SOURCE: “The Hero as an Old Man: The Role of Bancabanus in Grillparzer's Ein Treuer Diener Seines Herrn,” in Modern Language Quarterly, Vol. 43, No. 1, 1982, pp. 29-42.

In the following essay, Nicholls analyses Ein Treuer Diener Seines Herrn as representative of Grillparzer's propensity to portray man in all his limitations, to expose the ambiguity inherent in human life, and to show how human achievement can grow out of conflict.

Fundamental to the interpretation of Grillparzer's drama is recognition of the contrast between the expectation aroused by the formal language and structure of his plays and the reality of the inner action. Grillparzer's insistent emphasis on verse as the medium of his drama, his recurrent use of mythological and historical themes, and his vision of himself as the last poet in an age of prose lead us to anticipations that are not realized in practice. There was a time when...