{"product_id":"a-knight-at-the-opera-leah-garrett-9781557536013","title":"A Knight at the Opera: Heine, Wagner, Herzl, Peretz, and the Legacy of Der Tannh舫ser","description":"\u003ci\u003eA Knight at the Opera\u003c\/i\u003e examines the remarkable and unknown role that the medieval legend (and Wagner opera) Tannh舫ser played in Jewish cultural life in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The book analyzes how three of the greatest Jewish thinkers of that era, Heinrich Heine, Theodor Herzl, and I. L. Peretz, used this central myth of Germany to strengthen Jewish culture and to attack anti-Semitism. In the original medieval myth, a Christian knight lives in sin with the seductive pagan goddess Venus in the Venusberg. He escapes her clutches and makes his way to Rome to seek absolution from the Pope. The Pope does not pardon Tannh舫ser and he returns to the Venusberg. During the course of \u003ci\u003eA Knight at the Opera\u003c\/i\u003e, readers will see how Tannh舫ser evolves from a medieval knight, to Heine's German scoundrel in early modern Europe, to Wagner's idealized German male, and finally to Peretz's pious Jewish scholar in the Land of Israel. Venus herself also undergoes major changes from a pagan goddess, to a lusty housewife, to an overbearing Jewish mother. The book also discusses how the founder of Zionism, Theodor Herzl, was so inspired by Wagner's opera that he wrote \u003ci\u003eThe Jewish State\u003c\/i\u003e while attending performances of it, and he even had the Second Zionist Congress open to the music of Tannh舫ser's overture. \u003ci\u003eA Knight at the Opera\u003c\/i\u003e uses Tannh舫ser as a way to examine the changing relationship between Jews and the broader world during the advent of the modern era, and to question if any art, even that of a prominent anti-Semite, should be considered taboo.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Leah Garrett\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1557536015\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781557536013\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Purdue University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/15\/2011\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 147\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.55lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.50d","brand":"Leah Garrett","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43939619406079,"sku":"9781557536013","price":39.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/products\/img_e1aafdbe-19fd-44b5-80bb-16c492317271.jpg?v=1681442550","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/a-knight-at-the-opera-leah-garrett-9781557536013","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}