Abstract

The thesis explores political and aesthetic concerns in Grillparzer’s historical dramas König Ottokars Glück und Ende, Ein treuer Diener seines Herrn and Ein Bruderzwist in Habsburg. The thesis argues that Grillparzer’s political, philosophical and aesthetic views are linked. Grillparzer was no reactionary, but rather a perceptive and critical observer of his age. He was far from an unconditional supporter of the repressive Habsburg government, but rather an advocate of the universal values of the multinational state. Grillparzer’s central themes in these plays include leadership and power, the interplay of public and private spheres and ethical concerns of justice and morality. Grillparzer aimed through drama to observe, reflect on and appraise the social and political changes underway in the transitional and turbulent nineteenth century. Grillparzer’s investigation into the psychological complexities of human nature is linked to broader philosophical and historical debates. In the form and content of the historical dramas, Grillparzer illustrates the unwieldiness and unpredictability of history as well as revealing his pessimistic view of human progress. Grillparzer presents irrational, disruptive elements as inherent in human nature and shows how they continually obstruct and inhibit human potential. Nevertheless, Grillparzer continues to propound humanitarian values.