Act II, Scene 1 through Act II, Scene 3 Summary

In Act II, Scene 1, Melchior and Moritz are talking. Moritz says he's been studying constantly. Ernst has failed six times, but Moritz has only failed five times and swears not to fail again. Moritz tells the story of a headless queen who meets a king with two heads. The king gives the queen one of his heads, and they live happily ever after. Moritz himself feels headless.

Melchior's mother brings tea and warns Moritz about studying too much. She's also concerned that the boys are reading Faust because of Faust's illicit relationship with Gretchen. She says that she trusts Melchior to make good decisions, though. Moritz says that he read Melchior's explanation of sex, and they wonder about girls' enjoyment of sex.

In the second scene, Mrs. Bergmann tells Wendla that...