"Adalbert Stifter," in German Men of Letters, Vol. V, edited by Alex Natan, Oswald Wolff, 1969, pp. 183-208.

In the following excerpt, Spalding describes the evolution of Stifter's approach to short fiction.

[Stifter] approached the content of stories as a teacher might—indeed, some critics have maintained (and in some parts of Stifter's works can demonstrate convincingly) that the pedagogue was stronger than the imaginative writer. He certainly limited his range by insisting that a moral purpose be reflected in all his writings. Hence the apparently unsophisticated story-content of his Novellen:

A man gives up the woman he loves for the sake of his mission as a writer. He achieves true happiness through resignation and through acceptance of the gifts bestowed on him by God ("Das Haidedorf"). An egotist striving for distinction and, considering himself superior to others, merely succeeds in becoming peculiar, indeed foolish. Hunting for the particular...