Abstract
This article aims at abridging and exposing Nietzsche’s critique on Wagner in view of the culture type known as Wagnerian woman. By considering Nietzsche’s paradoxical approach to womanliness - simultaneously liberating and masculinist - and investigating the fundamental elements of the composer’s work of art, it becomes then possible to appraise the relationship between musical drama and misogyny. The main idea is to show that, despite Nietzsche’s preconceptions, he cannot acknowledge the dualistic logic followed by sexist meaning systems; in fact, through his musical and aesthetic analysis, he ends up revealing himself as an attentive and trustworthy ally in the combat against moral prejudice.
Keywords
Wagner; Nietzsche; musical drama; eternal feminine