Into the meanders of fiction and reality: some common aspects between Castalian and Benedictines in The Glass Bead Game

Abstract

This paper aims at making clear the striking similarity managed by Herman Hesse in The glass bead game in the making of a fictional secular institution, which can be called the Castalian Order, and in the literary portrayal of another one, existing at the faithful non-literary reality, the Benedictine Order. In order to achieve such goal, we will expose both congregations as they are presented by the novel’s narrator, while we focus on sparse characteristics along the story. Besides, we will report to the Benedictines as an actual organism when they appear to possess traits unstated in the romance which may contribute to the present comparative study.