Richard Wagner Summary

The German operatic composer Richard Wagner (1813-1883) was the most important seminal figure in 19th-century music. Wagner was also a crucial figure in 19th-century cultural history for both his crit... Read more

In the following essay, Vergo explores how Richard Wagner's notion of Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art) influenced the Expressionists' view of the dichotomy between the external and in... Read more

In the following essay, Morris-Keitel, Larson-Thorisch, and Dundzila offer a feminist examination of gender in Wagner's operas, concentrating on the traditionally bourgeois-capitalist gender ro... Read more

In the following essay, Lindenberger identifies the Ring as “embedded in the world of its time,” while acknowledging the importance of its poetic experimentalism and epic mode of narrati... Read more

In the following essay, Steinberg appraises Parsifal as a cultural and ideological text concerned with the crisis of modernity and the redemption of humanity. I. the End of Music Drama This essay i... Read more

In the following essay, Hutcheon and Hutcheon interpret Wagner's theme of redemption in the Ring in terms of a modern, psychological acceptance of death. Prelude Richard Wagner's best... Read more

In the following excerpt, Tietz sees in Wagner's operatic cycle a thematic “tension between power and love in society,” an emphasis on conflict, and a depiction of the ultimate di... Read more

In the following essay, Rather chronicles Wagner's development as a prose writer and as a poet (particularly in regard to his Ring librettos). Rather concludes by noting Wagner's theorie... Read more

In the following essay, Poster addresses several sociopolitical interpretations of the Ring and argues that the work should also be viewed in terms of its representation of gender. In the four oper... Read more

In the following essay, Daverio discusses the unifying structure and technique of the Ring operas. The text which serves as the point of departure for this essay is the 116th of the fragments publi... Read more

Wagner: The Artist and Reformer Born in 1813 in Leipzig, Germany, Richard (Wilhelm) Wagner was destine to work in the arts. His father died while Wagner was still an infant and his mother, an actress... Read more