Heinrich von Kleist, Michael Kohlhaas

Elystan Griffiths (University of Birmingham)

Ed. by Gerhard P. Knapp, University of Utah
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.4.2: German-language Writing and Culture: Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, 800-present.
Vol. editors: Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah), Jennifer Marston William (Purdue University), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jill E. Twark (East Carolina University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1810

Places

Germany, Brandenburg (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Story

Resources

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Heinrich von Kleist’s narrative

Michael Kohlhaas

(1810) is widely acknowledged as a masterpiece in its genre. In the space of some one hundred pages, it unfolds a complex tale of a law-abiding horse trader who launches a campaign of violence against the nobleman Wenzel von Tronka following the illegal confiscation of his horses. The opening paragraph presents the reader with the main interpretative challenge in a particularly acute form, as it describes Kohlhaas as one of the most decent and most dreadful people of his time: a pillar of the community whose sense of right turned him into a robber and a murderer. The text raises difficult political and legal questions concerning the duties and responsibilities of both princes and citizens, the problems of absolutist government, and the…

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1977 words

Citation: Griffiths, Elystan. "Michael Kohlhaas". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 26 January 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=13115, accessed 25 April 2024.]

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