Character Change and Stability in Three Novellas by Conrad Ferdinand Meyer: A Study of Symbols

This dissertation examines the theme of character change and stability in three of Conrad Ferdinand Meyer's novellas, Jurg Jenatsch (1874), Der Heilige (1879), and Die Hochzeit des Monchs (1883). The characters exhibiting change, Jurg, Thomas, and Astorre, are compared and contrasted with those exhibiting stability, Lucretia, Heinrich, and Ezzelin. Each novella is scrutinized separately in detail, with particular attention given to symbols. Just as Heinrich Henel examined the development of Meyer's symbols in a succession of poems, so does this dissertation examine specific symbols progressively through these three works. Finally an overview of the three novellas looks at the phenomena of change and stability comparatively and progressively in terms of Meyer's developing attitudes and perception of the world.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

German

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2014

Author dc:creator

• Swartzbaugh, Dorothy Louise

• Literature, Germanic

Identifier

(UMI)AAI8303001

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/71043