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Guido Volkbein (senior)
Hedvig is Felix Volkbein’s mother and Guido’s wife. Hedvig appears more like a soldier in the military than a typical, dainty, feminine wife. Guido fell in love with Hedvig soon after meeting her, and Hedvig fell in love with Guido partially because he claimed to be a baron. At 45, Hedvig gave birth to Felix, but only lived long enough to name him and pass him off to a nurse.
Hedvig Volkbein Quotes in Nightwood
The Nightwood quotes below are all either spoken by Hedvig Volkbein or refer to Hedvig Volkbein. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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La Somnambule Quotes
There was something pathetic in the spectacle. Felix reiterating the tragedy of his father. Attired like some haphazard in the mind of a tailor, again in the ambit of his father’s futile attempt to encompass the rhythm of his wife’s stride, Felix, with tightly held monocle, walked beside Robin, talking to her, drawing her attention to this and that, wrecking himself and his peace of mind in an effort to acquaint her with the destiny for which he had chosen her—that she might bear sons who would recognize and honour the past.
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Hedvig Volkbein Character Timeline in Nightwood
The timeline below shows where the character Hedvig Volkbein appears in Nightwood. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Bow Down
The story begins in 1880 when Hedvig Volkbein gives birth to her and her husband’s only child, Felix, on a bed decorated...
(full context)
...complete with a fraudulent coat of arms and a made-up list of ancestors. Guido loved Hedvig (who was not Jewish) and tried to imitate her to make himself more like her....
(full context)
