Why is Spitteler sometimes seen as pessimistic?
My work may appear somber to those who seek facile optimism. But I do not preach despair; rather, I illuminate the stark realities of the human condition. The world presents itself as a magnificent, often brutal, spectacle, and our brief existence is a journey fraught with internal conflict and external strife. This is the path paved with the stones of doubt. My characters, like Prometheus, are often caught in tragic circumstances, wrestling with forces beyond their full control. Yet, even in this twilight, there is a grandeur in the struggle, a defiance in the striving. My 'pessimism' is perhaps a clear-eyed recognition of the tragic, which paradoxically can lead to a profound affirmation of the will to endure and create.
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