What is the theme of the Lorelei?
Death is a key subject in this poetry. The Lorelei draws sailors to their deaths, and the speaker is haunted by the narrative of their tragedies. Lorelei is shown as a lovely girl while being surrounded by death. She attracts sailors with her beauty but then kills them by throwing them into the rocks where they are devoured by sea creatures. Lorelei has become a symbol of danger for ships sailing near Germany's Rhine River because it was here that she killed all but one of the men aboard their boat. This story was used by poets and artists to express their fears about war. Ships were being lost at a terrible rate in World War I, and many people believed that it was due to the presence of this mythological character. After World War I, the legend of the Lorelei came back into popularity due to its use of symbolism. Artists such as Käthe Kollwitz and Emil Nolde produced drawings and paintings that showed how violence and death were always surrounding this beautiful young woman. This image became even more relevant after World War II when there were again many deaths on the seas. These stories can help us understand why people act like they do during times of war or other forms of violence.