Every nation has literary classics that shape its cultural identity. Germans have Faust, Goethe’s play about the successful but dissatisfied scientist Dr Heinrich Faust, who makes a deal with the devil. Faust has been performed, referenced and read in schools for more than two centuries now. Interestingly, the most tragic character in this tragedy is not the protagonist, but his “love interest”, Gretchen – a teenage girl groomed by the old man, impregnated and socially ostracised. Her solution? She drowns her “illegitimate” newborn child, accepts her death penalty and rejects Faust’s offer to save her from prison. In God’s mercy, the Christian girl seeks salvation and off goes Faust with the devil to new adventures in Faust, Part Two.
What would Gretchen do today, I wonder. Her fate is not only a result of sexual abuse and an inherently misogynistic morality, but also nonexistent reproductive rights. In today’s Germany, abortion is still illegal under the criminal code. It is nonpunishable under certain conditions, particularly during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, but nonetheless, in practice a modern-day Gretchen might have difficulty finding a doctor willing to perform a termination, depending on where she lives. Moreover, Gretchen might be intimidated by the stigma, which is not just societal but enshrined in German law.
