loved Benedick the most and wants his safety more than her happiness.

Act Two:
Benedick receives word that Beatrice died in Auschwitz. He realises that he has betrayed her to her death, and he writes Claudio a note saying that he can not live with the guilt before he shoots himself.
Leonarto goes into a state of utter grievance and refuses to talk to anyone.
When Claudio reads the note he is devastated but Hero comforts him and they make plans to be married on his return from battle.
Sir John doesn’t love Hero but he sees that she is very attractive and he lusts after her. He sees her walking home alone after dark and he follows her down a side street. He threatens her that he will send Claudio to the front line at war if she doesn’t marry him. Hero feels she has no other choice. He forces her to go to Claudio the morning that he departs for war and tell him that she doesn’t love him but that she loves Sir John and that she is going to marry him. Hero can’t bring herself to do it, so she writes him a letter instead and slips it into his coat pocket when he kisses her farewell.  

Act Three:
Claudio finds the letter the night before battle. He is furious but then devastated,  so the next morning he leaves his gun behind to make sure that he will be killed by enemy fire.
While they are away Hero devises a plan that when Claudio returns from battle they can run away together; they can leave Germany and get married.
When Sir John returns, two week later, and tells Hero of Claudio’s death, she is heartbroken and holds Sir John personally responsible. Hero tells Sir John that she will never marry him and she tries to leave, but he blocks her way and rapes her.
When Sir John is asleep, she takes his gun and shoots both him and herself.
Leonarto comes into her chambers the next morning to find their bodies; hers in ripped skirts and with burses.

The End

How devistating. What a sad story, Sir John is so evil! Why do I wright such depressing stuff?
Good thing it's only fictional...
Steph xx

2 comments:

  1. :O That is sad :( That's terrible! everyone dies?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Not Leonarto, but everyone else does.

    xx Steph

    ReplyDelete