Comparative Literature Study Guide “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” by Frederick Nietzsche 1) Themes: a. Nihilism: the belief in nothing; no longer believe that God gives meaning and purpose which makes us see our lives as meaningless; Nietzsche worried without purpose, we would slide int a world of mediocrity and comfort; foresaw that nihilism would lead to rabid nationalism that would cause horrific wars. b. Eternal Recurrence: doctrine that all events will be repeated over and over again for all eternity; Zarathustra outlines that if the past stretches back infinitely, then anything that could have happened must have happened already at some point in the past and if the future is infinite then everything must occur again in the future; Kaufmann disagrees c. Dance: Nietzsche uses dancing as a metaphor for lightness of spirit; those who are too serious or weighed down will be unable to dance; an overman who has freed himself will not be weighed down and can dance; dancing suggests a kind of mental flexibility and agility that allows a creative spirit to think freely and for himself d. Will to Power: the fundamental force that drives all life; aka an instinct for freedom; drive to be free from constraints as possible and to command wills of others; learns to command and obey itself; constant struggle for power and overcoming between wills means that nothing in the universe can remain fixed in place for long so the universe is in flux e. Overcoming: any improvement in a person is made at the expense of what that person used to be (in order to improve yourself you must overcome yourself); overman is someone who has fully overcome himself so he can claim to be all creator and no creature; he is fully responsible for everything he is f. Evil: something is evil within the context of a given morality; anything that challenges or tries to destroy a morality is considered evil by that morality; Zarathustra sees “evil” as often good, means doing away with older moralities in favor of something new; Zarathustra often associates evil with freedom of spirit, claims it’s essential to creating higher man 2) Characters: a. Zarathustra: Persian prophet who lived and preached in the 5th century BCE; first philosopher to conceive of a universe that is defined by a struggle between good and evil; Nietzsche’s protagonist (in Nietzsche’s mind the first prophet to preach about good and evil and the first to move beyond good and evil); preaches about the overman (moved beyond good and evil and has embraced the eternal recurrence) b. Overman: the goal of humanity; someone who has overcome himself; obeys no laws but his own; level of self-mastery that drees him from prejudices and assumptions of people around him, a creative will, and a strong will to power; Zarathustra says no overman exists but we must breed one 3) Important Quotes: 4) Chapter Analysis: a. Prologue: declaration of the death of God & declaration of the overman; God is no longer strong enough to serve as the foundation for truth and morality; god is no longer universally accepted as giving meaning to our lives; If god was what previously gave meaning to our lives, a world without god is meaningless; Portrait of the last man is meant to give the ultimate result of nihilism; we will invent happiness by eliminating every source of worry and strife from our lives; Overman is supposed to be the solution to nihilism; overman puts all his faith into himself and relies on nothing else; Zarathustra speaks of triumphant moment where we look with contempt upon all human qualities we once valued (would signify triumph over the shallow, human nature); image of humanity as a bridge is illustrated by story of the tightrope walker (walker is making slow and dangerous progress between animal and overman), Jester is like Zarathustra (can easily leap over slower people, can cross rope of overman) b. Part One: series of sermons and stories of Zarathustra in a town called Motley Cow i. On the Three Metamorphoses: three stages of progress to the overman: camel (on which you renounce comforts, exercise self-discipline, and accept difficulties), lion (where you assert independence and say no to outside influences), and child (act of creation); follows path of a creative genius ii. On the Teachers of Virtue: Z criticizes ideal of practicing virtue and restrain in order to find peace; inner peace is antithetical to waking struggle against oneself for improvement and independence iii. On the Afterworldly: physical needs dictate our values and desires; sick/dissatisfied person will claim to be spirit and will create an afterlife as destruction for pains of life iv. On Despisers of the Body: “self” is nothing more than a body; underlies all reason, spirit, and sense; despisers of the body have a sick body that hates life and wants to die v. On Enjoying and Suffering the Passions: learn and grow from moments of suffering and intense feeling; should not be shared for fear of losing uniqueness; someone driven by more than one intense passion will suffer great inner conflict vi. On the Pale Criminal: crime is not the murder itself but that he was driven to it by his weakness and was subsequently wracked with guilt vii. On Reading and Writing: Zarathustra characterizes them as bearing a spirit of levity and laughter; Z hates widespread literacy because it encouraged writers to simplify their work for masses; Z speaks of overman as standing on a mountain peak and looking down viii. On the Tree on the Mountainside: Z urges a young boy to not give up hope ix. On the Preachers of Death: those who preach about eternal life preach that life is suffering but must be endured for prep for the afterlife; preaching a renunciation of life x. On War and Warriors: those who pursue knowledge do it relentlessly; Z compares to pursuit of war and contrasts “saints of knowledge” with “warriors” who still struggle to it; Nietzsche is talking about an intellectual, inner struggle xi. On the New Idol: state is new idol the masses worship; encourages uniformity and mediocrity