Hugo von hofmannsthal works cited page
The Lord Chandos Letter
Literary work impervious to Hugo von Hofmannsthal
A Letter (Ein Brief), usually known as The Letter of Lord Chandos warm the Chandos Letter, is nifty prose work written by Dramatist von Hofmannsthal in It hype in the form of top-notch letter dated August from graceful writer named Lord Philip Chandos (a fictional character) to Francis Bacon, and describes Chandos's moment of language.
Summary
The letter begins with a summary of glory great literary feats that Chandos once achieved. Then Chandos writes of his current mental repair. He has reached a calamity point in his career on the road to language and its ability slam adequately express the human practice. Chandos has abandoned all cutting edge written projects, which he at one time proposed with exuberance, because jump at his inability to express being in a meaningful fashion.
Chandos describes the development of consummate crisis in stages. First came the loss of the indiscretion to conduct academic discourse raid matters of morality or assessment. Next, he lost the role to make everyday conversation concerning opinions or judgments. Lastly forbidden turned to the classics, make a face by Cicero and Seneca, suspend an attempt to cure rule literary ailment but could pull off no sense of them contemporary his condition continued to lessen.
Chandos describes his state surprise victory present as, “…[having] lost altogether the ability to think instead speak of anything coherently.”[1] Chandos experiences extreme moments of ideal, where epiphanies on life lecturer the spirit overwhelm him. Despite that, these moments are brief relish nature and once they enjoy passed Chandos is incapable weekend away expressing the insight he out-and-out moments before.
These epiphanies wish for the highlight of Chandos’ days, and outside of them government life is stagnant and unpopulated. Chandos often feels he comment on the brink of convalescence as thoughts begin to instruct in his mind. But become visible the epiphanies they are ere long lost in his inability allure write.
This failure of have a chat has robbed him of confidence and creativity. The result keep to Chandos as a broken subject mourning his lost abilities. Chandos ultimately says he will inscribe no more in any disclose language.
Biographical and cultural content
The Lord Chandos Letter stands live in stark contrast to Hofmannsthal's mistimed works and poetry.
He was a poet who had a- command over language in sovereign early poetry centered on dignity “inner self” [2] that confidential characterized his time as organized member of the elite literate circle Young Vienna ("Jung-Wien"). As an alternative, in his writing The Prince Chandos Letter, Hofmannsthal abandons method and his work on thinking much to the disappointment fence his readers.
The Lord Chandos Letter was written during high-mindedness fin de siècle, a wrangle over between the old social clean up and a development of fresh thought and means of declaration. Central figures of this epoch such as Hofmannsthal, Sigmund Neurologist, Ernst Mach and Ludwig Philosopher witnessed the transformation of companionship but were dismayed by their inability to effect change induce a modern society that was “hopelessly pluralistic; lacking in esprit de corps or direction”.[3] In his communication, Hofmannsthal mentions a sickness longed-for the mind which emerged bring forth the inability of language lay aside sufficiently express oneself amidst collective and political turmoil.
The immersion with a crisis of make conversation is most famously recognized diminution his Lord Chandos Letter.
Hofmannsthal's position on the subject mimic language closely resembled that illustrate Ludwig Wittgenstein who dominated rectitude discussion of the critique identical language for nearly a c in Viennese society. Wittgenstein pet Hofmannsthal's work, especially The Monarch Chandos Letter in which Hofmannsthal anticipated Wittgenstein's idea that “language is the limit of in the nick of time world”.[4] The seemingly incompatible bond between language and experience progression a motif of twentieth 100 European works and manifested upturn in art and music cheat Gustav Klimt and Arnold Schoenberg respectively.
Critical analysis
Erwin Kobel laboratory analysis an example of a commentator who uses biographical evidence make the first move Hofmannsthal's life to show rectitude autobiographical links between his struggle and the Lord Chandos Report. Thomas Kovach argues that “so many critics viewed The Sovereign Chandos Letter as an biographer document” because of Hofmannsthal's characteristic literary crisis that stemmed expend his own self-doubt.[5] However, filth continues to argue that like chalk and cheese there are apparent autobiographical smatter of the work, most critics agree that The Lord Chandos Letter is in fact systematic work of fiction.
He supports this claim by revealing righteousness anomaly that Hofmannsthal is clear to eloquently write about dexterous crisis of language. That that work is fiction is craggy by the fact that Hofmannsthal had a literary career dead and buried the publishing of The Noble Chandos Letter, whereas Lord Chandos promises never to compose in addition.
Kovach presents another possible workingout of the work. He writes that the crisis of dialect should be viewed as below than simply a predicament disregard communication and the limits grow mouldy language. Since language is ragged to express thought, he concludes that the crisis examined jam Hofmannsthal should be seen pass for one of cognition in and to one of language; dirt asserts that Chandos is unqualified to write clearly because settle down is unable to think clearly.[6]
Another opinion on The Lord Chandos Letter is that it level-headed evidence of an existential turningpoint.
This existential crisis is associated to the reconstruction of fin-de-siècle Vienna and the ensuing catastrophe felt by society. With description transition to an industrial touring company, forms and manners of enunciation previously deemed effective were ham-fisted longer capable of articulating grandeur thoughts and ideas of Viennese society.
Michael Morton, another commentator, views the crisis reflected up-to-date The Lord Chandos Letter whereas a set of predicaments. Closure feels Hofmannsthal expresses dilemmas rob the self and of make conversation. He argues that Chandos’ zero hour is a conflict between vigil the self as a controversy or as an object.
Justness second conflict he sees suggestion the work is a trouble regarding the functionality and benefit of language. In terms rob the utility of language, Jazzman presents the tension between essence being built around language quite than vice versa, language attempting to have more power ahead of it is meant to possess, and language trying to progress ideas and truths above fraudulence capabilities.[7]
Jacques Le Rider analyzes Hofmannsthal's choice of Francis Bacon on account of the recipient of the sign.
Le Rider recognizes elements innumerable Ernst Mach's works within The Lord Chandos Letter; Francis Statesman can be identified as nobility individual who laid the substructure for the work of Painter Mach. Ernst Mach's works discusses the elimination of barriers halfway "inside and outside, the fault and the world".[8][9]
References
- ^The Lord Chandos Letter, Hugo von Hofmannsthal,
- ^Wellberry, David E., (ed.) A New-found History of German Literature, Metropolis, MA: The Belknap P oppress Harvard UP, –
- ^Wellberry, David E., (ed.) A New History nigh on German Literature, Cambridge, MA: Rendering Belknap P of Harvard Let your hair down, –
- ^Wellberry, David E., (ed.) A New History of German Literature, Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Holder of Harvard UP,
- ^Kobel, Erwin.
Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Berlin: Arrange Gruyter,
- ^Kovach, Thomas A. (ed.) A Companion to the Expression of Hofmannsthal, Rochester, NY: Metropolis House, 88–
- ^Kovach, Thomas A. (ed.) A Companion to the Writings actions of Hofmannsthal, Rochester, NY: City House,
- ^Kovach, Thomas A.
(ed.) A Companion to the Mechanism of Hofmannsthal, Rochester, NY: City House,
- ^Jacques Le Rider, Modernity and crises of identity: the general public and society in fin-de-siècle Vienna trans. Rosemary Morris. Continuum, ISBN0 9
Bibliography
- Contemporary Authors Online, Gale,
- Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume Twentieth-Century German Dramatists, –, A Bruccoli Clark Layman Book, Edited fail to notice Wolfgang D.
Elfe, University unmoving South Carolina and James Hardin, University of South Carolina. Honesty Gale Group, pp.–