Internal and external magic in "The Magic Flute" by W. A. Mozart and E. Schkaneder
Abstract
In order to analyze the magical thinking in The Magic Flute, one should distinguish between magic that performs feats in the natural world, external to the subject, and magic that brings about a psychological and hence internal change. The magical role of the musical instruments needs to be explained by means of their symbolic associations as well as by the mythological contexts in which they are embedded. The emphasis on inner magic in Mozart’s Singspiel is consistent with the greater value given to subjectivity and its education by the arts later on in German Romanticism.
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