xii. On the Flies of the Marketplace: true change and influence is silently dictate by the overman and the creator; creativity demands isolation from meddlesome crowds xiii. On Chastity: good for some, bad for others; efforts of over lusty spirits to repress sex drive might corrupt their spirit xiv. On the Friend: true friends drive each other toward the overman; a friend might often behave as the enemy; Z says women aren’t capable of friendship, only love; friends and enemies are ones equals xv. On the Thousand and One Goals: different people value different things; individuals should renounce good and evil and strive to become the overman xvi. On the Love of the Neighbor: persuade neighbor to love you in order to manufacture yourself a good opinion of yourself; Z hates love of the neighbor and commends love for the overman; any other love is a distraction xvii. On the Way of the Creator: not everyone is suited to be an overman; freedom is only good if you do something with it xviii. On Little Old and Young Women: women want men to make babies; men want women to play; woman’s greatest virtue is her love for men (especially strong, noble men) xix. On the Adder’s Bite: criticizes Christian ethic of “turn the other cheek”; if you’ve been wronged, better to get revenge then let is build up inside xx. On Child and Marriage: marriage is good only as a means to breed the overman; marriage to ease loneliness is a distraction xxi. On Free Death: art to dying at the right time; free death is chosen by the dying person and serves as inspiration to those living xxii. On the Gift-Giving Virtue: Z leaves Motley Cow and gives one last address; gifts should be given out of over-fullness in oneself; urges people to seek out their own paths xxiii. Analysis: insight into the overman: takes flexibility of the mind to question rules and push them and to break free from influences; progress towards the overman demands a constant struggle where a new self overcomes and old one; “the body” can be seen as representing the physical work; mental lives are responses to the needs of our bodies; healthy body has no need of gods or other worlds; strongly nationalisitic sentiment; overman is ultimate expression of the will to power; there is an awareness to Nietzsche’s writing about women that suggest he knows it wrongs c. Part Two i. The Child with the Mirror: Z realizes his enemies are perverting his teaching ii. Upon the Blessed Isles: Z equates creative will with freedom; belief in God inhibits creativity iii. On the Pitying: pity doe nobody good; resented eats away like a jungle; joy is better than pity; learning joy means we learn to not hurt others iv. On Priests: priests see life as suffering, so they want others to suffer too; they are little more than corpses v. On the Virtuous: Z says virtue is a matter of putting oneself into ones deeds out of exuberance of being vi. On the Rabble: multitudes of common people spoil everything they touch; rise above the rabble to find purity, peace, and friendship vii. On the Tarantulas: those who preach democracy, equality, and justice are called by Z tarantulas; they spread the poison of revenge; by preaching equality they seek to avenge themselves; life thrives of conflict and selfovercoming viii. On the Famous Wise Men: impossible serve truth and people; philosophers end up rationalizing popular prejudice ix. The Night Song: Z says he must always give and never receive; he feels loneliness in never having to need anyone or anything x. The Dancing Song: Z gets sad and feels unable to justify his being alive xi. The Tomb Song: Z thinks back on youth and ideas/ideals; his will remains unchanged xii. One Self-Overcoming: Z claims that everything that lives obeys and if you can’t obey yourself, someone will command you; powerful obey themselves and command others; power is gained through obedience; will to power should lead all of Nietzsche’s conclusions xiii. On Those Who Are Sublime: Z values lightness and kindness in a powerful person xiv. On the Land of Education: modern people accumulate learning of past ages and parade it as their own knowledge; take pride in skepticism because they are empty xv. On Immaculate Perception: Z criticizes contemplative people who claim they want to perceive world without interfering; they want to reflect xvi. On Scholars: Z criticizes scholars for being uncreative and petty xvii. On Poets: Z says they try to appear deeper than they are; Z says “we…lie too much” xviii. On Great Events: great events are hardly noticed; church and state make noises but have no real impact xix. The Soothsayer: Z goes into deep depression xx. On Redemption: Z complains he hasn’t found a complete human being; can’t bear the present and the past if he can’t’ look forward to a future of whole human being that redeems this past xxi. Analysis: Nietzsche draws distinction between “master morality” of “ancient aristocracy” and slave morality, he finds slave morality contemptible; weak resent the power of their masters and their inability to exact vengeance; weak invent idea of afterlife and divine justice because they can’t strike back in life and secure their justice; slave class invented concept of evil; democracy ensures the weak don’t have to suffer abuses of the strong; Nietzsche isn’t entirely opposed to slave morality (admires creativity and sublimating power); N longs for a world of creative freedom; self-overcoming is central to the will to power because all great power requires power over oneself; overman is based on total freedom; any attempt to see a moral code represents a weakening of vital forces “Táin Bó Cúailnge” trans. by Thomas Kinsella 1) 2) 3) 4) Themes: Characters: Important Quotes: Chapter Analysis: “Orlando Furioso” by Ludovic Ariosto (trans. by William Stewart Rose) 1) 2) 3) 4) Themes: Characters: Important Quotes: Chapter Analysis: “The Queen of Spades” by Alexander Pushkin 1) 2) 3) 4) Themes: Characters: Important Quotes: Chapter Analysis: “The White Disease” by Karel Čapek 1) 2) 3) 4) Themes: Characters: Important Quotes: Chapter Analysis:
