A Pagan Spoiled

By Anthony Winterbourne

Subjects: Sex in opera, Opera, history and criticism

Description: "A Pagan Spoiled is a philosophical reading of Wagner's last music-drama. The book argues that the dramatic focus is the character of Kundry, rather than Parsifal himself. This interpretation is defended through an analysis of the sexual dynamics underpinning the action, and through an examination of the religious and psychological symbolism of both the Holy Grail and the lance often associated with the Crucifixion. By giving due weight to these themes in particular, the complexity of Wagner's final work is seen to resolve into a feminization of the nature of religious redemption."--BOOK JACKET.