ABSTRACT
Chapter 4 tackles another awe-inspiring composer, Richard Wagner. The role of Wagner in English modernist literature has been widely explored, yet his influence has rarely been connected to the semiotics of the subject. The use of leitmotifs in literature goes beyond merely evoking a myth or mythical character. Since leitmotifs never turn into a rigid forma formata (formed form), but instead remain forma formans (forming form) they retain their inherent musicality through their constant development. Thus their employment allows us to witness the making of the mythical hero through the development of a novel’s character. This reverses the logic of intertext and results in the deconstruction of the original myth. Forster’s The Longest Journey provides a queer reading of Wagner’s Parsifal—a reading that will never allow one to hear the opera “straight” again.
