Shot? Oh, no, Herr Hans, you'd never shoot me!
Hoffman:
Why not?
Hedwig:
Do I have to tell you, stupid? I am a woman: I can get in the crops; I can keep the country going while you are away fighting, and, most important, I might give you a soldier for your next army—for the kingdom. Don't you see my value? [Laughs strangely.] Oh, no, you'd never shoot me!
Mother:
There, there, don't excite her, sir.
Hedwig: [Her head in her hands, on the table.]
God! I wish you would shoot me! If you don't give me back my Franz! I've no mind to bring a son into the world for this bloody thing you call war.
Hoffman: