Kleist's Aristocratic Heritage and Das Käthchen von Heilbronn

Roman S. Struc is a professor of Germanic and Slavic Studies at the
University of Calgary.

Reeve, a professor of German at Queen’s University, presents here
another study of a German Romantic author, Heinrich von Kleist. Whereas
his first (1987’s In Pursuit of Power: Heinrich von Kleist’s
Machiavellian Protagonists) dealt with that author’s political views,
the present monograph concentrates on von Kleist’s somewhat
controversial play, Das Kдthchen von Heilbronn, and attempts to resolve
some of the difficulties and apparent incongruities by arguing that von
Kleist’s treatment of his heroine can be explained by his aristocratic
background and ethos, which make it possible, even necessary, to
privilege Kдthchen as a character of superior qualities. To
substantiate his argument, Reeve refers the reader to both historical
and biographical material. Perhaps more importantly, his analysis of the
play points to scenes, dialogues, and linguistic usage that convincingly
support his views.

The play is extensively discussed in the context of von Kleist’s
other plays, specifically drawing the reader’s attention to the
similarities between this play and von Kleist’s two other masterpieces
Der zerbrochene Krug and Prinz Friedrich von Homburg. Furthermore, the
book’s last chapter compares and contrasts von Kleist’s play with
two other masterpieces of German drama, Schiller’s Kabale und Liebe
and Hebbel’s Agnes Bernauer. The chapter is appropriately called
“Love Across the Class Barrier” and vividly shows Kleist’s
aristocratic bias. Reeve’s scholarship is quite impressive, and the
book is carefully edited. The scholarly audience at which it is aimed
will appreciate the author’s fine effort.