The Broken Jug is an eleven-scene satirical play by turn of the nineteenth-century German playwright Heinrich von Kleist. Written in 1806 after Kleist was challenged to produce a comedy, the play was first staged in 1808 by the renowned German literary titan Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.The play’s humor works on several levels. On the most basic level, the play stages a trial to figure out who is responsible for breaking a ceramic jug – but the culprit also turns out to be the same person who tried to sexually assault a young woman in the village. “Breaking the jug” was a slang term for losing one’s virginity, so the play is riddled with double-entendres.The play’s satire is aimed at the judicial system, which is built on ideals that simply cannot overcome the failings of human nature. Throughout the play, the audience knows that the judge who presides over the trial is actually the guilty man. Because of this, instead of being the objective arbiter of justice, the judge mostly just tries to desperately cover his tracks.