Wagner Through Other Eyes: Parody and the Wit of Brevity in Theodor W. Adorno and Mark Twain

By juxtaposing remarks of Mark Twain and Theodor W. Adorno, along with examples from operetta, radio, film, TV, and YouTube, this article maintains that popular parodies of Richard Wagner have focused less on the composer than on his devoted public—especially given the significant amount of time required to sit through one of his works.