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Author Ziolkowski, Theodore

Title Hesitant heroes : private inhibition, cultural crisis / Theodore Ziolkowski
Published Ithaca, N.Y. : Cornell University Press, 2004

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Description 1 online resource (xi, 163 pages) : illustrations
Contents Introduction: The Paradox of the Hesitant Hero -- Aeneas, or Hesitation in Hesperia -- The Context -- The Problematic Ending -- To Kill or Not to Kill -- Inhibition: The Pause That Represses -- The Historical Analogy -- Orestes, or Anguish in Argos -- The Curse of the Atrides -- Orestes' Hesitation -- The Consequences -- The Dramatic Context -- The Historical Dimension -- The Trojan Dilemma -- Parzival, or Silence at Munsalvaesche -- Parzival's Hesitation -- The Mysteries of Munsalvaesche -- The Sequel -- The Hesitation Re-Viewed -- Fin-de-sic̈le Concerns -- Hamlet, or Anomy in Elsinore -- Hamlet, Aeneas, Orestes -- Preliminaries -- Hamlet's "Antic Disposition" -- The Rotten State -- Time out of Joint -- Wallenstein, or Evasions in Bohemia -- The Background -- Wallenstein's Delay -- Wallenstein's Hesitation -- War as Paradigm -- Wavering Heroes, from Scotland to Spain -- The Wavering Hero -- The Hegelian View -- Romantic Varieties -- Modern Modifications
Summary "Why, Theodore Ziolkowski wonders, does Western literature abound with figures who experience a crucial moment of uncertainty in their actions? In this highly original and engaging work, he explores the significance of these unlikely heroes for literature and history." "From Aeneas - who wavered momentarily before plunging his sword into Turnus's chest - to Hamlet, Orestes, Parzival, Wallenstein, and others, including Kafka's Josef K., Ziolkowski demonstrates that characters' private uncertainty reveals a classic opposition of binary forces."--Jacket
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 147-160) and index
Notes Print version record
Subject Heroes in literature.
Hesitation in literature.
BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY -- Literary.
SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Folklore & Mythology.
Heroes in literature
Hesitation in literature
Zögern
Held Motiv
Literatur
Helden (personen)
Personages.
Onzekerheid.
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9781501711275
150171127X