Anneke K. Hackman
May 1999
German 321: Berlin in the 1920s
Prof. Imke Meyer

• lighting-- shining upon Frau von Brandenberg's face, making her look almost angelic.
• role reversal. Frau von Brandenberg looking up as Manuella descends towards her, looking expectantly at her, w/o Manuella's awareness: later, Manuella watches Frau von Brandenberg as the latter ascends the stairs to her office, and she follows behind, not wanting to be seen. On each occassion, neither one being observed knows she's being watched.

• the uses of the uniform to cause the girls to conform-- the stripping of individuality when they strip off their clothes and don their uniforms.

• The idea of pain or some like unpleasantness being good for the girls; building character. Manuella is no longer catered to, but becomes one among the masses, assuming her rank at the bottom of the social ladder. When Manuella first arrives, her hair is done up to make her as unadorned as possible; she is given a dress that has been handed down from another girl, and doesn't fit quite properly, being too long. Her hair is brushed bruskly, to the point of hurting her somewhat, but she is told she will get used to it. The girls are not fed well, and always complain of hunger.

• It is interesting how much denial exists in their world. When __? is confronted with the returned letter she tried to smuggle out regarding how unhappy they were, she was accused of telling lies. The mothers seem just as oblivious to their children's unhappiness, perhaps wishing to supress memories of their own unhappiness during similar childhoods.

• what sort of roles does Frau von Brandenberg hold? She acts as mother, teacher, authority figure, lover.

• what of the bedroom scene? the way it works is very ritualized: FvB turns out the lights and each girl alternately kneels and offers up her face to be kissed; Frau von Brandenberg goes down the row, kissing each girl's forehead and then almost pushing them back to the bed. She maintains a position of authority and control, but the entire bedtime ritual is very sexually charged.

• notice how ___? tells Manuella to watch, since it's her turn next: exhibitionist/voyeuristic, as all the girls watch her eagerly.

• When it is Manuella's turn, she doesn't offer up her face to be kissed, but instead throws her arms around Frau von Brandenberg in an embrace. She responds by firmly disengaging herself from Manuella's embrace, and they instead share a kiss. This is a clear removal of the mother-daughter bond, reinstating instead a level of clear sexuality.

• It is unclear whether or not the other girls saw this kiss, because it is never mentioned and no objection is made. It is unclear in the film if this kiss on the lips, rather than on the forehead, is de rigeur for a student's first night in the dorm, or whether Frau von Brandenberg is making an exception, and has chosen a favorite.

• When Manuella is unhappy, initially, Frau von Brandenberg tells her that this is all only a new experience for her, and that only needs to get used to it. She tells her that she must resolve to be happy, and Manuella, smiling through her tears, seems encouraged and willing to try.

• Manuella takes Frau von Brandenberg's counsel to an extreme: before she cried because she was unhappy, and then cried because she was so infatuated with Frau von Brandenberg, yet couldn't have her, and was even jealous of the girls who would follow her after she finally left the institution.

• When ____? is berated for having sent the letter, her punishment is that she can no longer perform in the school play.

• The play. Too emotional. none of the students can handle it, can't act. her being able to understand the emotion is threatening to the administration.

• Subject-object roles. Men are always subjects, women always objects. Women can never have desires. Women can never /admit/ desires, and especially not for other women, because both are appropriating the subject-role.

• Manuella's outburst when drunk. Dishonoring herself by admitting her desire for a woman. Taking over the male's subject role, further evidenced by her male attire; the costume from the play they had performed.

• The students were quite shocked by her outburst, but we don't know why. She said that she had been given the undergarment by Frau von Brandenberg, and that she knew she had been special to her: it had never been said, but she knew she was special in her teacher's eyes. One would assume that every student didn't get quite the same treatment as Manuella had, yet it's possible that every student considered herself to be F.v.B's favorite. It is uncertain whether her outburst was problematic for the desire itself, or only her admission: although such homosexual tendencies were officially frowned upon, such tendencies were certainly found amongst the students, only never officially acknowledged.

