SOURCE: “Die Ahnfrau,” in A Sense of Irony: An Examination of the Tragedies of Franz Grillparzer, Herbert Lang, 1976, pp. 19-36.

In the following essay, Thompson discusses Grillparzer's drama Die Ahnfrau, focusing on his handling of supernatural elements and observing that the actions of Grillparzer's characters stem naturally from their motives, despite the supernatural workings of the plot.

Since its first performance in 1817 Grillparzer's Die Ahnfrau has frequently been the subject of controversy, much of the argument having centred on the problem of the play's classification.¹ Initially it was regarded as a mere “Gespensterstück” and attacked as an example of romantic fate-tragedy,² but it was eventually recognised, for example by Jakob Minor, that although the undoubted presence of fatalistic elements placed the play within the tradition of the German fate-tragedy, one need not necessarily assume that events are brought about by the machinations of supernatural malignant forces.³ If...