Who is Frau Gertrud Hentjen (Esch) from The Sleepwalkers and what is their importance? The_Sleepwalkers English & Literature Frau Gertrud Hentjen (Esch) | The Sleepwalkers

Frau Hentjen, also referred to as Mother Hentjen, is a businesswoman in Cologne who manages a restaurant that was begun by her late husband. She offers great food, a nice atmosphere, and has many regular customers. Hentjen hates her business and her customers, especially the men. She considers them all beneath her. She succumbs to the persistent courtship of Esch, a man much younger than herself. During the entire affair, she treats him badly in the company of others, believes that he is simultaneously carrying on affairs with other women, but she welcomes him to her rooms. She endures his anarchist talk, his comings and goings, and his brutality, and eventually she and Esch are married and find a way to be happy together. When they appear in Part Three, they are a loving couple, and Frau Esch is devoted to August. She feeds and cares for him, and listens to his rantings. On the night of the town riot and fires, she is brutally raped by Huguenau, and does not realize that he has murdered her husband.