The Baron
The Baron and His Baroness
Before he left for a visit to his outlying districts, the jealous Baron warned his pretty wife, “Don’t leave the castle while I am gone, or I will punish you severely when I return!” But as the hours passed, the young Baroness grew lonely, and despite her husband’s warning decided to visit her lover who lived in the countryside nearby.
The castle was located on an island in a wide, fast-flowing river, with a drawbridge linking the island to land at the narrowest point in the river. “Surely my husband will not return before dawn,” she thought and ordered her servants to lower the drawbridge and leave it down until she returned.
After spending several pleasant hours with her lover, the Baroness returned to the drawbridge, only to find it blocked by a madman wildly waving a long and cruel knife. “Do not attempt to cross this bridge or I will kill you,” he raved. Fearing for her life, the Baroness returned to her lover and asked him to help. “Our relationship is only a romantic one,” he said. “I will not help.”
The Baroness then sought out a boatman on the river, explained her plight to him, and asked him to take her across the river in his boat. “I will do it, but only if you pay me five marks.” “But I have no money with me!” the Baroness protested. “Too bad. No money, no ride,” the boatman said flatly.
Her fear growing, the Baroness ran crying to the home of a friend, and after again explaining her situation, begged for enough money to pay the boatman his fee. “If you had not disobeyed your husband, this would not have happened,” the friend said. “I will give you no money.”
With her last resource exhausted the Baroness returned to the bridge in desperation, attempted to cross to the castle, and was slain by the madman.
Instructions: There are two parts to this assignment.
PART I: On your own, for each group character below, indicate who was the most responsible (1) to least responsible (6) for the death of the
Before he left for a visit to his outlying districts, the jealous Baron warned his pretty wife, “Don’t leave the castle while I am gone, or I will punish you severely when I return!” But as the hours passed, the young Baroness grew lonely, and despite her husband’s warning decided to visit her lover who lived in the countryside nearby.
The castle was located on an island in a wide, fast-flowing river, with a drawbridge linking the island to land at the narrowest point in the river. “Surely my husband will not return before dawn,” she thought and ordered her servants to lower the drawbridge and leave it down until she returned.
After spending several pleasant hours with her lover, the Baroness returned to the drawbridge, only to find it blocked by a madman wildly waving a long and cruel knife. “Do not attempt to cross this bridge or I will kill you,” he raved. Fearing for her life, the Baroness returned to her lover and asked him to help. “Our relationship is only a romantic one,” he said. “I will not help.”
The Baroness then sought out a boatman on the river, explained her plight to him, and asked him to take her across the river in his boat. “I will do it, but only if you pay me five marks.” “But I have no money with me!” the Baroness protested. “Too bad. No money, no ride,” the boatman said flatly.
Her fear growing, the Baroness ran crying to the home of a friend, and after again explaining her situation, begged for enough money to pay the boatman his fee. “If you had not disobeyed your husband, this would not have happened,” the friend said. “I will give you no money.”
With her last resource exhausted the Baroness returned to the bridge in desperation, attempted to cross to the castle, and was slain by the madman.
Instructions: There are two parts to this assignment.
PART I: On your own, for each group character below, indicate who was the most responsible (1) to least responsible (6) for the death of the