Diane Finiello Zervas, ‘The Prophet Of Love’: C.G. Jung, Richard Wagner and ‘Parsifal’

July 2025, Volume 19, Number 2, 4–21.

Most Wagnerians are familiar with the view that many of Richard Wagner’s written and musical ideas are similar to the psychological concepts of Carl Gustav Jung (1875–1961). What has been missing from Jungian Wagnerian interpretations is a detailed knowledge of Jung’s own views on Wagner and his operas, particularly towards the Ring and Parsifal. However, the recent discovery and publication of previously unknown writings by Jung during the years around the Great War, coupled with new information about his 1920 English seminar held at Sennen Cove, Cornwall, reveal the extent of Jung’s personal and psychological interest in Wagner’s life and works, which influenced his contemporary and later professional references to the composer.