Heinrich Von Kleist: The Dramas and Stories - An Interpretation (Hardcover)

Heinrich von Kleist has emerged as one of the great literary figures of his era. Yet, surprisingly few critical studies of his works exist in English. This book attempts to fill the gap by offering an up-to-date reading of Kleist's dramas and stories in the light of recent scholarship in German and other languages. Among the themes explored are the problematical nature of family relationships in Kleist's plays and stories; the failure of communication across a wide scale of social situations; and the theory of metaphor that may be deduced from Kleist's practice as a writer. His works are treated both as literary masterpieces and as facets of an enquiry into human nature in a historical situation in which there are few certainties.