Franz Grillparzer (1791-1872) is generally considered to be Austria's greatest playwright. His plays are well-written dramas of sentiment and psychological conflict, which often express a resigned attitude toward the problems of life. At the beginning...

Neither Romantic nor purely realist, Franz Grillparzer has been difficult to place in the established periods of literary historiography. The foremost Austrian writer in the nineteenth century, a time when Austrian literature was trying to define its...

In the following excerpt, Reeve explores the first act of Libussa, focusing on the title character's struggle to define herself in relation to the men in her life, particularly her father, while also distancing herself from the circle of women in the play.

In the following excerpt, Yates offers detailed discussions of Grillparzer's Das Goldene Vlies, Köning Ottokar's Glück und Ende, and Der Traum ein Leben, focusing on characterization and pointing out that achievement is often linked with the fulfillment of duty in Grillparzer's plays.

In the following excerpt, Wells discusses Grillparzer's three Greek tragedies—Sappho, Das goldene Vliess, and Des Meeres und der Liebe Wellen—noting that they all share the theme of love and that in each Grillparzer concentrated on preserving unity of time, place, and action.