Cover -- Halt-title -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Note on abbreviations of sources -- Introduction -- 1 Modes of heroism in the early nineteenth century -- an anti-heroic age -- the romantic hero -- the epic hero -- the messianic hero -- 2 Wagner and the early nineteenth-century theatre -- theatre and freedom -- limitations of the theatre -- german romantic opera and die feen -- grand opera and rienzi -- 3 Early music-drama: the isolated hero -- the flying dutchman: vampire and wanderer -- tannhäuser: sexual transgressor and artist -- the ring and tragedy -- the destruction of nature and the coming of fear -- the prison of the past -- the failed romantic hero -- the new hero -- a crisis in composition: who is the hero? -- compassion as a heroic force -- return to the ring -- siegfried, the son of his father -- brünnhilde -- 5 The last music-dramas: toward the messiah -- last dramas -- tristan und isolde: "the endpoint of romanticism" -- die meistersinger von nürnberg: artistic utopia -- parsifal: utopia found -- 6 Wagner's heroism on stage -- wagner, fascism, and anti-semitism -- the mixed appeal of wagner -- "the curse of ridiculousness" -- clearing the stage: symbolism -- dramas of greed and power -- imagist and absurdist wagner -- wagner: post-spectacle -- Notes -- INTRODUCTION -- 1 MODES OF HEROISM IN THE EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY -- 2 WAGNER AND THE EARLY NINETEENTH-CENTURY THEATRE -- 3 EARLY MUSIC-DRAMA: THE ISOLATED HERO -- 4 HEROISM, TRAGEDY, AND THE RING -- 5 THE LAST MUSIC-DRAMAS: TOWARD THE MESSIAH -- 6 WAGNER'S HEROISM ON STAGE -- Bibliography -- Index.