Die Narrenburg im Waldwinkel: Theodor Storms Auseinandersetzung mit Adalbert Stifter

Although the proximity between Storm’s ›Waldwinkel‹ and Stifter’s ›Die Narrenburg‹ has often been observed, no detailed comparison has been attempted yet. The present study aims at showing the continuities and discontinuities between the two novellas through an accurate description of the narrative perspectives and of the characters. It becomes then apparent that the sound utopian world which Stifter calls up in the fairy-tale marriage of the aristocracy with the bourgeoisie cannot be found in Storm’s novella, which portrays a very dark and disenchanted world marked by capitalism and gender struggle.