Essay The play Amadeus and the Destructive Nature of...

The play quot;Amadeusquot; is Mainly Concerned With the Destructive Nature of Jealousy This passage is all too true, both in Peter Shaffers ‘Amadeus and in life in general. However the play is also concerned with the destructive nature of ignorance and naivety. Salieri is jealous not just of Mozarts talent, but of the fact that God gave the talent to â€Å"Mozart †¦ spiteful, sniggering, conceited, infantine Mozart†. He is envious of the vessel of Gods laughter at the ‘patron saint of mediocrity as he had dubbed himself. Not only did God double-cross Salieri, but he did it using this â€Å"obscene child†. It was this jealousy and the rage it inspired that caused Salieri to attempt to kill Mozart by starving him of work and students, and†¦show more content†¦But no. â€Å"I know myself forever mediocre† he cries as he realises that the gift given to him by God only exists to allow him to recognise the greatness and incomparable beauty of the music of God. It is at this moment he resolves to condemn God in everything he does. He cancels all his appointments to help poor musicians, to break his vow of social virtue. He then seduces Katherina Cavalieri to break his vow of sexual virtue. He makes the conscious decision to destroy God through Mozart in everything he does. He declares God, through Mozart, to be â€Å"Nemico Eterno†, the eternal enemy. His life is now devoted to the destruction of God. I believe that Antonio Salieri is also jealous of Gods ability to dole out talent as he sees fit, without Salieri being able to stand in his way. He has had enough! So he snaps, and attempts to destroy Mozarts name and reputation, which wasnt that high to start with. His name wasnt incredibly well known because only Salieri had the ability to recognise his greatness. Because the rest of the Court, and indeed, Vienna, relied almost solely on the opinions of Herr Salieri, he was able to prevent Mozarts music from becoming popular to a degree. He won his fight with God, but the knowledge lived in him still, he knew he would forever be, the patron saint, of