Books with title The Prussian Officer

They had marched more than thirty kilometres since dawn, along the white, hot road where occasional thickets of trees threw a moment of shade, then out into the glare again. On either hand, the valley, wide and shallow, glittered with heat; dark green patches of rye, pale young corn, fallow and meadow and black pine woods spread in a dull, hot diagram under a glistening sky. But right in front the mountains ranged across, pale blue and very still, snow gleaming gently out of the deep atmosphere. And towards the mountains, on and on, the regiment marched between the rye fields and the meadows, between the scraggy fruit trees set regularly on either side the high road. The burnished, dark green rye threw on a suffocating heat, the mountains drew gradually nearer and more distinct. While the feet of the soldiers grew hotter, sweat ran through their hair under their helmets, and their knapsacks could burn no more in contact with their shoulders, but seemed instead to give off a cold, prickly sensation.

In this classic story of sexual repression and tension that, when released, explodes into maddened violence, D. H. Lawrence examines the psychology of two men, both German soldiers. The captain, a Junker aristocrat, tall, muscular, and an expert horseman, is accustomed to domineering his soldiers just as he subjugates horses. He is, however, isolated from the vital life of other soldiers; fortyish and unmarried, he has had occasional mistresses but has always returned from their arms with greater tension and irritability after he resumes his military duties. Cold, impersonal, and harsh, he is subconsciously tormented by repressed homoerotic desire for his young orderly, Schoner, whose name means “more beautiful” in German, and whose vigorous physical presence is “like a warm flame on the older man’s tense, rigid body.” In the most extensive section of the story, part 1, Lawrence develops the theme of conflict between these men, who are locked in a fatal struggle for domination of both body and spirit. With mounting fury, the captain attempts to break down his orderly’s will. At one point, he demands to know why Schoner has a piece of pencil stuck behind his ear. When he learns that the young man has been writing a letter to his sweetheart, the officer humiliates the youth. By the end of this section, the two men are driven by hatred and self-loathing.

The first narrative in the collection is "The Prussian Officer", which tells of a Captain and his orderly. Having wasted his youth gambling, the captain has been left with only his military career, and though he has taken on mistresses throughout his life, he remains single. His young orderly is involved in a relationship with a young woman, and the captain, feeling sexual tension towards the young man, prevents the orderly from engaging in the relationship by taking up his evenings. These evenings lead to the captain abusing his orderly and leaving large, painful bruises on his thighs, making it hard for the orderly to walk. Whilst isolated in a forest during manoeuvres, the orderly takes out murderous revenge on the captain, but finds himself in a daze seemingly due both to the pain of the bruises and thirst. The orderly eventually collapses and dies in the hospital shortly there after. The corpses of the two men lay side by side.

Because of his frank and honest portrayal of human sexuality in the controversial works for which he is best known, e.g. "Lady Chatterley’s Lover" and "Women in Love", D. H. Lawrence was not widely respected in his day. In fact at the time of his death he was considered little more than a pornographer. However E. M. Forester challenged this portrayal calling Lawrence "The greatest imaginative novelist of our generation", and with his extended reflection upon the dehumanizing effects of modernity and industrialization, Lawrence has ultimately secured his position as one of the greatest writers in the English language. "The Prussian Officer and Other Stories" is a collection of his short stories first published in 1914 which exhibit this great literary talent. The stories of this volume include the following tales: The Prussian Officer, The Thorn in the Flesh, Daughters of the Vicar, A Fragment of Stained Glass, The Shades of Spring, Second Best, The Shadow in the Rose Garden, Goose Fair, The White Stocking, A Sick Collier, The Christening, and Odour of Chrysanthemums.

They had marched more than thirty kilometres since dawn, along the white, hot road where occasional thickets of trees threw a moment of shade, then out into the glare again. On either hand, the valley, wide and shallow, glittered with heat; dark green patches of rye, pale young corn, fallow and meadow and black pine woods spread in a dull, hot diagram under a glistening sky. But right in front the mountains ranged across, pale blue and very still, snow gleaming gently out of the deep atmosphere. And towards the mountains, on and on, the regiment marched between the rye fields and the meadows, between the scraggy fruit trees set regularly on either side the high road. The burnished, dark green rye threw off a suffocating heat, the mountains drew gradually nearer and more distinct. While the feet of the soldiers grew hotter, sweat ran through their hair under their helmets, and their knapsacks could burn no more in contact with their shoulders, but seemed instead to give off a cold, prickly sensation.

David Herbert Richards Lawrence (11 September 1885 - 2 March 1930) was an English novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, literary critic and painter who published as D. H. Lawrence. His collected works represent an extended reflection upon the dehumanising effects of modernity and industrialisation. In them, Lawrence confronts issues relating to emotional health and vitality, spontaneity, and instinct.

The first narrative in the collection is "The Prussian Officer", which tells of a Captain and his orderly. Having wasted his youth gambling, the captain has been left with only his military career, and though he has taken on mistresses throughout his life, he remains single. His young orderly is involved in a relationship with a young woman, and the captain, feeling sexual tension towards the young man, prevents the orderly from engaging in the relationship by taking up his evenings. These evenings lead to the captain abusing his orderly and leaving large, painful bruises on his thighs, making it hard for the orderly to walk. Whilst isolated in a forest during man oeuvres, the orderly takes out murderous revenge on the captain, but finds himself in a daze seemingly due both to the pain of the bruises and thirst. The orderly eventually collapses and dies in the hospital shortly thereafter. The corpses of the two men lay side by side

Because of his frank and honest portrayal of human sexuality in the controversial works for which he is best known, e.g. "Lady Chatterley’s Lover" and "Women in Love", D. H. Lawrence was not widely respected in his day. In fact at the time of his death he was considered little more than a pornographer. However E. M. Forester challenged this portrayal calling Lawrence "The greatest imaginative novelist of our generation", and with his extended reflection upon the dehumanizing effects of modernity and industrialization, Lawrence has ultimately secured his position as one of the greatest writers in the English language. "The Prussian Officer and Other Stories" is a collection of his short stories first published in 1914 which exhibit this great literary talent. The stories of this volume include the following tales: The Prussian Officer, The Thorn in the Flesh, Daughters of the Vicar, A Fragment of Stained Glass, The Shades of Spring, Second Best, The Shadow in the Rose Garden, Goose Fair, The White Stocking, A Sick Collier, The Christening, and Odour of Chrysanthemums.

The Prussian Officer They had marched more than thirty kilometres since dawn, along the white, hot road where occasional thickets of trees threw a moment of shade, then out into the glare again. On either hand, the valley, wide and shallow, glittered with heat; dark green patches of rye, pale young corn, fallow and meadow and black pine woods spread in a dull, hot diagram under a glistening sky. But right in front the mountains ranged across, pale blue and very still, snow gleaming gently out of the deep atmosphere. And towards the mountains, on and on, the regiment marched between the rye fields and the meadows, between the scraggy fruit trees set regularly on either side the high road. The burnished, dark green rye threw on a suffocating heat, the mountains drew gradually nearer and more distinct. While the feet of the soldiers grew hotter, sweat ran through their hair under their helmets, and their knapsacks could burn no more in contact with their shoulders, but seemed instead to give off a cold, prickly sensation. He walked on and on in silence, staring at the mountains ahead, that rose sheer out of the land, and stood fold behind fold, half earth, half heaven, the heaven, the banner with slits of soft snow, in the pale, bluish peaks.