Biography

Baker, Joseph O. The Ethics of Life and Death with Heinrich von Kleist. New York: Peter Lang, 1992, 124 p.

Examines Kleist's search for values, illuminating his literary motivation.

Cohen, Arthur A. "The Sufferings of Heinrich von Kleist." The New Criterion 2, No. 4 (December 1983): 26-34.

Biographical piece that describes the impact of Kleist's unhappy life on his writings.

Maass, Joachim. Kleist: A Biography. Translated by Ralph Manheim. London: Secker & Warburg, 1983, 313 p.

A straightforward biography.

March, Richard. Heinrich von Kleist. Cambridge: Bowes & Bowes, 1954, 60 p.

A short biography that examines the phases of Kleist's life.

Zweig, Stefan. Master Builders: A Typology of the Spirit. New York: The Viking Press, 1930, 905 p.

Includes a lengthy chapter on Kleist's life, focusing on his "struggle with the daimon."

Criticism

Bennett, E. K. A History of the German Novelle. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1934, 296 p.

Examines the history of the Novelle genre and categorizes Kleist's groundbreaking tales as "metaphysical" Novellen.

Clouser, Robin A. "Heroism in Kleist's Das Erdbeben in Chili." The Germanic Review LVIII, No. 4 (Fall 1983): 129-40.

Proposes that the heroic elements of "Das Erdbeben in Chili" have been neglected by critics and can be used to determine the main character and themes.

Dyer, Denys. The Stories of Kleist: A Critical Study. London: Duckworth, 1977, 205 p.

Evaluates each Kleist Novellen and contains a detailed biographical chapter.

Ellis, John M. Narration in the German Novelle: Theory and Interpretation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1974, 219 p.

Describes "Das Erdbeben in Chili" as an example of narration in the German Novelle genre.

Gausewitz, Walter. "Kleist's Erdbeben" in Monatschefte LV, No. 4 (April-May 1963): 188-94.

Suggests that Kleist's "Das Erdbeben in Chili" is representative of the period of transition from the old to the modern Novelle.

Geary, John. Heinrich von Kleist: A Study in Tragedy and Anxiety. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1968, 202 p.

Surveys the elements of tragedy in Kleist's Novellen, plays, and minor writings.

Glenny, Robert E. The Manipulation of Reality in Works by Heinrich von Kleist. New York: Peter Lang, 1987, 245 p.

A study of reality as it relates to Kleist's characters, their worlds, and their interaction.

Graham, Ilse. Heinrich von Kleist—Word into Flesh: A Poet's Quest for the Symbol. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1977, 289 p.

An attempt to clarify Kleist's spiritual quest as it informs the canon of his work.

Heine, Thomas. "Kleist's St. Cecilia and the Power of Politics," in Seminar: A Journal of Germanic Studies XVI, No. 2 (May 1980): 71-82.

Examines inconsistencies in previous critical treatments of Kleist's "St. Cecilia, or The Power of Music."

Jacobs, Carol. Uncontainable Romanticism: Shelley, Bronte, Kleist. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989, 233 p.

A critical look at the open parameters of the Romantic literature of Shelley, Bronte, and Kleist, examining Kleist's Michael Kohlhaas, "The Duel," and "The Foundling."

Landwehr, Margarete. "The Balancing Scales of Justice: Chance, Fate, and Symmetry in Kleist's Novellas." Colloquia Germanica 25, No. 3/4 (1992): 255-74.

Discusses how justice is handled in Kleist's novellas through chance, fate, and symmetry.

Laurs, Axel. "Narrative Strategy in Heinrich von Kleist's Die Heilige Cacilie Oder die Gewalt der Musik (Eine Legende)." AUMLA: Journal of the Australasian Universities Language and Literature, No. 60 (November 1983): 220-33.

Analyzes structure, composition, and narrative techniques in "Die Heilige Cacilie."

Lucas, Von R. S. "Studies in Kleist: Michael Kohlhaas." Deutsche Vierteljahrsschrift Fur Literaturwissenschaft und Geistesgeschichte 44, No. 1 (1970): 120-70.

Studies the criticism on the complicated novella Michael Kohlhaas.

Mann, Thomas. "Kleist and His Stories." In The Marquise of O—and Other Stories by Heinrich von Kleist. New York: Criterion Books, 1960, 318 p.

The preface to Kleist's collection of Novellen, which provides both biographical and critical overviews to the works.

Passage, C. E. "Michael Kohlhaas: Form Analysis." The Germanic Review 30, No. 3 (October 1955): 181-97.

A close examination of Michael Kohlhaas.

Silz, Walter. Heinrich von Kleist: Studies in His Works and Literary Character. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1961, 313 p.

Critical studies of Kleist's prose and dramas.

Ugrinski, Alexej, ed. Heinrich von Kleist—Studies. Berlin: Erich Schmidt Verlag, 1980, 293 p.

Explores studies on Kleist's dramas, prose, and biographical influences; includes critical as well as comparative studies.

Additional coverage of Kleist's life and career is contained in the following sources published by Gale Research: Dictionary of Literary Biography, Vol. 90; and Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism, Vols. 2, 37.