Beethoven heroine: A female allegory of music and authorship in Egmont

The allegorical meaning of the heroine as transcendent author/composer contributes to the understanding of Beethoven in his cultural context because it shifts attention to the late Enlightenment's discourse of heroism. A case study of Beethoven's incidental music to Goethe's 'Egmont' traces a metonymic chain linking the lead female character to music, heroic overcoming, and authorship.