"Is There in Truth No Beauty?"
April 24, 2016
G.D.O'Bradovich III
Is There in Truth No Beauty?
Star Trek, 1968
Die Schönheit und Weisheit mit ewiger Kron'.
The Magic Flute, 1791
Star Trek, 1968
Die Schönheit und Weisheit mit ewiger Kron'.
The Magic Flute, 1791
1
“Truth” and “Beauty” seem as though they should be paired, just as it seems that “Beauty” and “Wisdom” should be paired. This premise assumes that truth, one can choose either one truth or any truth, is beautiful. We may suppose that if truth is “good” and beauty is “good”, then it reasonably follows that either truth is beautiful or there is some relationship between truth and beauty. If we accept the authority of the dictionary, then we will learn that true is defined as either “in accordance with fact or reality” or “accurate or exact”.
During the Queen's only encounter with Tamino, she relates how her daughter, Pamina, was stolen by a villain from her arms. She evokes pity from Tamino as she claims she has lost all of her happiness. Tamino has no reason to doubt the story or the Queen's claim, after all, the radiant Queen, in glorious clothing, is worthy of her title, she evokes beauty, and even the aria can be described as beautiful. Therefore, the beauty of both the character and the music must lead Tamino to his sincere conviction: the story's veracity. However, Tamino is sincerely wrong.
Tamino believed the story of Pamina's abduction as told by the Queen to be true, for he had no reason to believe otherwise, but his assumptions were questioned when he arrived at the temples of Reason, Wisdom, and Nature. Tamino is certain that his purpose in rescuing Pamina is noble, true, and pure. Tamino assures the unnamed speaker from the temple of Wisdom that he is led by love and virtue. When Tamino learns that the evil Sarastro rules the temple of Wisdom, Tamino exclaims that “It is all a sham” and turns to leave. We assume that Tamino's use of the word “sham” refers to the vile Sarastro ruling the temple of Wisdom, this assumption is not a certainty.
“Explain yourself to me more closely. You are taken in by a deception.” Essentially, the speaker suggests that Tamino has been lead astray by second hand information or a story or tradition. Second hand information, like a story, can either be true or false. Although the speaker says it is true that Pamina was taken from the Queen's arms, he does not suggest that the Queen is evil or that Sarastro is good. Tamino must, using his reason, decide for himself the moral qualities of both the Queen and Sarastro, based only on his experiences. In the hands of a lesser writer, the speaker would explicitly declare that the Queen is evil and that Sarastro is the hero of the unfolding drama, thus sparing the audience to use their reasoning skills. Of course, this suggested declaration regarding the moral qualities of both the Queen and Sarastro can only be correctly understood as second hand information, and if Tamino believed it, his development as a human being would be stunted, in fact, he would be unable to grow as an individual and the resolution of the story would be dramatically altered. The Age of the Enlightenment can be summed up: “O endless night! When will you pass? When will the light strike my eyes?”
Fortunately, the writer of the opera chose reason as the principle that ultimately leads Tamino and Pamina to reunite and conclude the opera. A lesser writer could have used the trite plot device of “God from the Box”; such a plot twist is found in “King of Crete” where Poseidon rises from the ocean to intervene on behalf of the characters. The principle of Nature in The Magic Flute is represented by Papageno and exemplified by his simple desires for food, wine, and a young wife, as chance and circumstances will allow. Papageno never searched for what he wanted, he never took the initiative; they were always given to him by the noble Brotherhood. We suspect that the simple minded Papageno may convince himself and others, and even his posterity, that the intervention of the Brotherhood or the gods was the reason for his many children. This sublime opera demonstrates the progression from, firstly, accepting Nature, to, secondly, using Reason to understand the truth regarding the physical word and, thirdly, to applying Wisdom in our engagements with fellow human beings.
Sarastro, of course, is the embodiment of Wisdom and this observation has been noted by many commentators. However, we have never read any demonstrable reason why Sarastro is considered wise [any allusions between the names of Sarastro and Zoroaster are unconvincing]: He does not exhibit identical behavior towards the other characters, otherwise said, Sarastro is not a Modern guru proposing one easy to understand truth that should be applied to all people, at all times, regardless of their circumstances, their wants, or their abilities. Monostatos is punished with as many as seventy seven lashes, while Pamina is assured that forgiveness is found within the sacred halls of the Brotherhood. Through patience, Tamino is guided towards using his God given reason; and while it is beneficial for Tamino to enter the Brotherhood, it would be detrimental, if not cruel, for the unsophisticated Papageno to tackle the higher ideals offered by Sarastro. The Queen and her entourage are condemned to “eternal night”; we presume that their transference is accomplished through Sarastro's wise use of the seven fold solar orb.
If we assign the characters into the tripartite division as suggested by the opera, we would have the following: The Queen, the three ladies, Monostatos, Papageno, Pagagena and the three boys are under the influence of Nature. Tamino and Pamina are under the influence of reason, as are all members of the Brotherhood. It seems that in the world of The Magic Flute, only Sarastro is under the influence of Wisdom. While the suggested ratio of 10:2:1 seems overly optimistic, we must remind ourselves that those ten, with possible exception of the three boys, will remain under Nature's influence.
