"In Grillparzer's Libussa William Reeve provides an important interpretation of a work that has received little detailed attention from European and American critics. Reeve not only offers a close textual analysis of the drama focusing on the theme of separation but shows how Libussa and its author fit into the development of the history of ideas in nineteenth-century Europe. He contends that Grillparzer's work anticipates Bachofen, Nietzsche, Freud, Neumann, and Lacan.".

"Using Freudian psychoanalysis, Neumann's investigation of the female archetype, and anthropological studies, Reeve argues that Grillparzer's tragedy portrays the struggle between matriarchy and patriarchy, nurturers and warriors, and rural and urban cultures."--BOOK JACKET.