Wagner and 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.