Wagner's Ring and Its Symbols: The Music and the Myth

I was one of the biggest surprises of my life (I am 62 years old) that I found myself fascinated with Wagner - my first contact being a Parsival performance in the year 1976 in Stuttgart with Peter Hoffmann and a full Ring performance soon after that (and many others after that). Ever since then I have tried to understand what the root of that fascination is - I have read lots of books, and repeatedly listened to various performances of the music ... but have never found a satisfactory linkage of what occurs on the stage and in the orchestra pit with what went on inside of me. This Robert Donington book does more to satisfy that search than any lecture or other book I have come into contact with. As soon as I read his handling of the mermaids in the first chapter, I knew I was in good hands. No one will agree with everything that Donington says - I think he admits that such interpretations are tentative - but I have to be thrilled at the connections, often musically documented in the subtle changes to the leit-motifs, which open vistas of interpretation that I had not been aware of before. An enormous achievement.

Reading the first few pages of this book it became clear to me what the emphasis of this interpretation of Wagner's masterpiece would be, namely a Freudian/Jungian interpretation of the subconscious driving force behind Wagner's genius. I wasn't particularly receptive to this approach initially, notwithstanding the fact that I have a first degree in Psychology. However, the author's cogent and fluid arguments convinced me of the validity of such an interpretation. Wagner as an artist allowed himself to be driven by his subconscious in his later works, allowing his conscious self to contribute only for the purpose of rounding off the work. On the basis of this a detailed understanding of Wagner's subconscious, and indeed the interplay between his subconscious and conscious self must be seen as of indispensable importance to an indepth evaluation of 'der Ring des Nibelungen'. I think it is important to note that given the complexity of Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung such an interpretation does not preclude the relevance of other interpretations at different levels of abstraction. More orthodox evaluations of Wagner's tetralogy have concerned themselves with Wagner's apparent political and romantic motivations. While such interpretations are not necessarily incompatible with Donington's analysis the author looks beyond the realm of the salient in order to take us places that were closed even to Wagner himself. Psychological analysis, particularly when of the Classical variety, may be unpalatable to many when used to interpret famous works of art. A common criticism of advocates of Freudian and Jungian psychology is that the theories to which they subscribe are outdated and often, in the case of Freudian psychoanalysis, fundamentally flawed. However, many such theories still resonate today and in fact the appearance of what 'hard' scientists may deem outdated terminology is a perfectly apt and valid way to deal with the issues in this particular artistic work. The use of words like 'ego', as when contrasted with the 'subconscious', might deter the interest of some, but Donington uses such terminology interchangeably with more contemporary expressions such as 'conscious will' and certainly from a psychological and neuroscientific perspective the conscious-subconscious duality is as relevant now as it ever was. Donington uses his knowledge of Freudian and Jungian psychology to explain the Ring Cycle from a developmental psychology perspective. The power struggle between conscious-will, or ego, and the subconscious. Synonyms for such a conflict include power versus love (a popular understanding of the nature of the Ring Cycle) and the need of the self to reconcile individuality with a union to nature. Wagner completed the cycle over 26 years, a time during which he went through many a psychological and musical transformation - transformation being the key to the whole cycle according to the author. Donington describes the developmental process t

To an even greater extent than, say, Freudianism, Jungianism involves a leap of faith. It isn't rational, let alone anything like scientific; it's another case where a charismatic person once came up with a set of precepts, and the disciples follow them. But while I wouldn't recommend a Jungian therapist to anyone I cared about (I'd expect no harm except to the wallet; but little good either) Jungian analysis can be interesting when its applied to myth; it is after all largely based on Jung's ideas about myth. That makes Jungian ideas fairly apt for reading a myth-based work like the "Ring". Robert Donington is a Jungian true believer, and he applies Jung's ideas with considerable ingenuity and interest. Sometimes he'll do anything to fit Wagner into the Jungian framework, so that, for example, he'll read the very male dragon Fafner as "the mother in her devouring aspect". That's a pretty desperate reading: Fafner is nobody's female principle, and only someone with a strongly pre-determined agenda could try to make him one. Still, Donington is often insightful. Why is there a brief reminiscence of Erda's theme when Fricka appears in Walku:re Act II? Because, says Donington, Fricka is somehow representing Erda's wisdom in this appearance. Fricka may not seem wise, but on this occasion she is right. This and a hundred other small insights makes this a worthwhile and constantly interesting book. It's also very good on Wagner's mythological sources. Donington is right in thinking that the Ring is an endlessly complex and profound work; but probably wrong in thinking that Jung holds the key. Still, while Donington's overall reading is eccentric and not entirely reliable, this is a very enjoyable and often insightful book. Laon