Re: Burning questions about the Ring's symbolism and leitmotifs

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from mpresley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> contains these words:

> Karl Wee wrote:

> > To me, Loge is one of the most fascinating characters.  

> Loge is obviously a cynical opportunist, yet in his cynicism he has a pretty
> good grasp of the "true" nature of things.  And his sense of irony makes
> him one of Wagner's great characters.  

> In a way he kind of reminds me of Lear's fool.

I'd dispute this and similar posts strongly, I'm afraid. Semi-favourable
views of Loge have been common for a while, notably Wieland Wagner's
much-quoted view of him as "the Ring's only intellectual". Personally, I
think this throws an interesting and rather chilling light on Wieland's
standards. Loge is a thinker, yes; but not a man of abstract ideas, only
a schemer, a plotter, an intriguer. His mockery and provocation derive
from nothing so detached as cynicism or nihilism. He has a strong,
selfish purpose, and its evil nature becomes more evident if one
considers his origins.

As well as his highly ambiguous original in the Old Norse sources --
trickster-god one moment, malevolent demon the next, probably due to the
conflation of very different stories -- he has two major prototypes. One
is Mercury in his role as fixer and pimp to Jupiter, a common classical
motif which Wagner would undoubtedly have come across. It reappears
throughout the Renaissance, often for satirical effect -- Mercury as the
classic courtier and evil counsellor, whipping-boy for a self-willed
king whom one can't criticize directly; compare the pairing of the two
in Cavalli's La Calisto, where the effect is very like Wotan and Loge.

The other, which is undoubtedly influenced by this tradition both
directly and through Christopher Marlowe, appears in a work Wagner
deeply admired -- Goethe's Mephistopheles. In his relationship with the
idealistic, moral but all too corruptible Faust he is very, very like
Loge with Wotan. Both of them are bound to serve their high-minded
masters faithfully, but have reasons to hate them -- Mephisto to gain
Faust's soul, Loge to unleash the bonds Wotan has put upon him (which
may very well give him his semi-human identity). Consequently, although
they carry out their master's orders, they do it in such a malicious way
as to afflict, compromise and perhaps even destroy them, causing maximum
grief and damage along the way. Mephisto does this to Faust many times,
notably with Margarete in Part 1 and with the old couple whose house he
wishes to clear away in Part II.

Hence Loge's disastrous advice over the bargain, and over the recovery
of the Ring. He deliberately intends to tangle Wotan in a moral maze
which will damage his authority. You see him apply the same technique --
destructive service -- to the Nibelungs and especially to the giants.
His reflections at the end of Rheingold are nothing new, but a
reflection on the success of his plans, and their possible extension --
whether he might not reassume his own unfettered shape one day, and
himself destroy the gods.

I don't feel that's really the ambition of a cynic, or Lear's fool.
That's destruction with a human voice.

Cheers,

Mike

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