The times., 1899-05-07
q 81 ! |.il|&4lt|[:tll!1-1 ) !

| of thought, which is beyond the influence
| of bodily desires and personal affections.
| In the endeavor to establish social order
according TO the higher law. Godhead is
| compelled to resort to law ttypified by the
marriage of Wotan with Fricka), and is
| finally entangled in a network of dead or
| dinances, because il must maintain the
| sanctity of law. even when it has csas ed
| to represent the living thought; and the
| Gripping of the godlike power of thought
by this means Is typified by the loss of
Wotan's eye. Only by some power higher
than even the Godhead-by the advent OF
the hero-can this artificial empire of law
be destroyed and the true republic of free
| thought be established.
Church and State, the object lesson of
! the power of Law and Morals, are typified
by Walhalla, the castle built for the go1s
| by the giants. Loki is the spirit of intel
lect, bodiless, subtle, delighting in argu-
ment. illusion and evasion. But even he,
when the time comes for the gods to evaie
! the payment of the price TO the giants, can
| find nothing in the world for which man
! will give up woman-nothing except the
/ Rhine-gold Therefore Intellect tricks
greed out OF the Rhine-goid, delivers the
prize 10 Religion, Morals, Philosophy, the
1 Higher Thought, Genius-all Of these are in
some measure represented by Wotan-and
Herewith Labor is corrupted. The giants,
the gold. and the conQueror is turned into
a grisly dragon, who guards the wealth OF
the world.
This is the construction placed by Mr..
Shaw on the drama of THE Rhine gold"
and this idea is consistently carried out
in dealing with the other dramas. Perhaps
only Celt would have been subtle or bod
enough to see this meaning so clearly and
present ii so powerfully. Incidentally, in
cOuaDarisO0S between the
creatures of the Wagnerian drama and the
forces of modern society, he INDUCES in
sarcasms which are both strong and scath
ing. For example. there is fine piece OF
imaginative description combined with in
vective in his comments on the third scene
of the opera:
This gloomy place need not be a mine il might
just well be match factory, with yellow
phosphorus. phossy jaw, large dividend, and
plenty Of clergynen shareholders Or it might
be white lead factory, a chemical works,
or a pottery, or a railway shuntng yard. a
tailoring shop, or little gin-sodden Laundry, or
hakehouse. big shop, or any other of the
places where human life and welfare are daily
sacrificed in order that some greedy, foolish crea-
ture may be able TO hymn exultantiy TO his Piu-
tonic idol:
Thou makst me eat while others starve,
And sing while Others do lament;
Such unto thy blessings are,
As if / were thine only care
IN the mine. which resounds with the clnking
anyils of the dwsrfs toiling miserably TO heap up
treasure for their master, Alberto has set his
brother Mime-more fariilisrly, Miumy-to make
him helmet. Mimmy dimly that there is
magic in this helmet, and tries to keep it;
but Alberto wTests it from him, and shows him,
to his cost, that ii is the veil OF the invisible
whip. and that he who wears it appear in
what shape he will disappear from view alto
gether. This helmet is very common article
in our streets where it generally takes the form
Of 4 tall hat. 1t makes man invisible as a
shareholder and changes him into various shapes,
such pious Christian, subscriber TO hos
pitals. bcnCfactor Of the poor. n model hiis-
band and father, sireygd, practical, independent
Englsinan, and what not. when he IS really Il
pitiful parasite the commonwealth, consum-
ing a great deal and producing nothing, feeling
nothing, knowing nothing, believing nothing,
and doing nothing except what all the rest do,
and ttat only because he is afraid not 10 do it,
or at least pretend 10 do it
When Wotan and Loki arrive Loki claims Al
beric old acquaintance. But the dwarf has
faith in these civil strangers; Greed instinct
lively mistrus;s Intellect, even in the garb OF
Poetry and the company of Godhcad, whilst
enyying the hTilliancy OF the one and the dignity
Of the other. Alberto breaks out at them with a
terrible boast of the power now within his grasp.
He paints for them the world as ii viii be when
his dominion over il is complete, when the soft
airs and green moses of its valleys shall he
changed into smoke. Stag, and fifth; when sav-
cry, disease, and squalor, soothed by drunkenness
and mastered by the policeman's baton, shall be-
come the foundation Of society; and
when nothing shall escape ruin except
such pretty places and pretty women
as he may like to buy for the shaking OF
his lusts. In that kingdom OF evil he sees
that there Will be no power but his own. These
gods. with their moralites and legalities and in
iellectual suhtlety. will go under and be starv.
ed out of existence. He bids Wotan and Loki
beware of it. and his '.Hab' Achti' is hoarse,
horrible. and sinister. Wotan is revolted to the
very depths of his being; he cannot stife the
execIation that bursts from him. But Loki i.
unaffected; he has no moral passion; indigna-
tion is as absurd TO him enthusiasm. lie finds
il e&quisitely amusing-having touch of the
comic spirit in him-that the dwarf, in stirring
last moral scruple about becoming thief wo-
tan will rob the dwarf without remorse
for is il not positively his highest duty TO take
this power out of such evil hands and use 1t
| himself in the interests Of Godbead? On the
iottiest moral grounds he lets Loki do his worst.
! The analogy is certainly perfect to all
appearances.
Again, in the fourth scene. We have the
, CONSERVATION Of the dwarf when he, like
the giant before him, finds that the gods
are moved by the same base cupidity as
! he himself-that they, too, are forced to
truckle, to juggle, to compromise. with
out his excuse of loveless desperation. AL
! beric appeals to Wotan against this per-
version Of justice. 1t is Shylock and the
; court over again. Alberto loses his treas
1 ure and his ring as well as everything
else that make life worth living for him.
keenness of his appreciation of the situa-
tion as it exists in the drama and in the
! world:
( In older times, when the Christian laborer wa.
drained dry by the knightly spendthrift. and the
4 spendthrft was drained by the Jewish Insurer
+ Church and State, religion and law, seized or
T. the jew and drained him a Christian duty
I ! When the forces Of loyelessness and greed hac
/, built up wonderful modern capitalist systeins
+ working by invisible force, for robbing the poor
cefaring the Garth, and forcing themselves as ,
& universal curse even on the generous and hu
e mane, then religion and law and intellect whcl
n would themselves have discovered sucl
systems. their natural ben; being toward welfare
u economy, and life, instead Of corruption waste
L and death, have, nevertheless, not scrupled 4
seize by fraud and force these powers of evil o,
c the pretence of using them for good And it in
J. cv1iably happens that when the Church. the Law
t and all the Talents have made common cause I.
e rob the people the Church is far more vital,
C harmed by that untaithfulness TO itself than It
d more mechanical confedeTatcs; that finall-
IS they turn on their discredited ally and rob tn
IS Church, with the cheerful cooperation Of Loki
4 as in France md Italy, for instance
( The conclusion of It all is that Erda IN,
II Earth Mother. must breed race of heroes
is who shall unite the godlike thought will
the practical will, who will go straight I,
Q truth and reality. over the laws of Frick.
/ and the subterfuges Of mere intellect
, stronger than the giants. more cunnin.
!, than the dwarfs, because developed en- al
r sides; the complete man. the flower of ere
e alton. The reply of the Rhine daughter
Y 10 Lokl when he boasts TO them that thei
golden age is gone and they must hence
forth bask in the glitter of the gods, l
E. that truth lies in the depths. The hero i
" yet to be born; the gods-mere embodi
Is nenis of abstract ideas-are not true he