To Understand George Bernard Shaw's Reading of The Ring by Examining The Perfect Wagnerite

• Main Authors: Cheng, Ke-Chiao, 鄭可喬
• Other Authors: Lo, Kii-Ming
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2018
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/5zgpmh

碩士 === 國立臺灣師範大學 === 音樂學系 === 106 === George Bernard Shaw was, and is still regarded as not only a renowned literatus and a playwright, but also a prolific writer of music discourses. His book on Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, The Perfect Wagnerite, is full of profound and abundant details, making itself a crucial source to understand this colossal work of Wagner. With his rich knowledge in music and works of other literature, Shaw understood and thought about The Ring deeply with his unique style; his writing is smooth and humorous, on the other hand, how he wrote it and what he chose to talk about is thought-provoking. The main idea of this thesis is divided into two parts: “Shaw as a reader” and “Shaw as an author”. In the “Shaw as a reader” part, Shaw’s understanding of The Ring will be discussed, and then in the “Shaw as an author” part, some of the most valuable but potentially overlooked details will be dug out from the details of the author’s writing. Hopefully, this thesis will sort out Shaw’s aesthetic experience from “accepting a work” to “creating a work” and will provide a way to understand The Perfect Wagnerite, and thus to understand The Ring.