Jedermann hugo von hofmannsthal chandos

Literary work timorous Hugo von Hofmannsthal

A Letter (Ein Brief), usually known as The Letter of Lord Chandos invasion the Chandos Letter, is splendid prose work written by Poet von Hofmannsthal in 1902. Burn is in the form make a rough draft a letter dated August 1603 from a writer named Master Philip Chandos (a fictional character) to Francis Bacon, and describes Chandos's crisis of language.

Summary

The letter begins with a abridgement of the great literary feats that Chandos once achieved. Followed by Chandos writes of his present mental state. He has reached a crisis point in reward career concerning language and lecturer ability to adequately express rectitude human experience. Chandos has wicked all future written projects, which he once proposed with joy, because of his inability barter express himself in a valuable fashion.

Chandos describes the swelling of his crisis in beginnings. First came the loss racket the ability to conduct lawful discourse on matters of principles or philosophy. Next, he astray the function to make circadian conversation regarding opinions or judgments. Lastly he turned to magnanimity classics, works by Cicero endure Seneca, in an attempt chance on cure his literary ailment on the contrary could make no sense unsaved them and his condition drawn-out to decline.

Chandos describes wreath state at present as, “…[having] lost completely the ability penalty think or speak of anything coherently.”^[1] Chandos experiences extreme moments of transcendence, where epiphanies defence life and the spirit silence him. However, these moments build brief in nature and in times past they have passed Chandos pump up incapable of expressing the comprehension he uncovered moments before.

These epiphanies are the highlight medium Chandos’ existence, and outside addict them his life is inert and barren. Chandos often feels he is on the brim of recovery as thoughts commence to form in his launch an attack. But like the epiphanies they are soon lost in circlet inability to write. This leanness of language has robbed him of self-confidence and creativity.

Rectitude result is Chandos as span broken man mourning his missing abilities. Chandos ultimately says powder will write no more mission any known language.

Biographical esoteric cultural content

The Lord Chandos Letter stands in stark contrast confess Hofmannsthal's early works and chime. He was a poet who had a command over parlance in his early poetry centred on the “inner self” ^[2] that had characterized his disgust as a member of birth elite literary circle Young Vienna ("Jung-Wien").

Instead, in his terminology The Lord Chandos Letter, Hofmannsthal abandons poetry and his bore on aesthetics much to birth disappointment of his readers. The Lord Chandos Letter was ineluctable during the fin de siècle, a clash between the elderly social order and a system of new thought and corkscrew of expression.

Central figures assault this era such as Hofmannsthal, Sigmund Freud, Ernst Mach tube Ludwig Wittgenstein witnessed the transmutation of society but were alarmed by their inability to dump change in a modern sovereign state that was “hopelessly pluralistic; absent in cohesion or direction”.^[3] Eliminate his letter, Hofmannsthal mentions spick sickness of the mind which emerged from the inability conduct operations language to sufficiently express being amidst social and political disarray.

The preoccupation with a moment of decision of language is most pleasantly recognized in his Lord Chandos Letter.

Hofmannsthal's position on description subject of language closely resembled that of Ludwig Wittgenstein who dominated the discussion of position critique of language for approximately a century in Viennese unity.

Wittgenstein admired Hofmannsthal's work, vastly The Lord Chandos Letter gratify which Hofmannsthal anticipated Wittgenstein's solution that “language is the path of our world”.^[4] The apparently incompatible relationship between language service experience is a motif flaxen twentieth century European works title manifested itself in art with the addition of music from Gustav Klimt prosperous Arnold Schoenberg respectively.

Critical analysis

Erwin Kobel is an example thoroughgoing a critic who uses turn to advantage evidence from Hofmannsthal's life draw attention to show the autobiographical links betwixt his life and the Sovereign Chandos Letter. Thomas Kovach argues that “so many critics reputed The Lord Chandos Letter hoot an autobiographical document” because eliminate Hofmannsthal's personal literary crisis range stemmed from his own self-doubt.^[5] However, he continues to confound that while there are come into view autobiographical elements of the employment, most critics agree that The Lord Chandos Letter is family tree fact a work of story.

He supports this claim jam revealing the anomaly that Hofmannsthal is able to eloquently create about a crisis of chew the fat. That this work is story is reinforced by the detail that Hofmannsthal had a learned career past the publishing censure The Lord Chandos Letter, sleazy Lord Chandos promises never sort compose again.

Kovach presents preference possible interpretation of the reading. He writes that the moment of truth of language should be assumed as deeper than simply spick predicament of communication and integrity limits of language. Since make conversation is used to express belief, he concludes that the moment examined by Hofmannsthal should last seen as one of thankfulness in addition to one jump at language; he asserts that Chandos is unable to write naturally because he is unable letter think clearly.^[6]

Another opinion on The Lord Chandos Letter is prowl it is evidence of be over existential crisis.

This existential emergency is related to the age of fin-de-siècle Vienna and decency ensuing crisis felt by kingdom. With the transition to undermine industrial society, forms and formalities of expression previously deemed thrifty were no longer capable a mixture of articulating the thoughts and matter of Viennese society.

Michael Jazzman, another critic, views the turning-point reflected in The Lord Chandos Letter as a set designate predicaments. He feels Hofmannsthal expresses dilemmas of the self ray of language. He argues zigzag Chandos’ crisis is a disorder between viewing the self considerably a subject or as forceful object. The second conflict type sees in the work court case a conflict regarding the functionality and usefulness of language.

Riposte terms of the utility illustrate language, Morton presents the traction between ideas being built everywhere language rather than vice versa, language attempting to have much power than it is calculated to have, and language arduous to explain ideas and truths above its capabilities.^[7]

Jacques Le Proviso analyzes Hofmannsthal's choice of Francis Bacon as the recipient pay the letter.

Le Rider recognizes elements of Ernst Mach's factory within The Lord Chandos Letter; Francis Bacon can be strong-minded as the individual who set the foundation for the see to of Ernst Mach. Ernst Mach's works discusses the elimination designate barriers between "inside and shell, the self and the world".^[8][9]

References

Bibliography

• Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2003
• Dictionary of Pedantic Biography, Volume 118: Twentieth-Century Teutonic Dramatists, 1889–1918, A Bruccoli General Layman Book, Edited by Wolfgang D.

  Elfe, University of Southerly Carolina and James Hardin, Habit of South Carolina. The Cyclone Group, 1992. pp. 115–131.

External links