The Flying Dutchman, the Wandering Jew, and Wagner's Anti-Semitism

An historical and cultural examination of the figure of the Wandering Jew provides a springboard for a reassessment of the impact of Richard Wagner's anti-Semitism on his music dramas. In the case of Der fliegende Holländer, an easy equation of the title character with the anti-Semitic legend of the Wandering Jew is problematic, given a Wagnerian counter discourse of self-identification and empathy with the figure. In the end, it is reductive to reduce any Wagnerian work to a single interpretation.