SOURCE: Carter, T. E. “Freytag's Soll und Haben: A Liberal National Manifesto as a Best-Seller.” German Life and Letters, n.s., XXI, no. 4 (July 1968): 320-29.

In the following essay, Carter discusses the popularity of Soll und Haben and attributes its success to the novel's appeal to middle class concerns and its anticipation of German unification.

Freytag's Soll und Haben appeared in 1855 and although it is still mentioned in the histories of literature, it is unlikely to have been read by the foreign Germanist or by the younger Germanist in Germany or in general by someone in the south of Germany. If we take it as literature, this implied criticism by neglect is as it should be. As we go through it, we inevitably make comparisons which reflect badly on the work, but it has pretensions and, in spite of obvious defects, merits.

The hero of Soll und Haben...