“transvaluation of all values”: * see Endnote 39

a concept from Nietzsche, meaning the revaluation of all values; it stems from his contempt for Christianity and the entirety of the moral system that flowed from it. 

 

“Dionysian”:

term linked to Nietzsche's The Birth of Tragedy (1872), the premise being the fusion of Dionysian and Apollonian "artistic impulses" forms dramatic arts, or tragedies.  This fusion has not been achieved since the ancient Greek tragedians, the plays of Aeschylus & Sophocles represent the apex of artistic creation & true realization of tragedy; with Euripides  tragedy begins its downfall.  Euripides's used Socratic rationalism (the dialectic) in his tragedies. Nietzsche claimed that the infusion of ethics & reason robed tragedy of its foundation, namely the fragile balance of the Dionysian & Apollonian.

 

“Superman”: * see Endnote 40

a concept figure in Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra (translation: the over-man).  

 

Tolstoy:

(1828-1910) Russian writer regarded as one of the great authors; born into an aristocratic family, famous for the novels War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1877), considered the pinnacles of realist fiction.  His work includes dozens of short stories and several novellas as well as plays & philosophical essays.  He experienced a profound moral crisis (1870s)  & a profound spiritual awakening.  His literal interpretation of the ethical teachings of Jesus, focusing on the Sermon on the Mount, caused him to become a fervent Christian anarchist & pacifist.

 

Luther:

(1483-1546) German professor of theology, composer, priest & monk, seminal figure in the Reformation.  He rejected the teachings of the Church, initially indulgences (95 Thesis of 1517); excommunicated by Pope Leo X and condemned by Emperor Charles V (the Diet of Worms 1521).   He went on to deny transubstantiation, sacerdotalism, papal authority & the Latin Bible.  He translated the latter into German, a formative text for the emergence of the German language.  He taught that salvation was the free gift of God's grace through the believer's faith in Jesus Christ.

 

Zarathustra:

the main speaker in Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra; the book chronicles the fictitious travels and speeches of the character Zarathustra (his namesake was the founder of Zoroastrianism).  However the author is clearly portraying a "new" or "different" Zarathustra, one who turns traditional morality on its head.  He goes on to characterize "what the name of Zarathustra means in my mouth, the mouth of the first immoralist".

 

Comte:

(1798 -1857) French philosopher founded the discipline of praxeology & positivism.  Influenced by the utopian socialist Henri Saint-Simon, he developed the positive philosophy as a remedy to the social malaise of the French Revolution, calling for a new social doctrine based on science.  A major influence on 19th-century thought, impacting on Marx, JS Mill.  His concept of sociologie (Fr) and social evolution set the tone for early social theorists.

 

Feuerbach:

(1804-872) German philosopher & anthropologist best known for his critical analysis The Essence of Christianity, a critique of Christianity which influenced generations of later thinkers (Marx and Engels).  An associate of Left Hegelian circles, he advocated liberalism, atheism, and materialism. His thought was influential in the development of historical materialism and is seen as a bridge between Hegel and Marx.

 

Hebbel:

(1813- 1863) German lyric poet & dramatist, gained great fame in his day.  German sovereigns bestowed decorations upon him; in foreign capitals he was feted as the greatest living German dramatists. From the grand-duke of Saxe-Weimar he received a flattering invitation to take up residence at Weimar, where several of his plays were first performed. He remained, however, at Vienna until his death.  His most famous works were his first tragedy, Judith (1840),  Genoveva (1840), Der Diamant (1841), Maria Magdalena (1844) and Mutter und Kind(1851).

 

Strindberg:

(1849 -1912) Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter;  prolific writer- often drew on his personal experience; his career spanned 4 decades, he wrote over 60 plays & over 30 works of fiction, autobiography, history, cultural analysis & politics.  He explored a wide range of dramatic methods and purposes, from naturalistic tragedy, monodrama & history plays.  He anticipated expressionist & surrealist dramatic techniques. He is considered the "father" of modern Swedish literature and The Red Room (1879) is described as the first modern Swedish novel.

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Ibsen’s women-problem:* see Endnote 41 

In his A Doll’s House (a three-act play, 1879) he states his “women’s problem.  The play significantly deals with the fate of a married woman, who at the time in Norway lacked reasonable opportunities for self-fulfillment in a male dominated world.  It aroused great sensation at the time, and caused a “storm of outraged controversy” that went beyond the theater to the world newspapers and society.

 

Nora:

the female protagonist in Ibsen’s A Doll’s House; the wife of Torvald, mother of three, is living out the ideal of the 19th-century wife, but leaves her family at the end of the play, claiming to be unfulfilled by her life and marriage, having lost religion and feeling betrayed by her husband’s actions.

 

Caesar’s wife:

Pompeia was the second wife of Julius Caesar (his first wife having died the previous year in childbirth); her mother was the daughter of the Roman dictator Sulla, her father a former consul.  Married in 67 BC, they were related to both the leaders of the losing populares side in the civil war of the 80s BC.  Caesar later divorced Pompeia, saying that "my wife ought not even to be under suspicion." after her reputation was sullied at the festival of the Bona Dea ("good goddess") in 62 BC.

 

Madame de Sevigne:

(1626- 1696)  French aristocrat, remembered for her letter-writing, celebrated for their wit and vividness; they were addressed to her daughter; revered in France as one of the great icons of French literature.

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intelligentsia:

intellectuals considered as a group or class, especially as a cultural, social, or political elite.