goethe, nietzsche, and wagner their spinozan epics of love and power

7/27/2019 Goethe, Nietzsche, and Wagner Their Spinozan Epics of Love and Power

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The University of Notre Dame

Goethe, Nietzsche, and Wagner: Their Spinozan Epics of Love and Power by T. K. SeungReview by: Kate RigbyReligion & Literature, Vol. 39, No. 2 (Summer, 2007), pp. 105-108Published by: The University of Notre DameStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40060078 .

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Goethe, Nietzsche, and Wagner:Their Spinozan Epics of Loveand Power.T. K. SeungLexington Books, 2006. 402 pages. $29.95 paper.

Inthishighlyoriginalcomparativetudy,T. K. Seungdraws ogetherand

developsvarious trandsof hisearlier cholarship,whichextendsovermorethanfortyyears, napplyinghis method of "cultural hematics" o the rein-

terpretation f threeof the mostsignificantworksof German,andarguablyEuropean, ulture:Goethe's wo-partFaust rama,Nietzsche's hilosophicalnovel,ThusSpakearathusfra,ndWagner's peratic Gesamtkunstwerk,'he

Ring f iheKibelung.hat inks heseformally erydifferentworks,nSeung'sanalysis,stheirpoeticengagementwith the naturalisticeconceptualisation

of humandestiny comprised n Spinoza'sEthics.All three,he argues,arespecifically"Spinozan pics" n that,bycontrastwith the Christian picofthe MiddleAges, theyrecastthe humanjourneypantheistically s one ofalienationand return,not to God, but to MotherNature.Pointingto the

epic-likestructure f Spinoza'sphilosophicalmasterpiece,Seung proceedsto read these artisticworksfor theirphilosophical mport,the burdenofwhichis that"theinfinitesubstanceof Nature is the new God and a finite

being can exist only as a mode of this infinite substance" xvi).Thus, heasserts:

In these three epic models, the Faustian individuals come to learn through the agonyof their self-assertion that the pursuit of individual sovereignty is self-defeating and

self-destructive. For the absolute sovereignty can be secured only by cutting off the

lifeline to Mother Nature. The Faustian individuals have to go through the trial of

individuation to realize that the individual self can be fulfilled only in a greater self,whether it be the cosmic self, the communal self, or the cosmic mother.

Thisis,withoutdoubt,aboldclaim,and onethatmanyscholars pecialis-ing in the workof Goethe,Nietzscheor Wagnermightwant to dispute.Inhis carefulandlucidlyarguedexegesisof thetexts,Seungnonethelessbuildsa strongcase in supportof his grandnarrativeregarding heir Spinozan

underpinnings.On one level,this constitutesa tour eforcef closereading,

R&L 39.2 (Summer 2007)

105



106 Religion& Literature

albeitof a kind that is directed owardsunlockinga single logicallyconsis-tent lineof argumentation ather hanmultiplyingmeaningsandunveilingaporias.Certainly,t is the textsthemselves hat takecentrestage n Seung'sinterpretation.Althoughhisapproach sunapologeticallyntentionalist, e

rarelydrawson other sourcesof evidence to supporthis conclusions.Hisin-text references o prior scholarshipare also rathersparse,other critics

generally iguringas sparringpartners,and the bibliography onsistsof aslender threepages. Only very occasionallydoes he registeruncertainty,

as forexamplewhen he admits of his readingof a particularly"baffling"passagefromTheGayScience,I am not sureif I havegiventhe right nter-

pretationof Nietzsche'sreflectionon personalprovidence" 293).Clearly,for Seung,the text constitutesa code to be cracked,and he displayscon-siderablehermeneutic ngenuity n doingso. Forme, this is moststrikinglyevidenced n his brilliantsolutionto the problemposed by the apparentlyotherworldly ndingof Faust PartTwo, n which the Spinozan projectof

becominga true"earthling"Erdensohn,n Goethe'sterminology) s seem-

ingly betrayedby the salvationof the errant hero's"immortalpart"partin a heavenlybeyond.In order to render this obscureepilogueconsistent

with the "mysticalnaturalism" hat he has discerned n the work thusfar,Seung reinterprets t as a "psychodrama" epresentingallegorically he

strugglewithin Faust's oul priorto his death, entailingthe surrenderofselfishstriving n favourof servinga widercommunityandculminatingnthe"mystical nion of the individual elf with thecosmicself inthe EternalFeminine" 145).While Goethe appropriates spectsof Catholicimageryhere,includingangels,anchorites,penitentsand even the Virgin Mary,hedoes soinorder opromoteanemphatically ost-Christianisionof natural

divinity n the figureof a renascentGreatGoddess,therebyrestoring heancient"feminineprinciple" hat had been "obliteratedromthe Western

religiousconsciousness"150).Thiswillnot convinceeverybody;butin myeyesit is, at the veryleast,an entirelyplausiblereading.

