The Anguish of Ahasverus: The Legend of the Wandering Jew in English Romantic Literature
While the usual thesis may deal with a single author, this will not be the case with the present study. The Subject of this study will be a treatment of the influence of the Legend of the Wandering Jew on specific works of three English Romantic poets, Shelley, Byron, and Coleridge, and of the use made by these poets of the Legend. Certain critics, concerned with the whole field of the Legend, have discussed the Legend as legend or as folklore, as for example, Anderson, and Baring-Gould; others have considered its relation to the Gothic atmosphere, as for example, Railo. The work by Anderson must be considered as the most complete study of the Legend to date. The basis of the study is the correlation of all the many and scattered elements of the Legend, both as legend and as folklore. To do this, the author has traced the migrations of the Legend through Europe and America; but his mention of its influence on the literature of a particular country has been slight. Baring- Gould's interest in the Legend is incidental to his larger theme of the study of medieval myths; his approach concerns itself mainly with an elaborate description of the illustrations of Gustave Dore. A Considering the thorough study of the material by Anderson, that of Baring-Gould is out-of-date in both its approach to and its scholarship of the Legend. And Railo may be considered as a special treatment of the Legend emphasizing the Gothic elements in relation to the bent of the Romantic writer for the aura of horror and terror. No other treatise exists that concentrates on the poetic uses of the Legend of the Wandering Jew in the specific works of the English Romantic poets, Shelley, Byron, and Coleridge.
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations