Richard Wagner : The Genius Of The Human Psyche

Throughout the latter 1930s and early 1940s, many individuals experienced persecution. As Goldhagen mentioned in his novel, “Social death is a formal status...It is at once a culturally shared concept of the socially dead people and a set of practices towards them” (Goldhagen, 168). In Germany specifically, individuals part of a specific race were deemed to no longer be a human being in the eyes of the “superior race”. The social death of individuals such as Jewish people was obtained through the use of blame for problems faced and then the dehumanization of these individuals. Once the status of social death is reached, it is much easier for people to treat others in a degrading and violent manner. Those facing persecution, such as the Jewish, during World War II, faced immense atrocities. For individuals who were not killed themselves, the vast majority saw their friends and family killed, were stripped away from their homes and identity, were faced with torture, meager living conditions, and immense amounts of labor. On the opposite side, many individuals who took part in performing these atrocities against humanity were cognizant on some level to what they were doing, but were also obstructed

The reign of Adolf Hitler and his actions were absurd and evil. However, the investigation and acknowledgement of his reign is important for the historical values. It is important to study the causes and effects of how an evil leader gained his perspectives and possibly prevent any future leader from committing any crimes against humanity. This essay will focus on the historical works Richard Wagner and how he influenced Adolf Hitler in his reign during the Third Reich. The research question of this essay is, “To what extent did Richard Wagner’s works influence Adolf Hitler’s views during his reign of the Third Reich?”

The Germans see Jews as not important, not human, and without feelings. They treat Jews as hungry wild animals that would do anything for food. The author’s description of Jews killing each other for a piece of bread shows how acts of prejudice can escalate to murder.

In agreement with associate professor Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, Jews were viewed as separate, inferior, and posed a possible threat to Germany leading to the harsh and cruel extermination of the Jews (29). The term "question"

For thousands of years, the Jewish People have endured negative stereotypes such as the "insects of humanity." As Sander Gilman pointed out, the Nazi Party labeled Jews as "insects like lice and cockroaches, that generate general disgust among all humanity" (Gilman 80).1 These derogative stereotypes, although championed by the Nazis, have their origins many centuries earlier and have appeared throughout Western culture for thousands of years. This fierce anti-Semitism specifically surfaced in Europe’s large cities in the early twentieth century, partially in conjunction with the growing tide of nationalism, patriotism, and xenophobia that sparked the First World

The second female author who touches the social aspects of feminism is Willa Cather. Cather uses imagery, simile, and characterization to demonstrate women’s struggles and hardships in rural married life. The story, “A Wagner Matinee”, focuses on Aunt Georgiana, once a passionate music teacher in Boston, transform to a fallen woman who is deteriorated emotionally and physically. After she finally visits Boston city after 30 years living in rural Nebraska, she rediscover her passion for music and long for her livelier life before marriage. When Georgina gets a chance to go symphony concert, the music eradicate her silence and emotional despair from rural marriage life in Nebraska frontier. Cather expresses, “Her eyes were closed, but the tears were glistening on her cheeks, and I think in a

Perhaps the most difficult part in studying the Holocaust literature is the language itself. Those who witnessed the Holocaust find it difficult to write about their experiences. Levi once said that words are difficult to describe the horror and feelings of the survivors of the Holocaust (Hornstein, Jacobowitz 1). Levi and Wiesel have fundamental differences with their experiences, observations, and reactions during their incarceration at the camp. The structure of the sentences in Levi’s memoir are concise, yet emotionally charged. Wiesel’s writing, on the other hand, is filled sometimes with religious ideas and prayers and in some occasions a total despair and anger with God. It is important to know that when Eliezer first arrived to Auschwitz, he sees things through a child’s eyes. He was fourteen years old. The fact that he lied about his age is a crucial moment to show his love to his old, sick father. Throughout the novel, Eliezer uses his naïve optimism and faith to survive. On the other hand, Levi was twenty-four years old when arrived to the camp. He was mature enough to use his genius and expertise to survive the horror.

Though Wagner’s article is morally wrong, Wagner and his music cannot be blamed for the sole influence on Hitler and his anti-Semitic views. Scholars say that because Hitler was so captivated by Wagner’s music it led to him reading his article Judaism and Music which ultimately lead to Hitler’s reign. However, Hitler wasn’t the only person to be completely captivated by his music. Even though Wagner had disrespectful intentions when composing music, regarding Jewish people, I do not believe that his intentions matter when it comes to the music itself. Not everyone understands the technique that is involved in writing music and not everyone is able to articulate what they hear in the piece because they do not have the musical training to explain.

