Earthquake in Chile- Heinrich Von Kleist

Real life events Earthquake in Chile was based on

-There was an actual earthquake in Chile in 1647 that killed 1000 people

-the story takes place in Chile but is a response to the 1755 Lisbon earthquake that killed 10,000-100,000 people

• fires and tsunamis

• impacted Portugal’s imperial expansion

How did the 1755 Lisbon earthquake inspire writers and philosophers to think about good and evil?

-in a Christian environment where it was All Saint’s day- people wondered what was the point of leveling a country on a Christian holiday in a Christian country?

-Kleist is a philosophically inclined writer

theodicy

the problem of evil

Sighting in this story

the earthquake

Thickening in this story

-Jermino and Josephe escape and reunite

-They are welcomed into a group with their son

-They go into the church and are accused

Revel

People believe that the earthquake was caused by Jermino and Josephe’s sins

Aftermath

Jermino and Josephe are killed, their son is adopted by Don Fernando and his wife

How could it be argued that Jermino and Josephe are blessed by God?

-Angels stood guard over Josephe when she entered the burning building to save her son

-Jermino was saved by the earthquake when he was about to kill himself

How could it be argued that Jermino and Josephe are cursed by God?

-People thought Jermino and Josephe were feeling God’s wrath through the earthquake

-Jermino believed that Josephe had been executed and resorted to killing himself

What changed throughout the story?

How Jermino and Josephe where treated- almost utopian until they were killed

What stayed the same throughout the story?

-Jermino and Josephe are in love

-Jermino and Josephe are condemned by society

-Jermino and Josephe face death all the time

-Society wants revenge

How is vastation exemplified in this story?

-Don Fernano saw his son lying on the ground, dead and felt “unspeakable grief”

-Don Elvira Wept for her son and “fell into silence”

How does this story exemplify Clute’s concept of horror?

-When Jermino and Josephe has just escaped death, they were taken in by society temporarily in “imperial harmony”

-Once this screen was taken down and they went to the church, they were shown the true horror of humans when they take judgment into their own hands