Wagner and the Romantic Hero [Hardcover]

Simon Williams addresses one of the most controversial aspects of Wagner's work, heroes and the heroic.Few major artists have aroused the ire and adulation of successive generations as persistently as Richard Wagner. Simon Williams explores the reasons for this adulation and antipathy by analysing heroism in Wagner's work. Williams examines this heroism as a function of Wagner's theatre and music, beginning with a definition of the concept of the heroic, and also analyses all thirteen stage works by Wagner and his adaptation of the figure of the Romantic hero.Few major artists have aroused the ire and adulation of successive generations as persistently as Richard Wagner. Simon Williams explores the reasons for this adulation and antipathy by analysing heroism in Wagner's work. Williams examines this heroism as a function of Wagner's theatre and music, beginning with a definition of the concept of the heroic, and also analyses all thirteen stage works by Wagner and his adaptation of the figure of the Romantic hero.Few major artists have aroused the ire and adulation of successive generations as persistently as Richard Wagner. Simon Williams explores the reasons for this adulation and antipathy by analyzing heroism in Wagner's work. Beginning with a definition of the concept of the heroic, Williams then examines it as a function of Wagner's theater and music. He also analyzes all thirteen stage works by Wagner as well as his adaptation of the Romantic hero figure.Acknowledgements; Names on abbreviations of sources; Introduction; 1. Modes of heroism in the early nineteenth century; 2. Wagner and the early nineteenth-century theatre; 3. Early music-drama: the isolated hero; 4. Heroism, tragedy, and the Ring; 5. The last music-drama: towards the Messiah; 6. Wagner's heroism on stage; Notes; Bibliography; Index. Whether or not the reader agrees with all points, those with an interest in Wagner and with some of the broader implications of his work will come away with cogenl5