Outside the world of The Magic Flute, those individuals who remain under the charms, influence, and limitations of Nature, that is, of sense perception, will be unable to “soar from the earth up to heaven”, and they will eternally conflate “Truth” and “Beauty” and will be incapable of devoting themselves “wholly to the mysteries of Isis”.
During the Queen's only encounter with Tamino, she relates how her daughter, Pamina, was stolen by a villain from her arms. She evokes pity from Tamino as she claims she has lost all of her happiness. Tamino has no reason to doubt the story or the Queen's claim, after all, the radiant Queen, in glorious clothing, is worthy of her title, she evokes beauty, and even the aria can be described as beautiful. Therefore, the beauty of both the character and the music must lead Tamino to his sincere conviction: the story's veracity. However, Tamino is sincerely wrong.
Tamino believed the story of Pamina's abduction as told by the Queen to be true, for he had no reason to believe otherwise, but his assumptions were questioned when he arrived at the temples of Reason, Wisdom, and Nature. Tamino is certain that his purpose in rescuing Pamina is noble, true, and pure. Tamino assures the unnamed speaker from the temple of Wisdom that he is led by love and virtue. When Tamino learns that the evil Sarastro rules the temple of Wisdom, Tamino exclaims that “It is all a sham” and turns to leave. We assume that Tamino's use of the word “sham” refers to the vile Sarastro ruling the temple of Wisdom, this assumption is not a certainty.
“Explain yourself to me more closely. You are taken in by a deception.” Essentially, the speaker suggests that Tamino has been lead astray by second hand information or a story or tradition. Second hand information, like a story, can either be true or false. Although the speaker says it is true that Pamina was taken from the Queen's arms, he does not suggest that the Queen is evil or that Sarastro is good. Tamino must, using his reason, decide for himself the moral qualities of both the Queen and Sarastro, based only on his experiences. In the hands of a lesser writer, the speaker would explicitly declare that the Queen is evil and that Sarastro is the hero of the unfolding drama, thus sparing the audience to use their reasoning skills. Of course, this suggested declaration regarding the moral qualities of both the Queen and Sarastro can only be correctly understood as second hand information, and if Tamino believed it, his development as a human being would be stunted, in fact, he would be unable to grow as an individual and the resolution of the story would be dramatically altered. The Age of the Enlightenment can be summed up: “O endless night! When will you pass? When will the light strike my eyes?”
Fortunately, the writer of the opera chose reason as the principle that ultimately leads Tamino and Pamina to reunite and conclude the opera. A lesser writer could have used the trite plot device of “God from the Box”; such a plot twist is found in “King of Crete” where Poseidon rises from the ocean to intervene on behalf of the characters. The principle of Nature in The Magic Flute is represented by Papageno and exemplified by his simple desires for food, wine, and a young wife, as chance and circumstances will allow. Papageno never searched for what he wanted, he never took the initiative; they were always given to him by the noble Brotherhood. We suspect that the simple minded Papageno may convince himself and others, and even his posterity, that the intervention of the Brotherhood or the gods was the reason for his many children. This sublime opera demonstrates the progression from, firstly, accepting Nature, to, secondly, using Reason to understand the truth regarding the physical word and, thirdly, to applying Wisdom in our engagements with fellow human beings.
Sarastro, of course, is the embodiment of Wisdom and this observation has been noted by many commentators. However, we have never read any demonstrable reason why Sarastro is considered wise [any allusions between the names of Sarastro and Zoroaster are unconvincing]: He does not exhibit identical behavior towards the other characters, otherwise said, Sarastro is not a Modern guru proposing one easy to understand truth that should be applied to all people, at all times, regardless of their circumstances, their wants, or their abilities. Monostatos is punished with as many as seventy seven lashes, while Pamina is assured that forgiveness is found within the sacred halls of the Brotherhood. Through patience, Tamino is guided towards using his God given reason; and while it is beneficial for Tamino to enter the Brotherhood, it would be detrimental, if not cruel, for the unsophisticated Papageno to tackle the higher ideals offered by Sarastro. The Queen and her entourage are condemned to “eternal night”; we presume that their transference is accomplished through Sarastro's wise use of the seven fold solar orb.
If we assign the characters into the tripartite division as suggested by the opera, we would have the following: The Queen, the three ladies, Monostatos, Papageno, Pagagena and the three boys are under the influence of Nature. Tamino and Pamina are under the influence of reason, as are all members of the Brotherhood. It seems that in the world of The Magic Flute, only Sarastro is under the influence of Wisdom. While the suggested ratio of 10:2:1 seems overly optimistic, we must remind ourselves that those ten, with possible exception of the three boys, will remain under Nature's influence.
Outside the world of The Magic Flute, those individuals who remain under the charms, influence, and limitations of Nature, that is, of sense perception, will be unable to “soar from the earth up to heaven”, and they will eternally conflate “Truth” and “Beauty” and will be incapable of devoting themselves “wholly to the mysteries of Isis”.