Hindeutung auf das Hoher

This study, the first full-length investigation in English of the structure of Eichendorff's novels, begins by examining Romantic literary theory and its significance for Eichendorff's conception of the Roman. His two novels, Ahnung und Gegenwart and Dichter und ihre Gesellen, are then analysed in the context of both the theory and practice of the Romantic novel, and of Eichendorff's other works. His conception of the Roman is shown to correspond closely to Romantic theory and to find expression in his novels, which reflect in their structure both the seeming confusion of life and its underlying, God-given order, and thereby point beyond themselves to a transcendent significance.