Seung'sexploration f theways nwhichGoethe,NietzscheandWagnernot only metaphorisebut also modifySpinoza'spantheism s particularlyinteresting.The most salient of these is Goethe'srefiguringof Natureintermsof evolutionaryprocessin a bid to explainthe ongoingemergenceof a diverseorderof differentiated ndincreasingly omplexbeingsout ofa priorstate of chaos or nothingness. n thisconnection,it is unfortunatethatSeunghas notconsulted omeof therecentresearchon RomanticandIdealistreconceptualizations f Nature,such as that of RobertRichards,whichpointsto the key role of Schelling'sNaturphilosophien the develop-ment of evolutionary hinking, ncluding hatof Goethe.It should also benotedthat theintroduction f process nto theconceptof Natureeffectively



KATERIGBY 107

transformspantheism nto panentheism,a term coined by the theologianC. C. E Krause (1781-1832)and inspiredby Schelling'sNaturphilosophie,for it impliesthat the divine is neverfullydisclosed n the physicalworldas it existsat anyparticularmomentin time,which is but the continuouslychangingproduct(naturaaturans)f an underlyingproductive orce(naturanaturata).

Goethefurthermodifies heSpinozanmodel,according o Seung,by giv-ingthe reunificationwith Naturean ethical orientation:Faust s redeemed

onlybecausehe belatedlycomesto the realisation,as expressed n hisfinalsoliloquy,hat his task s not to conquerMotherNature,but to be reunitedwith Her via "the communalbond with his fellow creatures"117).WhileNietzscheand Wagnerretain Goethe'sdynamic processview of Nature,theyonce more eliminate hisethicaldimension,recasting he relationshipbetween Nature'soffspring n terms of a never-endingpower struggle,whichcan onlybe overcomeon thepartof the "super-human"ndividual

by meansof an act of identificationwith the cosmicself (£arathustra)r ofreturn o the cosmicMother(Twilightf theGods), lthough hecataclysmicendingof theRing yclewas influencedbyWagner'snewfoundenthusiasm

forSchopenhauer,Seunginsists hatit is lesspessimistic,andmore Nietzs-chean, than it might seem, as the musicalprogressionof concluding keyshiftsconnotesthe idea of rebirth,promising"a newjourneyof creationand evolution[. ..] the onlyplausible orm of redemption n the worldof

becoming" 335).Seung'shermeneuticendeavoursare ultimatelymore actualising han

historicizing,and his book is somethingof an epic in its own right,with

Goethe,NietzscheandWagner iguringrather ikeVirgil,Beatriceand St.Bernardn Dante'sDivineComedysguidesalongthewaytoa new revelation.Forin his view,"ourrelentlessexploitationand contaminationof Nature

is nothingotherthanthe magnification nd intensification f the Faustianproject.Hence theproblemof Faustian thosis the most fundamentalonefor our scientificand industrial ulture" 160).Here,aswell as in its meta-

physicalpremises,Seung'spost-Christianversionof the humanjourneyresonateswithmuchcontemporary cophilosophy, specially he similarlySpinozan-inspiredworkof FreyaMathews.Where it nonetheless differs

markedlys not only in Seung'sevidentlyslightconcernwith the questionof humanrelationswith other-than-humanellowearthlings Natureas the

Manyrather hanjust the One), but also in his regrettablyuncritical and

unreferenced)ncorporationf

socio-biological rguments egardingelfish

genesandgenderdifferences.

Regardlessof how one mightfeel abouthis new revelation,Seungcer-

tainlysucceedsin sheddingfreshlight on three complex worksof great



108 Religion& Literature

cultural ignificance.This is a compellingstudy,and one that is truly ull of

surprises!

KateRigbyMonashUniversity

goethe, nietzsche, and wagner their spinozan epics of love and power

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