32 pages • 1 hour read
Friedrich NietzscheThe Birth of Tragedy
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1872A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Philosophical Context: The Force of the Will
The philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) was one of Nietzsche’s main influences in The Birth of Tragedy. Schopenhauer posited a novel way of understanding metaphysics, or the nature of being. In contrast with previous philosophical schemes in which God, reason, the soul, or the heart were considered as the basis for reality, Schopenhauer argued that this role was filled by an impersonal will (sometimes capitalized as “Will”), identified as a powerful and undirected desire or energy.
In The Birth of Tragedy, Nietzsche follows Schopenhauer’s ideas by speaking of music as an outpouring of “lust for life” and an expression of the “world will.” For Nietzsche, music expresses an irrational, unconscious force and desire that lie behind nature and human action. This force of the will is related to the concept of the Dionysiac, or the dark and irrational tendencies in humankind, and as such it forms the core of tragedy with its narrative about the fateful destruction of a tragic hero. For Nietzsche, it is this impersonal will, and not reason, that rules the universe. Music—even more so than a merely verbal tragedy—embodies this will and helps listeners connect to it.
Schopenhauer and Nietzsche’s ideas about the universe as an expression of pure will marked a dramatic shift from the previous Western philosophical emphasis on reason as a way to understand reality and guide human action.
Cultural Context: Opera and Greek Tragedy
As a work of aesthetics, The Birth of Tragedy is written against the background of two important forms of art in Western culture: Greek tragedy and opera. For Nietzsche, Greek tragedy lies at the root of Western cultural history. Opera, invented in the early 17th century by a group of scholars known as the Florentine Camerata, was essentially an attempt to revive Greek tragedy in a modern-day form. The Camerata members were convinced that tragedies in ancient Greece were originally sung. Thus, in the spirit of Renaissance humanism, they created an art form that would combine poetry, music (both vocal and instrumental), and stage action with storylines drawn from classical history and mythology, as can be seen in two of the earliest operas, Orfeo and The Coronation of Poppea by Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643).
By the 19th century, opera had become one of the most popular and important art forms in European culture. Richard Wagner (1813-1888) emerged as a recognized genius in the field of German opera, writing lengthy and complex “music dramas” which aimed to combine story, poetry, music, and stage action in an integrated and philosophically profound whole. Nietzsche came to know Wagner in his early adult years, became a passionate follower of his music, and dedicated The Birth of Tragedy to him.
In the final 10 chapters of The Birth of Tragedy, Nietzsche champions Wagner as the savior of opera (and culture in general) through reviving the spirit of Greek tragedy in his music dramas. For Nietzsche, Wagner created a revolution in the arts by combining myth, poetry, and music in a powerful synthesis that reasserted the original aims of opera and reached back even further to Greek drama itself. Wagner accomplished this in part through the overwhelming emotional force of his music, which—according to Nietzsche—puts the audience in touch with the same primal, metaphysical reality that lies behind the suffering hero of Greek tragedy. Tragedy, Nietzsche believes, emerges “out of the spirit of music” and is thus best expressed through the music of Wagnerian opera.
Socio-Historical Context: The Revitalization of Germany’s Culture
Throughout The Birth of Tragedy Nietzsche makes references to German literary, philosophical, and cultural figures. These include the poets Goethe and Schiller, the dramatist Lessing, the philosopher Schopenhauer, and the composers Beethoven and Wagner, among others. In many ways, the book is written against the background of German cultural accomplishment and hopes for a continuation (or rebirth) of this cultural heritage.
Concerns about Germany and German culture were particularly timely when Nietzsche wrote the book, during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871). Germany defeated France in this conflict, thus ending the latter’s status as the dominant power in continental Europe and resulting in the creation of a unified Germany. Nietzsche himself served and was injured in the war, writing The Birth of Tragedy while recovering in Switzerland.
Particularly in the final chapters of the book, Nietzsche addresses himself to his fellow countrymen in their effort to build a viable intellectual and artistic culture in their newly-unified country, drawing on its past as well as on the heritage and example of the ancient Greeks. Nietzsche’s derogatory reference to Romance cultures (116) reflects this sense that Germany now has a chance to assert its own cultural identity free from foreign influences.
More specifically, Nietzsche implies that Germany’s storytelling tradition is oriented toward myth and the irrational (as seen, for example, in Grimms’ Fairy Tales) in contrast to the rationalist French tradition (as represented by the thought of Descartes or Voltaire). Later in his career, however, Nietzsche would become less German-nationalist in his outlook and would embrace French intellectual and cultural influence, coinciding with his rejection of Wagner.
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