Horse’s Skull and Soul-Mouse: Folklore in a ‘Fairy-Tale’ by WiIhelm Busch

Elements of folklore in literature—motif and/or symbol—tend to be archetypal by nature. This is eminently true of Busch’s weird skull and mysterious mouse. A perceptive reader senses a symbolic level even in the humorous poem. Goethe’s remarks on motif, symbol, and folk-tale can serve here as an introduction to our examination of what appears to be a mere light verse tale

The Hermit in German Literature

In this thorough study of the figure of the hermit in the works of German writers Fitzell analyzes characters in works by Lessing, Goethe, Klinger, Hoffmann, Wieland, Eichendorff and others. The author argues that the figure of the hermit characterizes the quality of inwardness and withdrawal from society characteristic of German literature, and shows how this quality was represented in the age of Goethe