Das Kapital:

aka Capital. A Critique of Political Economy, 1867–1883, 3 volumes, by Marx; theoretical text in materialist philosophy, economics & politics, revealing the economic patterns underpinning the capitalist mode of production in contrast to classical political economists(Adam Smith, Jean-Baptiste Say, David Ricardo & John Stuart Mill); Engels posthumously published volumes 2 & 3, based on Marx’s notes

 

Herrenmoral:

German, Master morality; reference to Nietzsche’s Master versus Slave morality;

see entry page 371 above (master-moral).

 

Shaw (Major Barbara):

3 act English play, written & premiered 1905 (published 1907); story of Barbara Undershaft, an idealistic young woman, a Major in the Salvation Army in London, helping the poor; it included a preface (for publication); Shaw derided the idea that charities should only take money from "morally pure" sources; using money to benefit the poor will have more practical benefit than ethical niceties, all donations can always be used for good.

 

Shaw (party politician):

Shaw was an inveterate political animal; he toyed with Marxism, rejected it & in 1884 joined the Fabians; he provided them with leadership, ideas & polices for several decades; he insured it remained a gradualist not revolutionary lobby.  He lambasted the Liberal government of 1892 for ignoring social issues in favour of Home Rule (which he did not support).  He served as a London councillor between 1897 & 1903.  During the Boer War he argued the fabians should take a neutral stand (he was a lukewarm supporter of Empire).  In 1913 he became a founding director, publicist & contributor to The New Statesman.  In 1914, as World War 1 broke, he held both sides equally culpable.   His writing & plays inevitably had a political agenda. 

 

Nietzsche (a Borgia): * see EndNote<A>

reference to Nietzsche’s fascination with Cesare Borgia (1475-1507), an Italian politician & mercenary leader; his father, Pope Alexander VI, made him a cardinal in 1492; he resigned this in 1498 & served as a mercenary for the French Louis XII.  He occupied Milan & Naples during the Italian Wars while also building his own state in central Italy.  After his father's death he was unable to retain authority.  His fight for power inspired Machiavelli to write The Prince.  Nietzsche defined Cesare Borgia as “a “higher man”; Borgia symbolized a strong age; he is the “iconic negation of all the sickly instincts … of those Last Men populating Europe”.

 

Shaw (Undershaft):

Andrew Undershaft (protagonist in Major Barbara), successful, wealthy businessman, millionaire, owner of Undershaft munitions factory which manufactures guns, cannons, torpedoes, submarines & aerial battleships.  Separated from his wife, he has not seen Barbara for years.  When he visits her he is impressed by her handling of the hungry; she is horrified at his munitions business.  Undershaft decides he must overcome her scruples.  He declares he will make a sizeable donation to the Army which is gratefully accepted (much to Barbara’s disgust).  They now visit his munitions factory; all are all impressed by its size & organisation.  Undershaft hopes to pass the factory onto Barbara’s fiancé, Cusins who is also repelled.  Undershaft claims that paying his employees provides a higher service than the Army, which only prolongs their poverty.  Eventually Cusins & Barbara accept his logic; Barbara is more content to bring the message of salvation to the factory workers rather than to London slum-dwellers.

 

“Future" (Western, not the Chinese or African future):

Nietzsche’s reference to the future new values & new generation of the acclaimed Superman; he is making the point that Nietzsche is a Faustian & he has no effect or hold on Cultures of China or Africa.

 

will-to-power (dagger-and-poison never strike and "deal"):

Spengler contrasting Nietzsche’s fascination & approval for the methods of Renaissance princes, who guided by Machiavelli commonly used assassination & poison; against this Spengler contrasts the “strike” by workers, common to English T.U.s and the “deal”, short for business deals, again another English characteristic.

 

battle (1870): * see EndNote<B>   

In 1870 Nietzsche was working as a professor at Basle University.  He left the university to serve in the Prussian Army during the Franco-Prussian War.  He served as a medical orderly & experienced & witnessed the traumatic effects of battle.

