本論文以華格納第一部歌劇《精靈》為探討中心，首先處理作品分期問題，以便清楚定位作為藝術生涯開端的《精靈》。接著藉由創作背景的重建、編劇法的分析、日後作品中主題動機的抉發，以及對原著的更動與接收，說明它乃是承襲霍夫曼式浪漫主義舊傳統的緒餘，並未確實反映一八三○年代的革命精神，因此從中已可見出於一八四八∕四九年革命之後，華格納轉趨保守主義立場的端倪。最後引述並評論若干當代德國學者的詮釋，其致力於將《精靈》與時代變革相連結，以便將華格納塑造成左派藝術家的意圖，依舊存有論證上的不足。

This paper focuses on Richard Wagner’s first accomplished opera Die Feen. Through the reconstruction of historical background and the analysis of dramatic techniques, the changes and acceptance of Gozzi’s original, and the commentaries of other interpretations, it tries to demonstrate that this opera inherited the old tradition from the Romanticism of E. T. A. Hoffmann, yet didn’t actually reflect the revolution spirit in 1830’s, and so already represented the inception of Wagner’s conservative tendency after the 1848/49 Revolution. Some contemporary German scholars attempt to connect Die Feen with transitions of the time, so as to shape Wagner’s image into a leftist artist and to diminish his intimacy with Nazi ideology. These efforts are shown to be only contrived transfigurations.