Where Inspiration Generates Art: A Critical Analysis of Shaffer’s “Amadeus”

Ahmed Hasan Mousa

doi:10.1177/2158244019853976

Abstract

This research article is mainly concerned with the dialectic of art and theology with reference to Peter Shaffer’s play “Amadeus.” It delineates comparing divine and artistic creativity as a vital ...

Highlights

The quest for inspiration is central to the classical Greek thought and writing
Having insight into the process of poetic inspiration, the Greek and the Christian worldviews stress upon the divinity of poetic creation. This worldview is encoded into Shafer’s “Amadeus.” In their theology, art and many other concepts of life are not man-made; humans are nothing but tools of several gods, and those gods inspire them to present their arts through these tools and in several forms
For Shaffer, inspiration is a characteristic conviction of men concerning all the types of arts; and to the more prominent artists themselves, it is something normal to feel it, and for their own works and their perspectives in composing appear higher than themselves. This feeling of possession of being made up into a circle of more noteworthy power is the genuine idyllic franticness, which is so natural thought in Greek as they believed in the goddesses of inspiration, the nine muses, and even for the Christians as they believe in the Holy Spirit as a source of inspiration

Summary

Introduction

The quest for inspiration is central to the classical Greek thought and writing. Literature, theology, and philosophy draw heavily on the divine unseen powers that nourish the intuitive talented individual with the milk of inspiration. The first theory is that inspiration comes from outside the poet; the second, that it comes from within him (Preminger, 1974) They are distinct in their parameters, the Greek and the Christian world views hinge over the first perception that the poet is inspired by divine powers. In the domain of inspiration, one thing is sure for the Greeks, that is, Muses have an extensive part to play, a divine power which they injected it into the individual’s mind This notion is central to Peter Shaffer’s play “Amadeus,” which is followed by this research article. The study is rounded up with concluding remarks elicited from the critical analysis

Literature Review

Part 1: The Process of Poetic Inspiration in Greek Paganism and Christian Doctrine

Part 2: Peter Shaffer’s “Amadeus”

Concluding Remarks