Front cover image for Hesitant heroes : private inhibition, cultural crisis

Hesitant heroes : private inhibition, cultural crisis

"Why, Theodore Ziolkowski wonders, does Western literature abound with figures who experience a crucial moment of uncertainty in their actions? In this highly original and engaging work, he explores the significance of these unlikely heroes for literature and history." "From Aeneas - who wavered momentarily before plunging his sword into Turnus's chest - to Hamlet, Orestes, Parzival, Wallenstein, and others, including Kafka's Josef K., Ziolkowski demonstrates that characters' private uncertainty reveals a classic opposition of binary forces."--Jacket
Print Book, English, 2004
Cornell University Press, Ithaca, N.Y., 2004
xi, 163 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm
9780801442032, 0801442036
53084079
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