Metropolis by Thea von Harbou
"Metropolis" is a narrative that intertwines themes of class struggle and industrialization, originating from Thea von Harbou's novelization of Fritz Lang's 1926 film. Set in a dystopian future, the story follows Freder, the privileged son of Joh Fredersen, who oversees the sprawling, stratified city. His comfortable life is disrupted by a young woman named Maria, who highlights the suffering of the oppressed workers. As Freder witnesses the harsh realities of labor conditions, he becomes determined to bridge the divide between the working class and the elite rulers of Metropolis.
The plot escalates as Joh Fredersen, threatened by Freder's growing empathy, collaborates with an inventor named Rotwang to create an android designed to manipulate and control the workers. This android, disguised as Maria, incites chaos and rebellion amongst the laborers, leading to catastrophic consequences for the city. In the midst of turmoil, Freder finds himself in a race against time to save both Maria and the workers’ children from the disaster triggered by the uprising. Ultimately, the narrative calls for reconciliation and renewal, as Freder vows to act as a mediator to heal the rift between the city's classes and guide them towards a more harmonious future.
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Subject Terms
Metropolis
First published: 1926 (English translation, 1927)
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Science fiction—cautionary
Time of work: 2000
Locale: The city of Metropolis
The Plot
Metropolis is Thea von Harbou’s novelization of the scenario for the 1926 film Metropolis, directed by Fritz Lang. Although the story has its origins in Lang’s vision of the city of the future and his fascination with modern industrial machinery, the main elements of the plot were devised by von Harbou.
The story concerns the efforts of Freder to mediate between the oppressed workers and the managerial elite of the city of Metropolis. As the son of Joh Fredersen, the mastermind controlling the great city, Freder leads a life of tremendous privilege until his complacency is disturbed by a young woman. As she leads a group of working-class children into the pleasure gardens of the sons of the elite, Maria reminds Freder that these emaciated waifs are his brothers and sisters. Freder descends into the machine rooms below the city and has a vision of the machines as merciless gods consuming the workers that serve them. When Freder raises the question of the plight of the workers, his father dismisses his concerns. Joh Fredersen rationalizes this by pointing out that nonintellectual laborers are inherently inefficient and must ultimately be replaced.
Dismayed by the callousness of his father’s attitude, Freder descends once more into the machine rooms. There he changes clothes with one of the workers, No. 11811, at his machine, intending to finish the work shift and experience the life of his brothers below ground. At the end of the shift, he follows the workers to a vaulted sepulcher deep below the machine rooms. There he finds Maria preaching a sermon to the workers and soothing their frustrations with the masters of Metropolis. She promises the workers that a mediator will come to help the Brain and the Hands of Metropolis to understand each other once again. As the meeting ends, Freder is convinced that he will be the mediator that Maria prophesies.
Meanwhile, Joh Fredersen has gone to consult with an inventor, Rotwang, about his project to replace the inefficient human workers. Fredersen has ordered machine people to replace the industrial workers. Rotwang has exceeded his scope of his instructions and created an android in female form. Having been given a copy of the workers’ plan by the foreman, Grot, Fredersen observes Maria’s sermon to the workers and begins to devise a plan to kidnap her. Using Rotwang’s android in Maria’s form, Fredersen hopes to discredit her in his son’s eyes and foment a worker rebellion that will give him the excuse to replace all the workers with his machine people.
Following Fredersen’s plan, the android incites the workers to riot and destroy the machines. The workers attack the main power room, shutting down power to the entire city. When the workers discover that the power shutdown will flood their own homes beneath the machine rooms and drown their children, they seek vengeance on the android they believe to be Maria. Meanwhile, the real Maria escapes and returns to the workers’ city, where she finds the children fleeing the rising floodwaters.
Freder seeks out his father and confronts him about his apparent inaction in the face of the disaster befalling Metropolis. Fredersen tells his son that the city must be ruined so that Freder can rebuild it. He admits that he forced the workers into rebellion so that Freder could redeem them.
Freder descends into the machine rooms, finding Maria and the workers’ children trapped by the rising floodwaters. While Maria leads the children to safety, Freder is captured by the rioting workers and taken to the cathedral square, where workers are burning the android Maria at the stake. Meanwhile, Rotwang has succumbed to his madness and pursues Maria through the cathedral. Freder rushes to her aid, and Rotwang falls to his death from the cathedral roof. Maria extracts a promise from Freder that, as mediator, he will help his father and the workers build Metropolis anew. Fredersen accepts his part of the task as a penitent, choosing positive action instead of a pilgrimage to atone for his sin of excessive pride as the builder and master of the city of Metropolis.