War Father, The Least Free

A detailed Summary of War Father, The Least Free


Wagner's massive Ring cycle focuses on mankind's urge to power, which must be balanced by love. Freedom consists in holding both power and love together, in a fearless self-willedness and --most importantly-- self-reliance. In Act II, scene 2, of Die Walkure, Wotan cries out in horror that "I lie in fetters forged by me, I [am the] least free of all living!" (trans. Jameson, 21) He has come to this point because his power is not self-reliant, but rather built on the oaths he has taken and the complex web of loyalties and thralldoms which he has created. In his relentless quest to become a god, he has accidentally also become a slave to his own laws which compell him to act contrary to his love. As he laments, "By force of wildest wishes impelled, I won myself the world; faithless, I wrought in unknowing falseness, binding by bargains what hid mishap..." (trans. Jameson, 21-22) At every step of the way one can see that, just as Albrecht did in the beginning of the Rhinegold, Wotan too has surrendered love in his quest for power, and that this lack of balance has made him a slave to power itself.

Wotan loves the Walsung, Siegelind and Sie


Wotan is the least free, in a sense, precisely because he has the most power. When it is understood that power can contradict love, then it is likewise understood that power can defeat freedom. Perhaps, then, a positive light may be cast on the cycles eventual end when Wotan himself burns down Walhal, the ultimate symbol of power. Unlike in the original Norse myths, we do not see Loki arriving with an army of the dead to destroy Wotan and his hall -- instead, Wotan himself destroys it. Perhaps he has recognized the danger which power places upon him, and has chosen freedom.

Likewise, Wotan's power and his need to maintain that power forces him to disinherit and punish his daughter Brunhilde, even though she has done precisely what his love (rather than his power) dictated. She argues that he is denying a part of himself in punishing her, and this is precisely true. It is the part of him that loves that is enslaved when he punishes Brunhilde -- and in this sense he once again shows that he is not truly free. It is not coincidence that he claims that she will only be freed by one who does not fear his spear. On that spear are written all o

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 777
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History

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