'Murderer's House' - University of Victoria

The dentist and Hans completely override Lene‟s opinion and her authority over her body
when they decide to go ahead with the procedure without her consent and in spite of her
protest. Thus, the medical procedure can be read as a symbolic rape. Lene‟s body is
invaded, she is humiliated, and her integrity and sense of self are violated. Lene
passively accepts the decisions of the two men regarding her well-being in that she
neither protests these decisions nor tries to leave the dentist‟s office. Again, she stoically
endures a fourth violation of her body, this time decided upon by a medical authority and
the head of the household. For his part, Hans places an unerring trust in the dentist‟s
medical expertise. He tells the dentist “Sie müssen tun, was Sie für richtig halten” and
silently watches his traumatized wife as all of her teeth are extracted (Sanders-Brahms,
Film-Erzählung 86). 89 Hans‟ unfaltering trust in the dentist‟s authority can be seen as a
critical comment on post-war Germans‟ tendency to blindly respect authority. The scene
suggests that the cult of obedience that characterized the “Third Reich” has extended into
the Adenauer era.
As a result of the procedure, Lene‟s voice is sacrificed. Her voicelessness further
compromises her agency and compounds her passivity. No longer able to speak clearly,
she is effectively forced into silence. She drinks, takes prescription drugs, and becomes
very depressed. In her emotional state she is unable to think rationally about how to
improve her situation. During the war years she resembled the model of the proactive
problem-solving bride by reacting to contingency with courage, intuition, and purposeful
rational thought. However, after Hans‟ return, Lene comes to resemble the murdered
maiden when she reacts to male aggression with passivity and helplessness. While the
maiden in the fairy tale is so distressed that she cannot even attempt to think of a way to
89 “You must do what you think is right” (Sanders-Brahms, Film-Erzählung 86).
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