Does revenge fail in realism? Realistic texts imitate the modern legal system that emerged in Germany in the 19th century: they seek to constrain revenge through narrative means. To this day, the promise of revenge as justice proves to be extremely seductive. Dania Hückmann demonstrates how the works of Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, Theodor Fontane, Paul Heyse, and Jeremias Gotthelf present revenge as a failed project. At the same time, revenge reintroduces an outdated legal principle precisely when the judicial system fails. In the literature of realism, revenge does not offer an alternative to the law; rather, it brings nothing but destruction.