Flying Dutchman: Image Transformation in Romantic Literature

The article considers one of the most demanded images in Romantic literature — the one of Flying Dutchman. It is devoted to investigating its transformation in Romanticism on the basis of key works of the epoch. The analysis introduces the image of a rebellious captain portrayed both as a lonely protagonist rejected by the society, drawn into his inner world, and the antagonist whose behavior destroys the lives of other people, whose deeds bring death, whose way is doomed. Keywords: Flying Dutchman; Romantic literature; Coleridge; Wagner; Melville.