[R.4: J]
Wotan, paralyzed now by that existential fear which Alberich’s objective consciousness (the Ring’s power, as expressed by Erda – Nature – herself) has forced upon him, seeks to know everything, to know why he must live his entire life under the burden of this inescapable dread:
Wotan (#53:) Sublimely awesome your words resound (:#53): tarry, till I know more!
(Erda sinks down to chest height, as the bluish light begins to fade.)
Erda: (sinking: #53:) I’ve warned you – (#53:) you know enough: (#53 – fading:) brood in care and fear!
(She disappears completely; Wotan tries to follow her into the fissure in order to stop her; Froh and Fricka throw themselves in his way and hold him back.)
Wotan: If care and fear must consume me then I must seize you and find out everything!
Fricka: What would you do, you madman?
Froh: Stay your hand, Wotan! Fear the goddess and heed her words!
(#53: Wotan stares ahead, deep in thought)
Wotan’s attitude here is very much that of the jealous lover who, though knowing the full truth might forever disillusion him, cannot rest until he knows whether his lover has been betraying him behind his back. Or like the sick man who, believing his doctor is hiding the worst from him, insists on learning the bitter truth, no matter the cost to his peace of mind, since uncertainty is worse even than the worst knowledge. Wotan’s intent here is to find out all that nature can teach him objectively, to know nature as cold science (Alberich’s quest for objective power) knows it, to know the full price he must pay for possessing Alberich’s Ring of consciousness. But Wotan will change his mind right after he witnesses a dramatic incident which will demonstrate the cost to him of acknowledging the truth.
Erda prepares to leave after launching one last salvo at Wotan, that he must now live in care and fear, the very care and fear Alberich said would be the price for possessing the Ring. Erda, having prophesied the inevitable twilight of the gods, after having placed it in the mundane context of
