Unruly Children; S. 608

During the Biedermeier period, children were viewed as pure, innocent and examples for adults to follow. The author Wilhelm Busch had a different view and decided to compose an illustrated book that depicted children as being honest in what they were–”active and selfish”. His book Max und Moritz: Eine Bubengeschichte in sieben Streichen [...]

The Confusion of Genre; S. 399

Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz was a writer in Germany who lived during the latter half of the 18th century. His work is rarely known outside of his lifetime and for this reason, he was considered a failure by other writers of the time such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Der Hofmeister was Lenz’s [...]

Andreus Gryphius: Es ist alles eitel

Andreas Gryphius hat dieses Gedicht in der Dreißigjärigerkrieg geschrieben. Ich glaube daß, es der allgemeinen Sicht der Zeit entspricht. Das deutsche Volk hatte hart gearbeitet, die Entwicklung ihrer Kultur, aber es wurde mit Füßen getreten durch seine Leute in diesem Krieg. Der Autor bringt seine Trauer für sein Vaterland in diesem Gedicht. Gryphius hat Städte [...]

The Baroque Novel and the Romance Tradition, S. 330

After the printing press had been invented and improved over the years, printers began releasing translations of very old works. Authors of the late 17th century began composing fictional novels based on the ancient Greek “romance” novels. Authors of these novels would often follow a model that listed certain plot factors that should appear in [...]