In Fassbinder's film, The Marriage of Maria Braun, Maria has power struggles with the people in
her personal life. She controls her relationships with her mother, Bill and Oswald, but she cannot
control Hermann. Herman's refusal to let Maria control their marriage, by being the provider, leads
to their deaths.
Maria's main goal throughout the film is to take care of the people she loves. There are things that
do point to Maria being in charge of her life, and the people around her. She supports her mother
during the war by trading on the black market, by taking a job at a U.S. Army bar, and by seeing
Bill. She refuses to marry Bill, even though he is in love with and impregnates her, and she lets
Oswald fall in love with her even though she is still in love with Hermann. Although Oswald
initiates the deal with Hermann to keep Maria with him, he is motivated by his love for Maria
(Maria's control over him), whereas Hermann is motivated by his need to be self-reliant.
Hermann is the only person in the film who does not let Maria control him, even though she tries.
When Hermann returns from war, and is imprisoned, Maria is so used to supporting people that
she automatically thinks that she will support Hermann. She gets a job with Oswald in order to
make money for her life with Hermann.
Although she is trying to provide for Hermann, he constantly subverts her actions. He protects her
by confessing to the murder of Bill, and he goes to jail instead of Maria. The film does not "[offer]
no specific motivation for Hermann's confession," nor is it "emphatic in its refusal to clarify his
action" (Haralovich 11). Instead it is " that Hermann's image of himself as women's protector
requires him to take the blame and punishment of his wife's deed" (Rheuban 220). In jail, he will
not accept financial support from Maria - in the form of a checkbook. Also in jail he makes an
agreement with Oswald to stay out of Germany while Oswald is alive in exchange for half of
Oswald's business after Oswald's death.
Hermann makes this deal so that he will remain self-sufficient; he says in the note he leaves for
Maria, "we will live together when I have become a man, and not until then." "Hermann can accept
money from Oswald, but not from Maria. He accepts Oswald's offer and goes away because he
cannot allow himself to depend on a woman" (Rheuban 220).
Hermann's name is as ambiguous as who wins the power struggle between Hermann and Maria.
In german, his name means "Mr.Man," which is how Hermann would like to think of himself. He
wants to do everything for himself, and take care of Maria too. One could also look at his name in
english, because Maria can speak english in the film. In english Hermann is "her man," referring to
Maria, and this is how Maria sees him. She wants to take care of him while he is in prison, and
make money, so that when he gets out of prison they will have a comfortable life.
Maria does not know, until after Oswald's death, that she has not been successful in being
self-reliant. "Only after she learns that Oswald had made a secret deal with Hermann... does she
realize she had never been in command of her story at all, that in actual fact she was never more
than an object of exchange in a transaction between two men" (Kaes 283). Since Maria does not
have any power in her relationship with Hermann while they are alive, she is forced into exerting
her power in their death.
In his article, Historical Narration, Kaes says that the explosion that destroys Maria, Hermann, and
their house is, "half-consciously caused by her" (Kaes 86). Kaes says that it is "deliberately
ambiguous whether [Maria] simply forgets or intentionally chooses not to remember [to turn off
the gas]" (Kaes 285). I think that Maria does subconsciously know what she is doing when she
blows up herself and Hermann. She realizes that she was never in control of her life, or even her
relationship with Hermann. Maria ultimately gives herself the power because she is the one that
controls her own, and Hermann's deaths. The explosion is somewhat deliberate because it occurs
after Senkenberg and the executor of the will have left the house, and also because Maria would
have been able to smell the leaking gas before she lit the match.
It is Maria's loss of identity, as provider, that leads her to turn on the stove. She finds out that she
never had control when she discovers that Hermann and Oswald had been using her as though she
were an object. She makes the decision, whether consciously, or subconsciously to regain control
by blowing up the house and killing both herself and "her man."
Bibliography
Haralovich, M.B. "The Sexual Politics of The Marriage of Maria Braun." Wide-Angle: A Film
Quarterly of Theory, Criticism and Practice. Baltimore, Maryland: , January 1990. 6-16. Kaes, A. "Historical Narration." From Hitler to Heimat. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard
University Press,1989. 84-103.
Kaes, A. "History, fiction, memory: Fassbinder's The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979)." German
Film and Literature. (Eric Rentschler, ed.) New York: Methuen, 1986. 276-288.
Rheuban, J. "The Marriage of Maria Braun : History, Melodrama, Ideology." The Marriage of Maria Braun: Rainer Werner Fassbinder. (Joyce Rheuban, ed.) New Brunswick,
New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1986.
This essay intends to focus on Maria's struggle for power with the people closest to her. The
introductory paragraphy suggests that the essay will investigate the ways that she manages to control
her mother, Bill and Oswald and yet is unable to control her husband, Hermann. The premise is also
set that this lack of control ultimately leads to the tragedy of Maria and Hermann's death.
Although the essay contained some interesting insights into the psychological power struggle between
Maria Braun and her husband Hermann, it only briefly discusses her relationship with Oswald and
Bill and does not mention her relationship with her mother except in the opening paragraph. As the
essay is quite short in length, it seems that each of these relationships could be analyzed further to
support the opening thesis. This analysis could include not only the psychological aspects of the
relationships but also the cultural and traditional roles that affected the lives of the characters.
The quotes used in the essay do support the analysis however the grammatical structure connecting
the quotes is awkward in places.ie. paragraph 4 - 'The film does not"(offer) no specific motivation
..."`
The conclusion suggests that when Maria becomes aware of the agreement between Oslwald and
Hermann, she reacts to her loss of control by consciously or subconsciously causing their death.
Although this argument is supported in the essay, it is not especially convincing because it seems to
offer a too straight-forward reading of a complex set of circumstances which have not been
thoroughly investigated in the body of the essay.
I would also recommend that the title, although catchy, does not accurately represent the main focus
of the essay as there are an infinate number of games of love.
Due to the short length of the essay and the need for more in depth analysis to support the thesis, I
would give this essay a C+.