Summary Of The Play 'Night Of Long Knives'

Bent begins just as the Night of Long Knives is happening, an event that shakes the lives of the main character Max and his lover Rudy. The opening scene shows SA officer Wolfgang Granz, who had been sexually involved with Max the previous night being apprehended by the gestapo, and then brutally murdered. This opening scene sets the tone for subsequent events, depicting the ruthless, violent brutality being used against those who found themselves on the wrong side of the Nazi regime. As the play progresses, we witness Max and Rudy attempt to hide, an effort that culminates to them both being apprehended and heading for the concentration camp, Dachau. Tragically, Rudy is murdered on the train and Max arrives traumatised, disillusioned and alone.

We learn that Freddie is also a homosexual, but is maintaining a heterosexual façade publicly, being married to a woman. Freddie tries to suggest the lifestyle Max has choosen to live, being publicly gay, partly to injure the family pride. An interesting observation that Sterling (2002:377) makes is that there may be another possibility that Freddie hadn’t considered. Perhaps Max, to some extent, has come to terms with his homosexuality and refuses to hide it from anyone, even his relatives. This would mean Max is initially more honest with himself than Freddie, who has given in to societal and familial prejudices and outwardly complies to what is expected of him. When considering this it becomes much more difficult to analyse exactly how Max’s identity is to be perceived. One possibility is to consider his blatant and open homosexuality prior to the later events, there were no attempts to hide who he was. However, learning more about how he views homosexuals and in turn himself, observing they cannot love, implying something is inherently wrong. This paints a sexual identity that is in effect, crippled and tainted by the views of the homophobic and those who do not