1. Steppenwolf considers Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute to be an example of perfection, even though it supports the notions of faith and optimism. Study the plot of the opera, and watch a performance, if possible. Then choose one scene from the opera and construct a new scene in the […]

Read more Study Help Practice Projects

1. Suicide is defined as the act of killing oneself intentionally; however, the treatise presents several alternate definitions of the term. Write an essay discussing the significance of the treatise’s definitions. How does suicide play a role in Steppenwolf’s life? 2. Compare and contrast Goethe and Mozart. Why does Steppenwolf […]

Read more Study Help Essay Questions

abhorrence loathing; detestation. abortion anything immature and incomplete or unsuccessful, as a deformed creature, a badly developed plan, and so on. abyss a deep fissure in the earth; bottomless gulf; chasm. accosted to approach and speak to; greet first, before being greeted, especially in an intrusive way. acquiescence agreement or […]

Read more Study Help Full Glossary for Steppenwolf

The Immortals play a key role within Steppenwolf, although it is not clear until the end exactly what that role is. On one hand, in the beginning, the Immortals separate Steppenwolf from other members of society, the bourgeoisie in particular. On the other hand, through the treatise, the Goethe dream, […]

Read more Critical Essays The Role of the Immortals in Steppenwolf

The main themes of Steppenwolf are introduced in the first section of “Harry Haller’s Records.” The novel is dark, and the main themes and conflicts are loneliness, division, elitism versus mediocrity, self-mutilation, and suicide. The nephew sums up Steppenwolf’s character quite nicely in the preface. He states: [T]he Steppenwolf’s look […]

Read more Critical Essays Major Themes within Steppenwolf

Personal Background Hermann Hesse was born in Calw in the Black Forest in the German state of Wuttenberg on July 2, 1877. His father, Johannes Hesse, was born in Weissenstein, Estonia, and retained Russian citizenship. His mother, Marie Gundert, was born to Pietist missionaries in Talatscheri, India. In 1880, Hesse’s […]

Read more Hermann Hesse Biography

Pablo is an enigmatic character. Even Steppenwolf does not know what to make of him. In the beginning, he seems to simply be a musician and friend to Hermine; however, the more the reader gets to know Hermine, the more the reader realizes there is no such thing as a […]

Read more Character Analysis Pablo

Maria plays a small but important part in the novel. She is Steppenwolf’s mistress. This in itself is surprising — to readers, as well as to Steppenwolf — due to the age difference between them. Steppenwolf is a man in his fifties, while Maria is young woman, presumably in her […]

Read more Character Analysis Maria

Hermine serves two roles. She is both a kindred spirit to Steppenwolf and source of change for him. When Hermine first appears, it is difficult to determine if she is in fact a real character or one of the possible characters the nephew alludes to when describing the “partly diseased, […]

Read more Character Analysis Hermine

Harry Haller, or Steppenwolf, is a man divided against society and himself. He despises bourgeois society and everything it represents: empty values, petty pleasures, intellectual stagnation. However, he is incapable of separating himself completely from the bourgeoisie. Instead, he rents rooms from the aunt, thereby immersing himself within a middle-class […]

Read more Character Analysis Harry Haller