Eric Doughney, Richard Wagner and ‘Parsifal’: A Jungian and Eriksonian Perspective

November 2023, Volume 17, Number 3, 30–49.

Richard Wagner first read Wolfram von Eschenbach’s 13th-century romance, Parzival, in 1845. He decided in 1857 on its suitability for a music drama, and in 1877 changed the spelling of the hero’s name to Parsifal, erroneously believing it derived from the ancient Arabic fal parsi (pure fool), thus reflecting the youth’s ingenuousness. Upon its first performance in 1882, Wagner indicated Parsifal would be his final stage work. Henceforth, he felt, his compositions would be in purely symphonic form, sonic expressions of intent liberated from the material constraints and interpersonal issues associated with theatrical presentation.