Arquivo

Johan Borg is a painter who lives with his wife, Alma, on a island, where they have a summer cottage. One day Baron von Merkens, the owner of the island, invites them to his castle. At the dinner, Borg is mocked and intimidated by his hosts. Meanwhile, Alma has discovered a diary of Johan’s, in which he recalls incidents involving his former mistress, Veronica Vogler, and an apparent murder of a boy on the shore. Borg now goes steadily insane. He tries to shoot Alma with a gun given him by Heerbrand, and then storms up to the castle again. Lindhorst powders him ceremoniously, and then introduces him into a vault where Veronica lies corpse-like on a bier. She awakes, and embraces him violently, to the amusement of the other members of the castle party. Later Johan disappears in a swamp, and Alma, now pregnant, is left on the verge of instability herself.