• The scene where Frau von Brandenberg gives Manuella one of her camisoles: Manuella has no mother to provide them for her, so she provided one instead. Although the provision is very maternal, to present her with one of her own undergarmets is still quite personal.

• Manuella tells Frau von Brandenberg that she had not been crying because she was sad, but happy. She was jealous of the girls who would come after her when she advances through and beyond school, and tells her how she often wishes to come to her in her room after she kisses all of them goodnight. F.von B. responds that it wouldn't be fair to favoritism in front of the other girls, so it had to remain as it was between them: however, Frau von B. did admit to being fond of Manuella. Why did she tell Manuella that their relationship, whatever it was, had to remain hidden? Was Manuella really a favorite, or was she only deluded into thinking so? Was Frau von Brandenberg's method of nuturing vs. punishing, and encouraging adoration and discipline versus fear merely a way to encourage more productive and happier students?

• Manuella's inability to recite the second verse of the poem they had been assigned as homework, as requested by Frau von Brandenberg. Manuella had performed quite well in her other classes, and learned her lessons for Frau von Brandenberg's class as well, but her recitation of the love poem was too personal: she either forgot the words, or was too embarrassed to recite it in the manner she wished in front of the class.

• What about the total lack of men in the film? Even those in positions of power external to the school, such as the visiting Princess or other guests, are women, without exception. When men are not present, the women appropriate their roles, both in administrative positions within the school, and in the play performed by students.

• The Prussian mentality worked towards continual reproduction within the system, almost mass producing proper young women who would then marry, have children, and then send them to the same borguoise schools. The continuation in the cycle is demonstrated with short scenes interspersed throughout the film. In one, two little girls are discussing whether they would ever send their daughters to such a school. The first said she would not; the second was still unsure. A further scene shows a pupil sharing a letter from her mother/family with other students. She reads the letter, and says her mother has forgotten what it was like to attend their school. Perhaps these matrons were subconsciously surpressing any negativity, believing themselves to be satisfied with their current positions. They probably unconsciously realized that this sort of educational experience is the only path to attaining this position, as a continuing member of the borguoise.

• What does this indicate about the headmistress?

• The school is represenative of the patriarchial heirarchy, but uses women in power positions.

• The headmistress is the subject, and can have whatever she wants; she acts as decision-maker, disciplinarian, and head of the household. How then is her role as the subject reflected in the manner in which she runs this school for (objectified) girls?
• During the play, the headmistress was heard to have said that Manuella had nice legs. This comment can be interpreted in a variety of ways. What does this mean? On the one hand, since she holds the subject role and is the head of the school, it is her duty to churn out proper and marriageable young women, and she must therefore be able to judge their status as a potential bride. It is also possible that this sort of comment is permissible because Manuella is wearing the costume of a man, and therefore represents the opposite sex.
    On the other hand, perhaps the headmistress is interested in women over men, and perhaps in Manuella herself in particular. If so former, it means that she has broken character for a moment by letting this "weakness' show. If her comment was an admission of interest in Manuella, then her disapproval Manuella's outburst could be a manifestation of a more subconscious anger. First, the punishment imposed on Manuella could have been a Freudian transference of her own guilt onto the girl, causing her to bear the brunt of the Headmistress's conflicting emotions regarding her attraction to Manueall versus the necessity of repressing any desire for a fellow woman. This same thread can be drawn in a slightly different fashion: Manuella had not only broken the taboo by admitting her desire for another woman, but the woman for whom she lusted was Frau von Brandenberg. It is possible that the punishment imposed on her reflected her own anger at being rejected in favor of Frau von Brandenberg. Naturally, none of this can be substantiated, but neither can the possibility be ruled out.

• What about the end, where Manuella almost throws herself off the stairs? The film made it appear that she believed that she had been wronged, and most of the students agreed with her and pitied her.

• She seemed almost angelic, still clad in the white dress she had worn for the Princess's visit, symbolically representative of her innocence, and almost mawrtyr-like.

• Towards the end, the students turn against most authority figures, particularly the Headmistress and the woman who serves her. The biggest threat to the children is that their parents be told that they are misbehaving.