The times., 1899-05-07

OF the whole series in thought, as in music
1t certainly is. AS the music was not fin
ished till twenty years after that OF The
Rhine-g gold' il ought OF course, to be more
strongly characteristic of Wagners genius.
1t may be added that Siegfried is sup
posed to represent the heroic man, un-
moral, overriding all falsehood, and pene-
trating all DISCUSSES, while Brynhiid typi-
fies the truth -divining instinct in religion
The union of true courage and true faith
would indeed produce race of heroes,
and the oldest love poems in the world,
and the newest have been founded on this
conception. There are hundred other
ways in which Mr.. Shaw proves his theo-
ry: but nevertheless the skeptic will be
certain to declare that THE Ring OF the
Nblungs' is a work of art, pure and SIM
pie. that this whole Interpretation is far
fetched, and that Wagner never troubled
himself about shareholders, factories,
capitalists, or any sort of allegorical
meaning. To this the originator of the
theory replies that as drama, THE
Rhine gold" especially is very defective,
while with the added metaphysical and po-
litical meaning it becomes full of truth
and beauty. He then goes on to point out
the influences which might have moved
Wagner to the embodiment of these ideas
in his music dramas.
We are reminded that in 1S4S the dis
contented middle class, making common
cause with the starved laboring class, re-
sorted to armed rebellion, which reached
Dresden in 1S49; that Wagner, who then
held a frst-rate appointment in the ser
vice Of the Saxon State, as conductor OF
the opera at Dresden. did not hold aloof
from this movement, but took active part
in it; that he made a strong appeal to the
king to take the side of the masses, and
that, finally, he cast in his lot with the
revolutionists and went down with them.
When the insurrection was suppressed,
three men marked for vengeance were
Roeckel, an Old friend of Wagner; Ba-
koonin, an Anarchist, and Wagner him
self. Wagner, ruined pecuniarily and So
cially, escaped to Switzsrland, where he
remained for twelve years; the others suf-
fered long terms of Imprisonment. For
three years Wagner lived in Paris. writ
ing pamphlets on social evolution, relig-
ion, life, art and the influence of riches.
In 1858 the poem of THE Ring was COM
pleted and in 1856 the "Rhine-go gold" score
was finished. This, Mr.. Shaw thinks, is
proof enough that at the time ''The Ring
was written the composers brain was pos
sessed with revolutionary ideas, and
that it would have been almost miracle
if some of them had not been expressed
in his operas.
81,
theory is this:
The dwarfs, giants, and gods are dramatiza-
tions of tie three main. orders of men, 10 wit:
the instructive, predatory, lustfu greedy peo-
pie; the patient, toiling. stupid, respectful,
money -worshiping people, and the intellectual,
moral, talented people, who devise and admin
lister States and Churches. History shows us
only order higher than the highest OF these,
namely, the order of Heroes.
This is the reason why. in the humani-
tartan scheme of Wagner, man is repEe-
sented as higher than the gods. contrary
TO the old conventional myths.
Such interpretations are not exactly new
in critical literature Andrew Lang
some years ago explained THE Tempest"
as an allegory of the conflict between the
civilized man, represented by Prospero,
and the savage, represented by Caliban,
Ariel personifying the power OF thought.
The objection was made to that essay, as
it Will be made regarding Mr.. Shaw's
book, that the critic got more out of the
drama than its author ever put in, and
affected the self-conceit of knowing more
about Shakespeare than Shakespeare knew
about himself. Mr.. Shaw. VINO seems TO
have a preternatural power of foreseeing
what the critics will say about him, fore
stalls this objection by some quotations
from Wagner himself. Here is an extract
from a letter which the composer wrote
to Roeckel:
How can an artist expect that what he has
felt intuitively should be perfectly realized by
others seeing that he himself feels in the pres
Of his work. if it is true Art that he is con-
fronted with riddle, about which he, too, might
have illusions just as another might?
And again:
must confess to having arrived at clear un-
Outstanding o: my own works of art through the
help Of another, who has provided me with the
| reasoned conceptions corresponding TO my intui-
tive principles.
1t is wrong of you to challenge me to ex-
plain il in words; you must feel that something
is being enacted that is not TO be expressed in
words.
1t is also pointed out that Wagner being
his own librettist, was not only musician,
! but poet and philosopher. And all these
| facts and ideas are woven into the Won
derfuily ingenious and plausible theory Of
| the book.
Whether there is truth or merely plausi
| bility at the bottom of 1t all the leader
must determine for himself. The author of
the book has the faculty OF intuition de-
| veloped to marvellous degree, and this
| power often penetrates DISCUSSES proof
| against mere reasoning and makes them
seem perfectly transparent. More often
than not the man of intuition is ahead- Of
his generation, and sees clearly ruth
which the ordinary man, learned and
| thoughtful though he may be, does rot
grasp for some generations. At any rate,
1.-The Perfect Wagnerite" is worth the
reading to anyone who is interested in
the Wagner operas or in revolutionary
| ideas, and It cannot fail to add to the en-
joyment of 1.-The Ring of the Niblungs"
by those who accept Mr.. Shaw's theory
| and are in sympathy with his political
| ideas (NeW York: Herbert S. Stone &
| Co. s1.25.)
| Minor Fiction.
| Rncnr, Is he