Heinrich von Kleist

Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist (October 18, 1777 - November 21, 1811) was a German poet, dramatist and novelist.

Work

His first tragedy, Die Familie Schroffenstein, has been already referred to; the material for the second, Penthesilea (1808), queen of the Amazons, is taken from a Greek source and presents a picture of wild passion.

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More successful than either of these was his romantic play, Das Käthchen von Heilbronn, oder Die Feuerprobe (1808), a poetic drama full of medieval bustle and mystery, which has retained its popularity. -

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In comedy, Kleist made a name with Der zerbrochne Krug (1811), while Amphitryon (1808), an adaptation of Moliere's comedy, is of less importance.

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Of Kleist's other dramas, Die Hermannschlacht (1809) is a dramatic treatment of an historical subject and is full of

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references to the political conditions of his own times.

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In it he gives vent to his hatred of his country's oppressors. This, together with the drama Prinz Friedrich von Homburg, the latter accounted Kleist's best work, was first published by Ludwig Tieck in Kleist's Hinterlassene Schriften (1821). Robert Guiskard, a drama conceived on a grand plan,

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was left a fragment.

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Kleist was also a master in the art of narrative, and of his Gesammelte Erzählungen (1810-1811), Michael Kohlhaas, in

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which the famous Brandenburg horse dealer in Martin Luther's day is immortalized, is one of the best German stories of its time. Das Erdbeben in Chili and Die heilige Cäcilie oder die Gewalt der Musik are also fine examples of Kleist's story telling as is Die Marquise von O . He also wrote some patriotic lyrics.

Related Topics:
Martin Luther - Das Erdbeben in Chili - Die heilige Cäcilie oder die Gewalt der Musik - Die Marquise von O

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