 

Wagner's Nibelung poetry of 1850 (and social-revolutionary ideas): * see EndNote<C> 

In 1848 Wagner began contemplating a new opera based on the German hero Siegfried.  After studying German & Nordic myths he wrote a prose draft of the new work called Siegfried's Tod (Siegfried's Death), which he finished the same year.  This draft, with its 2-scene prologue & 3 act structures, eventually became the 4th opera, Götterdämmerung.  At this point he paused & only in 1850 did he return to Siegfried's Tod, preparing the final copy of the libretto for publication.  However it was not published that year.  Only in 1853 was it finally printed & this version is different from the 1850 original.  In the original, the hero’s death & Brünnhilde’s immolation, serve as atonement for the sins of the gods, who survive in glory.  And (in Christ like manner) a revived Brünnhilde fetches Siegfried & triumphantly brings him to Valhalla.  The 1853 version is more pessimistic with a more traditional World ending poem, very different in colour & emotions, pessimistic rather than optimistic.

 

Wagner's Siegfried (symbol of the Fourth Estate):* see EndNote<D>

Following the failure of the 1849 rising in Dresden, Wagner (who had been a participant) fled.  After this experience he abandoned direct political action, but continued the revolution with his music.  He believed his "total work of art" could educate people towards reforming society. This revolutionary zeal is reflected in the Ring cycle which he began immediately after his exile in 1849.  It is a moral tale about the structure of (a capitalist) society.  The 3rd opera (Siegfried) introduces the hero (representing the people, the 4th estate); he will kill the dragon Fafner guarding the hoard of gold (the banks).  He also kills Mime, the brother of Alberich.  Both the dwarfs represent greed & are the quintessential capitalists; both plot to recover the ring (power).  Finally he frees Brünnhilde.

and see above Wagner's Nibelung poetry of 1850

 

Wagner's Brunhilde (the" free woman"):

the free woman is one no longer tied down by social conventions (Nora Helmer in Ibsen’s The Dolls House).  Wagner also seems to have also subscribed to this idea.  His Brunhilde is portrayed as a free woman in The Valkyrie (2nd opera of the Ring cycle).  She is a warrior, the equal to any male warrior, indeed just her glance means death even to heroes!  When she is ordered to kill Siegmund by Wotan, her father & Lord, she disobeys & tries to save Siegmund.  When Wotan enters she saves the pregnant Sieglinde who is carrying Siegfried; she is disobedient to her father and to the hierarchy.  She is moved by her own feelings.

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Origin of Species:

full title “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life”, Darwin, scientific literature for non-specialists, foundation of evolutionary biology; introduced the scientific theory that populations evolve over the course of generations through natural selection, the diversity of life arose by common descent through a branching pattern of evolution; based on evidence collected by Darwin in the Beagle expedition of the 1830s as well as Darwin’s later research, correspondence & experimentation.  Darwin was an eminent scientist, his findings were taken seriously; the book attracted widespread interest & the evidence generated scientific, philosophical & religious discussion; within 2 decades there was general agreement within the scientific community that evolution was a fact

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Origin of Species of 1859 (& sexual selection):

Darwin’s cousin Sir Francis Galton, was inspired by the Origin of Species & tried to establish that intelligence & talent were hereditary.  He is the father of eugenics: the science of improving the qualities of the human species by discouraging reproduction by those with undesirable traits while encouraging reproduction by persons with desirable traits.  Individuals & groups appropriated Darwin’s theories as scientific justification for eugenics.  Social Darwinism (inspired by evolution) of the late 19th century, promoted notions of fitness, competition & biological rationalizations of inequality.  A growing number of theorists introduced Darwinian analogies of "survival of the fittest" into social argument.

 

Wagner’s Siegfried 3rd act -1859 (& sexual selection):

At the end of The Valkyrie, Brünnhilde & Wotan have a reconciliation of sorts.  He will still punish her – she will sleep & wake as a mortal- but Wotan agrees to her request: that she is surrounded by a circle of fire protecting her from all but the bravest of heroes.  Loge produces the protecting ring;  Wotan then declares that anyone who fears his spear shall never pass.  Thus we have selection: only the bravest hero will win (and mate with) Brünnhilde.  In the next opera, Siegfried, in Act 3, Scene 3, Siegfried crosses through the ring of fire, thereby passing the test.  He wins & will love Brünnhilde.

