While Theodor Fontane reacts to Heine's writings sympathetically but not uncritically, the American William Dean Howells responds to the German poet with empathic enthusiasm. Both writers, however, acquire an insight into the contradictions in Heine's romanticism and share his conviction that no subject is unpoetic. This insight offers aesthetic strategies that manifest themselves in the Realistic novel.Während Theodor Fontane die Dichtung Heines aufgeschlossen aber nicht unkritisch aufnimmt, begegnet der Amerikaner William Dean Howells dem deutschen Dichter mit empathischer Begeisterung. Doch gewinnen beide Autoren eine Einsicht in die Widersprüche in Heines Romantik und teilen seine Überzeugung, dass es kein unpoetisches Thema gebe. Diese Einsicht eröffnet ästhetische Strategien, die im realistischen Roman zum Ausdruck kommen.Howells realises that he could not have chosen a better master, for Heine's simple German is the perfect medium for learning the language:The German of Heine, when once you are in the joke of his capricious genius, is very simple, and in his poetry it is simple from the first, so that he was, perhaps the best author I could have fallen in with if I wanted to go fast rather than far. I found this out later, when I attempted other German authors without the glitter of his wit or the lambent glow of his fancy to light me on my hard way. 13 )