This is a reissue of Professor Stern's distinguished study of German prose from the death of Goethe to the heyday of the Wilhelminian Empire.

Acknowledgements; Preface to the 1981 reissue; Introduction; 1. Antecedents and Comparisons; 2. Beyond the common indication: Grillparzer; 3. A world of suffering: Georg Büchner; 4. The aesthetic of re-interpretation: Schopenhauer; 5. History and prophecy: Heine; 6. Propitations: Adalbert Stifter; 7. Realism and tolerance: Theodor Fontane; Epilogue; Three Notes; Index.