The Breaking of the Storm · Chapter
X explained
After dinner, the ladies retire.
What happens
After dinner, the ladies retire. Meta von Strummin, feigning tiredness, eagerly speaks with Elsa about her infatuation with the Captain (a lieutenant), confessing her history of falling in love easily and her fears of becoming an old maid. She praises Elsa's beauty and asks about her love life, then becomes emotional before leaving.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Sacrifice
Meta's passionate declarations of love and her history of falling in love easily highlight the theme of romantic idealism and emotional vulnerability.
Illusion vs. Reality
Meta contrasts the pleasant illusions of love with the harsh reality of her family's poverty and her own perceived plainness, expressing a fear of becoming an old maid.
Social Class and Nobility
Meta dismisses the importance of the 'von' and noble pretensions, noting they cannot make one happy without financial support, reflecting class anxieties.
Characters to notice
- Elsa von Werben
Listens to Meta's confessions about love and her own insecurities; is described as having beautiful chestnut-brown hair and hazel eyes.
- Meta von Strummin
Professes to be tired but is actually eager to talk; declares her love for the Captain, recounts past infatuations, and expresses fear of becoming an old maid.
- Frau von Strummin
Mentioned as being accustomed to go to bed at nine o'clock and being really tired.
- Captain von Schönau
The object of Meta's affection; described as young, wise, brave, with beautiful white teeth and a pleasant laugh.
Key passages
“He is the very man I have always dreamt of; young, but not too young, so that one can feel respect for him; wise, but not too wise, so that one is not afraid of him; brave, but no boaster; and then such beautiful white teeth when he laughs, and he laughs so readily and pleasantly.”
Meta describes the Captain as her ideal man: young enough to be respectable, wise but approachable, brave without arrogance, and with an attractive laugh.
Meta's romantic idealization of the Captain.
“For you see our 'von' and our pretensions to nobility are all nonsense. They cannot make anyone happy, particularly when there is nothing to support them, as is the case with us, and when one has a snub nose and red hair, and eyes of which one cannot tell oneself whether they are grey or green, or blue or brown.”
Meta argues that noble titles and pretensions are meaningless without wealth, especially for someone like herself who feels plain and unattractive.
Meta's critique of the nobility's empty status symbols and her own insecurities.