Raudupiete is a novel written by Rūdolfs Blaumanis, one of Latvia's most respected authors, and published in 1889.
The novel provides examples of:
- Abusive Parents: Raudupiete classifies as she lets her son die so that he will not be able to deter her crush from marrying her.
- All for Nothing: It turns out that the real reason that Karlis did not want to marry Raudupiete is because he is in love with another girl and Raudupiete's son had nothing to do with it meaning that Raudupiete killed her son for nothing.
- Bittersweet Ending: Raudupiete kills her son and then commits suicide when she realises that Karlis never loved her meaning that she killed her son for nothing. The only thing that prevents the ending of the novel from being an outright Downer Ending is that it implied that Raudupiete's son has reincarnated as Karlis's son and does not blame Karlis for his death.
- Driven to Suicide: Raudupiete ends up committing suicide when she realizes that Karlis never really loved her and she let her son die for nothing.
- Everyone Has Standards: Karlis is utterly horrified when he finds out that Raudupiete willingly let her son die so that he would not be able to deter Karlis from marrying her.
- Love Makes You Evil: Raudupiete ends up killing her son due to her infatuation with Karlis.
- Meaningful Name: Raudupiete can be roughly translated from Latvian to English as "River of Tears".
- Offing the Offspring: Raudupiete does not attempt to save her son when he falls down a well which results in his death.
- Poor Communication Kills: A tragic and literal example. Karlis lies to Raudupiete that the reason he doesn't want to marry her is because of her son from a previous marriage.
- Reincarnation: The ending of the novel implies that Raudupiete's deceased son has reincarnated as the son of Karlis and his wife due to the fact that Karlis's son's eyes look identical to the ones that Raudupiete's son had.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Karlis.
