About the work
Judith is a tragedy in five acts by Friedrich Hebbel, his first play, written between October 1839 and January 1840. It premiered on 6 July 1840 at the Royal Court Theatre in Berlin; the printed edition followed in 1841.
Plot
During the siege of Bethulia, the beautiful widow Judith enters the camp of the Assyrian general Holofernes, seduces him, and beheads him with his own sword after he rapes her, saving her people. Unlike the biblical account, Hebbel's Judith is traumatised by the act and prays not to bear Holofernes's child.
Cultural significance
Hebbel brings the biblical heroine down from her exalted role into a psychologically grounded everyday reality: an unwanted pregnancy would undo Judith's deed and bring her social exclusion. The play established Hebbel's reputation and was performed in Hamburg that same year and later in Vienna.