SOURCE: "Tragic Guilt in Storm's Schimmelreiter" in The German Quarterly, Vol. XXV, No. 3, May, 1952, pp. 170-81.

In the following essay, Blankenangel demonstrates that the protagonist's inherited character traits are integral parts of the tale, and, combined with social interaction, help to produce the tale's tragic outcome.

In his "Novelle" Der Schimmelreiter Theodor Storm treated the problem of tragic guilt with great breadth and with profound insight into human character and human relations. Directly, as well as by subtle implications, the entire narrative seems to center around this problem. The author's conception of tragic guilt is presented in Hauke Haien, the central figure. It is rooted in heredity, in Hauke's early training and background, in contacts and conflicts with others, in various aspects of character, aspirations, situation, and environment in a wide sense of the term. The whole portrayal of Hauke's nature and the contrast and animosities between him...