The capture of image of the Emperor Rudolf II., his social surroundings and settlement in a historical science was the aim of the thesis called "Rudolf II. in the image of German-language belles-lettres and drama of 19th and 20th Century". Afterwards this image was compared by historical drama Ein Brudezwist in Habsburg by Franz Grillparzer and by two pieces of belles-lettres literature Der Engel vom westlichen Fenster by Gustav Meyrink and Nachts unter der steinernen Brücke by Leo Perutz. The all above mentioned pieces were used as the basic source of this Thesis, their interpretation is based on methodological concepts of memory. This Thesis is presented as a case study, which could become starting point for systematic research of the second life image of Habsburg monarchs in the future.

Recent decades have seen an increase in feminist critiques of the works of Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872), and a growing awareness that these deal with contemporary issues around the social roles of women. This study builds on exsiting feminist-themed examinations of Grillparzer's works to show more fully how they fit into the context of calls for women's rights in nineteenth-century Austria. New interpretations of Grillparzer's heroines are made possible by considering the full spectrum of the author's intellectual interests and examining his dramas through the lenses suggested by his reading. Des Meeres und der Liebe Wellen is seen in the context of the Enlightenment, and Sappho and Libussa are analysed with reference to social contract theory. Contemporary feminist approaches are combined with Schiller's thought on stadial history, and with Grillparzer's analysis of Shakespeare's Macbeth, to give new insight into Das goldene Vließ and Die Jüdin von Toledo respectively. Consideration of the lives and works of Grillparzer's female friends provides the context for my analysis, and helps define the original nature of this thesis. While several earlier studies have argued for the influence of Grillparzer's romantic interests on the construction of his heroines, sufficient attention has not been given to these heroines in the context of the intellectual women Grillparzer knew. While I do not argue that Grillparzer's heroines were influenced by the authors and other prominent women he knew, examination of the lives and works of Caroline Pichler, Betty Paoli, Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, Sophie Schröder and others shows that Grillparzer was on friendly terms with intellectual women throughout his career, and that all of these women were to some degree critical of the contemporary social situation of women.

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The strong-minded woman as a character capable of genuine self-determination has not received nearly as much literary attention and study as the less psychologically and socially aware sublime woman, the innocent woman, and the femme fatale. Consequently, the strong-minded woman is only an occasional literary phenomenon and is absent entirely during some literary periods. Thus the purpose of this thesis is to establish that the strong-minded woman exists as a literary figure, that she is a fully developed character capable of forming meaningful and even traditional relationships when allowed by circumstances. She is capable of relying on her own abilities and is willing to take the consequences stemming from her actions.

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