Hofmannsthal and Symbolism

This study attempts a revaluation of Hugo von Hofmannsthal's position in relation to twentieth-century literary Modernism through an examination of the poet's complex relationship to French Symbolism. The actual impact of Symbolism on his poetic technique is demonstrated more clearly than has been done previously, while at the same time it is argued that there was no wholesale rejection of Symbolism during and after the «Chandos crisis,» as is generally assumed. Rather, the poet's continued adherence to Symbolist aesthetics, which is apparent in both the essays and the poetic works of his maturity, goes hand in hand with his critique of those aspects of Symbolism associated with the larger movement of Aestheticism.