'Murderer's House' - University of Victoria

German women who are rendered “passive, victimized, silent and domesticated
bourgeois housewives who carry out prewar rituals with chagrin in their living rooms”
(Morewedge 235). The ending of the film is indeterminate, and appears to offer Lene no
emancipation from her relegation to the private realm. After heeding Anna‟s pleas not to
kill herself, Lene emerges from the bathroom. Sanders-Brahms asserts in the closing
voice-over: “Aber sie ist immer noch da. Lene ist immer noch da” (Sanders-Brahms,
Film-Erzählung 114). 83 Thus, Lene remains bound to the roles prescribed for mother and
wife in the patriarchal “Wohnstuben” culture of the Adenauer era.
While the role of the old woman as an indentured servant in the robber‟s house
mirrors Lene‟s oppression in the domestic sphere, the two figures are also similar in their
capacities as helpers of other women. As Mendelson has noted, “Der Räuberbräutigam”
is one of the few Grimm fairy tales in which female characters work together in a
supportive alliance (111-112). In this tale, the humanity of the wise old woman is
emphasized when she warns the miller‟s daughter of her husband‟s murderous activities
and decides to take pity on her. The elderly female figure assists the younger heroine in
several different ways. First, she hides the girl behind a large barrel before the band of
robbers enters the house. Next, she rescues the miller‟s daughter from discovery by
discouraging a robber to search for the hacked-off finger which has landed in the lap of
the terrified heroine. Further she drugs the men‟s wine with a sleeping draught, thereby
permitting both herself and the miller‟s daughter to escape the robber‟s den. Hence, the
wise old woman collaborates with the young heroine in order to secure their mutual
safety.
83 “But she is still here. Lene is still here” (Sanders-Brahms, Film-Erzählung 114).
113