The Social and Personal Impediments Against Which Genius...

As a composer, and a performer, there can be no question of Mozarts genius, however, what is genius defined as? The main definition is that genius is a very great and rare innate ability or skill- it is a creative power. It is therefore clear that Mozart was in fact a genius in his music; it does no state anywhere, however, that a genius also has to have a divine personality and behaviour and this is clear as Mozart is shown in Amadeus as a silly, scatological, childish and infantile man. To be a genius in one aspect of the mind, such as music, could mean that other parts of the mind are inhibited, such as social skills. An evident and major theme in Amadeus is exploring how a genius functions in a society and how society hinders and†¦show more content†¦Historically, there is evidence from Mozarts own written letters that there was some sort of antagonism between Salieri and Mozart, If he is allied with Salieri, I wont ever get a thing out of him. Be it jealousy or a differ ence in personality, one cannot say, however, the conflict between Salieris mediocrity and Mozarts genius is evident throughout the play. Salieri himself is musically competent, he has been educated and has learnt the skills of music and so is able to recognise Mozarts greatness, however, he seems to be the only one in Mozarts age to have recognised it, ...my only reward...is to be the sole man alive in this time who shall clearly recognize your Incarnation! He shows his obvious awareness of Mozarts posterity and his own mediocrity. We can see Salieri and Mozart in the light of Nietzsches opposing struggle of the Apollian and Dionysian personalities. Mozart embodies the Dionysian elements of a