111
See also: The Robbers 98–99 ■ The Sorrows of Young Werther 105 ■
Lyrical Ballads 110 ■ Faust 112–15 ■ Frankenstein 120–21G
erman Romanticism came
after, and was a reaction
to, Weimar Classicism; its
proponents rejected calm restraint
and cared only about the artist’s
perceptions. Romantic literature in
Germany looked to the medieval
past as a period of intellectual
simplicity that could be recreated.
It also explored the supernatural,
the uncanny, and the fantastical
as realms of the imagination—the
Romantics wanted the world to
become dreamlike, and for dreams
to be so realistic they resembled
the world. German Romanticism
tended to be less serious than
British Romanticism, and often
made use of playful wit.Dark revelations
Nachtstücke by E. T. A. Hoffmann
(1776–1822), from Königsberg in
Prussia, is a collection of eight short
stories that combine a spirit of
lightheartedness with darker
themes of human irrationality. The
stories are written in a simple and
populist tone, accessible to all, and
not self-consciously intellectual.Hoffman was a musician, rather
than a writer; Nachtstücke (“Night
Pieces”) is a musical title, and one of
many German Romantic texts that
were adapted into songs or operas.
The most famous of the stories
is “The Sandman,” in which this
traditionally sympathetic figure,
who blesses children with their
dreams, is revealed as a monster
who instead plucks out their eyes.
The gothic and fantastical tales
offer a disturbing insight into the
human psyche and the individual’s
struggle to feel at ease in society. ■ROMANTICISM AND THE RISE OF THE NOVEL
NOTHING IS MORE
WONDERFUL NOTHING
MORE FANTASTIC
THAN REAL LIFE
NACHTSTÜCKE (1817), E. T. A. HOFFMANN
IN CONTEXT
FOCUS
German RomanticismBEFORE
1797–99 Best known as
a poet, Friedrich Hölderlin
writes the lyrical and tragic
two-part novel Hyperion. The
book reflects the typically
German Romantic fascination
with ancient Greek culture.AFTER
1821 Heinrich von Kleist’s The
Prince of Homburg is staged
for the first time—10 years
after the author’s death by
suicide. The patriotic play, in
which the prince fails to follow
orders and faints in a dream
scene, has been edited so as
not to offend the Prussian elite.1827 The Book of Songs by
Heinrich Heine is published.
A five-section collection of
Romantic poetry that wins
Heine fame, many of the
poems were later set to
music by Franz Schubert
and Robert Schumann.He puts their eyes in a bag
and carries them to the
crescent moon to feed
his own children...
“The Sandman”US_110-111_Ballads_Nachtstucke.indd 111 08/10/2015 13:05