My Undergrad Thesis on Nietzsche

[NobodysFreak]

Lou Salome, herself had no direct influence on Nietzsche. She was rather indifferent towards him. Everything I've read by her about Nietzsche backs this up.

The crux of my thesis isn't that Lou Salome directly influenced Nietzsche in the way that Newton influenced Einstein. It was Nietzsche's stunted and childish emotions which created an idea of Lou Salome. He fell in love with this idea, it was shattered, and the result was a month long period of reflection followed by a ten day frenzy which produced the first part of Zarathustra. Many of the themes in the Gay Science are revisted again in Zarathustra. Most importantly, the failure of Nietzsche to win Salome kept the integrity of the Gay Science because had Nietzsche consumated his feelings for Salome, it would have destroyed a large portion of his writings on friendship and love.

[NobodysFreak]

His writings on pity, I think, keep the integrity of that aphorism. Given all of the grief, loneliness, physical pains, and blindness he suffered, it would have been incredibly easy for a weaker person to go about in pity for themself. Nietzsche, however, refused to allow these shortcomings to prevent him from his work.

[madnak]

I agree for the most part, and I think TSZ was good... But I also think it was the beginning of the end. And I think Salome had a lot to do with that. Who knows what would have happened had she responded differently? I don't think it's fair to say Nietzsche would have been destroyed.

[madnak]

But did his suffering help or hinder him? And did he or didn't he give in to it in the end?

[NobodysFreak]

To everyone who's replied,

I didn't forget about this discussion... I just haven't had time as my job search has become a full-time job itself.

Having said that, I'd like to address a point that Madnak brought up. Namely, did Nietzsche eventually give into his suffering and would his life had been better if he had been able to win Salome's heart.

As to the first part, Its my opinion that the suffering in Nietzsche's life provided fuel for his creative fires. Nietzsche himself would claim this and it's a point I make in my thesis.

In response to the second part, I'm of the opion that his life would have been drastically different had he been able to win over Salome. I speculated on this briefly in my thesis. Nietzsche's lonliness is well known. If he were to obtain the relationship he wanted and needed he might not have gone insane. But again, we have no way of knowing this. He very well still might have gone insane (His father died of what was called "softening of the brain") even if he were with Salome, but I certainly think that we'd never have Zarathustra and his last and most productive years would have probably not been as productive or influential.