I’ve decided to focus this opinion-based writing on the successful and renowned composer Richard Wagner. After researching the composer and learning about his fascinating history, I was captivated by the fact that he is remembered as a dominant, yet controversial artist because of his questionable views. Despite this fault, Richard Wagner was ahead of his time and he drastically influenced the boundaries of music. For example, one of Wagner’s most remembered and appreciated pieces is The Ring Cycle and in this composition, Wagner masterfully incorporated elements of music, literature, and visual arts with the addition of leitmotifs to unify the musical composition. It can be estimated that films such as Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings

Organising a concrete form for a style such as Wagner’s is difficult given that the music lies on the edge of what was common practice in the 19th century. The music does not easily organise itself into the neat forms that we recognise from the classical and baroque time periods, but instead goes beyond the confines of form and tonality that today’s listeners are not familiar with. This gives the music some unique qualities such as being unpredictable, unending, and for some, brings less attention to the music and more attention to the drama that is being presented. Given this ambiguity, there will certainly be different analyses and interpretations that will result in different organisations and conclusions. Despite this however, I will attempt make a few overarching statements about the excerpt’s form, tonal organization, sequential processes, motivic use, and drama as a whole on this multifaceted analysis of this excerpt in the hope to better understand how Wagner fits into our history of western classical music.

Wilhelm Richard Wagner was one of the greatest opera writers of all time. He helped to take opera to a whole new level from even Verdi and Puccini. Some say that Wagner was very egotistic, however; “his extreme egotism rested on conviction, Wagner had the ability to do great things” (Colles 207). He was extraordinary at composing music as well as formulating words. He was not a prodigy however his musical skills surpassed many other composers from his time period.

Wagner displays these notions once again in his essay Das Judenthum in der Musik as he states “to become man with us, however, means firstly for the Jew ceasing to be Jew … and do ye work of deliverance through self-annulment” (Das Judenthum 3). In these few lines, Wagner is stating a means of “purifying” Germany through the abolishment of the Jews and this scary hint of genocide-like actions cannot be overlooked. This notion can also be found in Wagner’s own opera Die Meistersinger that involves the public humiliation of the character known as Beckmesser, who embodies the stereotypical qualities of Jews and who is ultimately killed for his religion. (Jewish Question Revisited 348). Beckmesser embodies the Jewish view in Germany, and in Wagner’s

May 22, 1813, Leipzig, Modern-Day Germany; a boy is born to a baker’s daughter and clerk. Unbeknownst to them, this boy would go on to challenge the very idea of musical, its relation to life, and its role as an art. Wagner will come into his age and our modern age defined as many things; racist, genius, poet, philosopher, politician, and musician. So what is Wagner, why should we care and how can someone who died before the turn of the 20th century have any impact on our lives? It really is quite the behemoth to tackle, trying to explain a man so indecipherably complicated as Wagner in a few pages is a daunting task for the best of us. But perhaps, just maybe,

Their original tongue was a Semitic language; therefore those who opposed Jews because they defiled and infringe upon German culture rights and should identify themselves proudly as anti-Semites (Dwork16). Wagner denies Jews of true creativity (ORT). He says a Jewish artist can only speak in imitation of others, make art imitation of others; he cannot really speak, write, or create art on his own (ORT). When Wagner is asked what a German is, he response back culture, not economy, that’s the core of German identity. The Jews manipulation of the language and art was infinitely more pernicious than his control over money ever has been (Dwork26). Wagner says the Jew had bought the German soul with his trade in works of culture

Carl Gustav Young the founder of analytical psychology once said, “Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.” This might take a while to fully fathom but such is the genius of Jung. What he was getting at, although expressed with impressive brevity, was that a person despises the behavior of other people usually because it is a behavior they hate in themselves. This is powerful to think about because it demonstrates that most of our annoyances with other people are actually subconscious annoyances with ourselves; our disdain with others is a constant reminder of how we might be falling short of what we would like to be. Without a doubt, Jung was brilliant, and the amount of time spent he analyzing the human psyche lead to many more discoveries with equal or more importance in a multiplicity of scholarly fields. A man of similar genius and prestige in his own field, Richard Wagner, happens to be a prime example of Jung’s take what it means to be loathe others. Wagner is a very controversial figure in the music world due to his anti-Semitic works and writings, most notably “Judaism in Music.” Throughout “Judaism in Music,” he articulates why the Jews lack musicality and defines them as a threatening race to German culture. His apparent disdain with the Jews, however, is not consistent throughout his long and incredibly prolific career, which causes many people to question how veritable a statement like, “Wagner was an anti-Semite”