Heinrich Heine's essay Ideen. Das Buch Le Grand has been attacked
by some critics as a disorganized work while others have praised
it as a masterpiece. These divergent opinions concerning Heine's
style are briefly considered in this thesis. A textual as well as
structural analysis of the essay demonstrates that the poet's conflict
between rationalism and romant i cism constitutes the unifying
theme of the work. Thereby the study shows that the essay merely
appears digressive and unsystematic yet is indeed an intricately
balanced work.