"Deathfugue" and Other Poems
Death Fugue
How are Marguerite and Shulamith supposed to be related to each other? Are they rivals? Who is Margarete and Shulamith?
How are Marguerite and Shulamith supposed to be related to each other? Are they rivals? Who is Margarete and Shulamith?
Marguerite is a blue eyed, blonde haired golden girl who is a symbol of the perfect German. She is based loosely on a character in Goethe's "Faust". She is adored by the guard because of what she represents.Shulamith is ashen haired rather than blonde; although beautiful, she is the opposite of Marguerite and therefore the opposite of what is required to be a part of the German nation. Her ashen hair is a symbol of the burning of the Jewish prisoners and the fact that their race and culture are being removed from Germany.