In the preface, Nietzsche names Wagner as "one of his sicknesses." He also says that "the philosopher has no love for morals. Neither does he love pretty words." Yet he goes on to indulge in these morals and these pretty words to explain the loathing of his former friend and confidant. (Perhaps he is trying to be ironic as he does in "Beyond Good and Evil" when he forewarns us about his perception of women and love and proceeds to rant on them). As we discussed in class, Wagner's final opera, Parsifal, is likely the final straw for Nietzsche. In this opera, Wagner gives in and perhaps even invests in the Christian religion; at the very least, he is intending to use it to promote the idea of a unified Germany. This runs opposite to what Nietzsche believes; Nietzsche believes that though unified culture is something to strive for, the unification of a nation is a step toward the investment of a collective rather than the investment of the perceptive individual.
Kind of a thought to self: doesn't Wagner fulfill Nietzsche's prophecy? Doesn't he birth the tragedy of Germany in a sense?
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