Bibliofemme Reviews
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Gertrude by Hermann Hesse 
(Published by Penguin Modern Classics)
Hermann Hesse was a German novelist, poet, and winner
of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1946. He is most
famous for his novels Steppenwolf and Das
Glasperlenspiel (The Glass Bead Game). Gertrude is I
believe a lesser lauded and read novel, it is none the
less an agreeable read. It is labeled a “tragic love
story of a crippled musician and his unrequited
passion for Gertrude”.
Though dealing with passionate topics just as the
nature of the artist, of love; unrequited and
torturous passion, it is a quiet and almost meditative
read.
The protagonist is a young man who sets out into a
career in music – not especially talented or
impassioned he none the less acquires a drive towards
composing after being crippled in a youthful mishap.
Hesse’s works have often been pointed out for there
“finding yourself qualities” and indeed this novel
does hold elements of that spiritual search – with
ruminations on the nature of happiness and melancholy.
But rather than cod psychology from 1910 what we get
are some genuinely interesting points that hold
relevance today.
“You are suffering from a sickness that is
unfortunately common and that one comes across every
day amongst sensitive people. It is related to moral
insanity and can also be called individualism or
imaginary loneliness…You are isolated no one troubles
about you and no one understands you. Am I right?”
Could this not be a treatise to you or anyone of us at
sometime?
Alongside the young composer Kuhn we are also
introduced to the object of his unrequited affections
– Gertrude and to Muoth his friend, a fiery opera
singer. Kuhn through his own self pity and lack of
courage fails to take the leap to win Gertrude’s heart
before she is swept into a destructive relationship
with the worldlier singer Muoth. He then to stands by
somewhat passively as their relationship
disintegrates. He quietly spends his life in the
company of few friends, composes to certain acclaim
and does not open to the option of loving another.
Deemed a story about desires, what look like burning
passions I believe have more to do with each
individuals weaknesses– Kuhn’s love for Gertrude is
long and steady yet it does not provoke him to great
action. Muoth is destroyed not by this love but by his
own nature. Gertrude is drawn into a relationship with
a difficult man and then cannot cope with the
consequences, she escapes her marriage emotionally
scared and does not enter another relationship.
Kuhn accepts what he sees as his fate although
decrying “we can be stronger than nature and fate“ yet
none of these characters are. They inhabit their fate
and travel quietly to its unhappy end.
Perhaps the strength of his novel is its provocation
of empathy; with the narrator, his self doubt,
self-pity and restraint. He is but a man as are we.
Also by Herman Hesses
Demian
November 2004
