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2. Der Ring des Nibelungen: Th e Anarchist Utopia

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Beyond Reason
This chapter is in the book Beyond Reason
62Many details of the allegory that is Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen are unclear and are likely always to remain subject to diverse interpretations, none more so than the ending. But the most general outline of the allegory is neither opaque nor particularly controversial: this is a story of “the twilight of the gods,” the end of the old regime that has ruled the world until now, so that it might be replaced by something better.Th e old regime has locked two competing powers in a life-and-death struggle. On one side is the traditional political power of the aristocratic pleasure- and beauty-loving elite of mountain-heights gods led by Wotan. His rule rests on legal and constitutional arrangements that have been accumulating since the beginning of history and that limit his freedom of action—constraining, for instance, the freedom of action to deal with the giants who are the gods’ providers of paid labor. On the other side is the more recent, modern economic power of the capital accu-mulated by the new fi nancial elite of plutocrats such as the subterranean dwarf Alberich, who forswears the sensuous beauty and pleasure of love for the sake of single-minded acquisition of wealth. Alberich’s rule rests on nothing more than naked economic domination that allows him to enslave and ruthlessly exploit the toiling proletariat of his Nibelung brethren. Th ere can be little doubt that Wagner thought of the myth of Der Ring des Nibelungen as capturing the essential features of the contemporary world. An entry in his wife’s Diary (May 25, 1877) quotes the composer’s impressions aft er a visit to London’s docklands: “Th is is Alberich’s 2Der Ring des NibelungenTh e Anarchist UtopiaTh e genius of the loud Steam Age,Loud WAGNER put it on the stagew. h. auden, new year letter, january 1, 1940Humanity’s youth: troglodyte, anthropopithecus. Total liberation: cage.leszek kołakowski, “revolution as a beautiful illness”
© 2019 University of California Press, Berkeley

62Many details of the allegory that is Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen are unclear and are likely always to remain subject to diverse interpretations, none more so than the ending. But the most general outline of the allegory is neither opaque nor particularly controversial: this is a story of “the twilight of the gods,” the end of the old regime that has ruled the world until now, so that it might be replaced by something better.Th e old regime has locked two competing powers in a life-and-death struggle. On one side is the traditional political power of the aristocratic pleasure- and beauty-loving elite of mountain-heights gods led by Wotan. His rule rests on legal and constitutional arrangements that have been accumulating since the beginning of history and that limit his freedom of action—constraining, for instance, the freedom of action to deal with the giants who are the gods’ providers of paid labor. On the other side is the more recent, modern economic power of the capital accu-mulated by the new fi nancial elite of plutocrats such as the subterranean dwarf Alberich, who forswears the sensuous beauty and pleasure of love for the sake of single-minded acquisition of wealth. Alberich’s rule rests on nothing more than naked economic domination that allows him to enslave and ruthlessly exploit the toiling proletariat of his Nibelung brethren. Th ere can be little doubt that Wagner thought of the myth of Der Ring des Nibelungen as capturing the essential features of the contemporary world. An entry in his wife’s Diary (May 25, 1877) quotes the composer’s impressions aft er a visit to London’s docklands: “Th is is Alberich’s 2Der Ring des NibelungenTh e Anarchist UtopiaTh e genius of the loud Steam Age,Loud WAGNER put it on the stagew. h. auden, new year letter, january 1, 1940Humanity’s youth: troglodyte, anthropopithecus. Total liberation: cage.leszek kołakowski, “revolution as a beautiful illness”
© 2019 University of California Press, Berkeley

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents ix
  3. Preface xiii
  4. Prologue: Beyond Autonomy 1
  5. Part One
  6. 1. The Secret of Music-Dramatic Form: Music Drama as Opera 49
  7. 2. Der Ring des Nibelungen: Th e Anarchist Utopia 62
  8. Part Two
  9. 3. Tristan und Isolde: The Erotic Utopia 193
  10. 4. Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg: Politics aft er Tristan 242
  11. 5. Parsifal: Ethics aft er Tristan 293
  12. Epilogue: Wagner contra Nietzsche 359
  13. Appendix 1. Das Rheingold: The Music-Dramatic Plan 413
  14. Appendix 2. Die Walküre: The Music-Dramatic Plan 417
  15. Appendix 3. Siegfried: The Music-Dramatic Plan 423
  16. Appendix 4. Götterdämmerung: The Music-Dramatic Plan 427
  17. Appendix 5. Tristan und Isolde: The Music-Dramatic Plan 431
  18. Appendix 6. Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg: The Music-Dramatic Plan 437
  19. Appendix 7. Parsifal: The Music-Dramatic Plan 445
  20. Acknowledgments 449
  21. Abbreviations Used in Notes 453
  22. Notes 455
  23. Works Consulted 501
  24. Index 517
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https://doi.org/10.1515/9780520966130-004

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents ix
  3. Preface xiii
  4. Prologue: Beyond Autonomy 1
  5. Part One
  6. 1. The Secret of Music-Dramatic Form: Music Drama as Opera 49
  7. 2. Der Ring des Nibelungen: Th e Anarchist Utopia 62
  8. Part Two
  9. 3. Tristan und Isolde: The Erotic Utopia 193
  10. 4. Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg: Politics aft er Tristan 242
  11. 5. Parsifal: Ethics aft er Tristan 293
  12. Epilogue: Wagner contra Nietzsche 359
  13. Appendix 1. Das Rheingold: The Music-Dramatic Plan 413
  14. Appendix 2. Die Walküre: The Music-Dramatic Plan 417
  15. Appendix 3. Siegfried: The Music-Dramatic Plan 423
  16. Appendix 4. Götterdämmerung: The Music-Dramatic Plan 427
  17. Appendix 5. Tristan und Isolde: The Music-Dramatic Plan 431
  18. Appendix 6. Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg: The Music-Dramatic Plan 437
  19. Appendix 7. Parsifal: The Music-Dramatic Plan 445
  20. Acknowledgments 449
  21. Abbreviations Used in Notes 453
  22. Notes 455
  23. Works Consulted 501
  24. Index 517
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