Date of Award
2019
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelors
Department
Social Sciences
First Advisor
Baram, Uzi
Area of Concentration
International and Area Studies
Abstract
This thesis analyzes the impact on European society of three creative works that contain progressive political ideas in the era prior to the Great War. The works studied were the French opera Don Carlos by Giuseppe Verdi (1867), the Austrian novel Lay Down Your Arms! by Bertha von Suttner (1889), and the German etching series A Weavers’ Revolt (1898) by Käthe Kollwitz. Additionally, it considers the impact of each work in its international historical context. Furthermore, it examines how the formal elements of each medium reinforce the accessibility and comprehension of the progressive political idea in each work. Finally, it concludes why the ideas advocated in these works failed to take hold in European society enough to prevent the horrors of the Great War. This thesis makes use of secondary scholarship as well as primary source scholarship including the three creative works in addition to autobiographical materials by the three artists.
Recommended Citation
Koutelias, Alexander, ""THE FORWARD MARCH OF HUMANITY" IN AN ERA OF CHANGE: CREATIVE WORKS WITH PROGRESSIVE IDEAS AND THEIR IMPACT ON LATE NINETEENTH AND EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY EUROPEAN SOCIETY" (2019). Theses & ETDs. 5730.
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/theses_etds/5730