Two German heroines, both of them created as protagonists in fictitious narratives, gained world-wide recognition in literature, music, and the fine arts: Goethe’s Mignon in
Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre[
Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship, 1796] and Lorelei invented by Clemens Brentano in his novel
Godwi(1801-1802). Whereas Mignon turned into the incarnation of romantic longing, in the wake of Heinrich Heine’s poem (1823), Lorelei became synonymous with a dangerous femme fatale. In his youth Brentano attended the Gymnasium at Koblenz (1787-89) and travelled along the Rhine, where he came across medieval echo-legends surrounding the rocky cliff on the right bank below St. Goarshausen, a hazardous passage even today with rocks under the surface threatening sailors. Legend had it that…
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Citation: Hoffmeister, Gerhart. "Heine’s Lorelei and Her Reception". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 December 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=17668, accessed 21 November 2024.]
