1926 The Perfect Wagernite

Description

Leather Binding

A philosophical commentary on Richard Wagner's magnum opus 'Der Ring des Nibelungen', a cycle of four epic music dramas. The cycle comprises of 'Das Rheingold', 'Die Walkure', 'Siegfried', and 'Gotterdammerung'. Wagner wrote the libretto and music over about twenty-six years, from 1848 to 1874. 

The four dramas are loosely based on characters from Norse mythology and the Nibelungenlied. The plot of the four dramas revolves around a magical ring, that grants the wearer the power to rule the world. It is said that the ring was forged by the Nibelung dwarf Alberich from gold that he stole from the River Rhine's maidens.

In this commentary, George Bernard Shaw interprets the cycle in Marxian terms, looking at the dramas as an allegory of the collapse of capitalism from its internal contradictions.