HOFFMANN'S RAT KRESPEL (1818) provoked considerable controversy when it was first published, and even today critics are divided over how to view the central character. By and large, these disagreements relate to the reliability of Krespel's account of Antonie's mysterious death. Critics of a psychoanalytical persuasion take a skeptical view, dismissing it as either a lie or, at best, a distortion of the truth, and the explanation they seek goes well beyond that suggested by the councilor himself. Other critics are more concerned with the question of whether Krespel should be regarded as an individual suffering from existential guilt. The question of guilt is, of course, closely bound up with the question of whether Krespel — either as an artist or simply as a human being — is to be regarded as a tragic figure.

In my interpretation I shall argue that there are no obvious reasons for assuming Krespel's explanation of Antonie's death is not accurate and that he tries — either deliberately or unwittingly — to deceive the narrator and the reader. All those interpretations that maintain that Krespel deliberately lies or, at the very least, distorts the truth, assume that the narrator is essentially unreliable because of his youth and lack of experience and that he simply accepts Krespel's version of events at face value. It is true that he has a limited understanding of the situation and is, from the outset, prejudiced against Krespel, assuming — in the absence of any evidence to support his wild assumptions — that he is guilty of foul play and seeing it as his duty to rescue Antonie from her father's clutches.