 

Tristan -1859 (& sexual selection):

opera in 3 acts, based on a 12th-century romance Tristan; composed between 1857 & 1859, premiered 1865. Tristan is “selected” when he drinks the potion forced on him by Isolde; unbeknown to both it is a love potion.  The second act finds Tristan& Isolde locked in a love tryst.  However it is the music more than anything on stage which gives Tristan its sexual overtones.   The opera is notable for its use of harmonic suspension, a device used by a composer to create musical tension by exposing the listener to a series of prolonged unfinished cadences, thereby inspiring a desire and expectation on the part of the listener for musical resolution.  The deferred resolution is frequently interpreted as symbolising both physical sexual release and spiritual release via suicide.

 

Wagner, Hebbel and Ibsen (dramatize the Nibelung material): * see EndNote<E>

all 3 artists began work on Nibelung material in the 1850s.    

 

Hebbel (Paris, Engels, 1844):

While in Paris in 1844, he could have read the radical socialist newspaper Deutsch-Französische Jahrbücher (German-French Annals).  Engels was in Paris in 1844; he became friends with Marx, the paper’s editor.  That year Engels wrote 2 articles for this publication & also published (with Marx) The Holy Family.  

 

Hebbel (correspondence April 1844):

In a letter to Ch. Rousseau, 29 March 1844 he states:

“…and then I go to tragedy: “At any time! the comedy of the future”.  I am not thinking of providing mere theatre or pulp, but one great poem, whose hero is no longer an individual, but humanity itself and its frame ... envelops the whole story, the cornerstone of a completely new & until now unprecedented drama”

 

Hebbel (his Zu irgend einer Zeit):

German, meaning: At any time! Comedy of the Future; the name of a play Hebbel was thinking of in 1844, when in Paris (see above).  It shares a similar theme with Agnes Bernauer, a realist drama written in 1851, premiered 1852 & published in 1855; Agnes was a success on stage & in print.  This play considers the conflict between the necessities of the state and the rights of the individual.  Hebbel’s tragedies are set at critical times in history, where the relation of the individual to the Whole (Hegel’s Absolute Spirit) is most poignantly manifested.  When the individual is opposed to the Idea, they will end tragically. 

 

Hebbel (and the Communist Manifesto): * see EndNote<F>

Spengler is making the point that Hebbel’s dramatic view of history, much influenced by Hegel & the latter’s Absolute Spirit, has synergy with Marx & Engels, 2 Hegelian leftists whose vision & writing inspired the communist movement.

 

Hebbel (reads Schopenhauer, 1857):

letter to Emil Kuh, March 29, 1857:

                       “I am now reading an extraordinarily remarkable writer, the philosopher Schopenhauer, and am ashamed of not having met him earlier,                            yes, I would hardly understand it, if not his own bitter complaints about being deliberately and completely ignored by the sects and                                    parties of the day To some extent explained the fact and at the same time excused it. “

 

Hebbel (his Holofernes tragedy & Schopenhauer): * see EndNote<G>

aka Judith, 1840, Hebbel's first tragedy; performed 1841 in Hamburg & Berlin making Hebbel famous throughout Germany; based on the Bible (Book of Judith); Hebbel changes the political plot of the biblical story into a psychological investigation, a study of motivation in which altruism gives way to a self-centred desire for revenge leading to tragedy.  Schopenhauer stressed the role of blind Will, a completely irrational force which can act thru the unconscious, in particular thru sex.  This seems to be the connection between Judith & Schopenhauer. 

 

Hebbel (his Herodes una Mariamne & Schopenhauer): *see EndNote<H>

5 act tragedy, 1848, first performed 1850; based on writings of Josephus, set in Jerusalem, portrays the tragic death of Mariamne at the hands of her jealous husband, Herod the Great, king of Judea, who suspects her of an intrigue with Varus, the Roman governor of Syria.  Hebbel considered this work his masterpiece; theory & dramatic effectiveness combine to expose the motives of 2 equally guilty and innocent principals.  Their role & background condemn them to tragic ends, despite their love.  It is irrational but decisive; this echoes Schopenhauer.

 

Hebbel's diaries (1835-45):

Between 1885-87 Hebbel’s diaries were published; “Diaries” became an important & revealing literary confession.  He began them age 24 (in 1835) while preparing for university, supported spiritually & materially, by a seamstress, Elise Lensing, with whom he lived.