Examine Salieri's Catholic values as they are presented in the play, and assess their significance in the presentation of his attitudes to God, Mozart and himself.

        However a few scenes on, these thoughts turn into artistic revenge after Mozart greatly offends Salieri on unawares by correcting his own March, ‘I would compose a huge tragic opera: something to astonish the world’. Even though Salieri is thinking of revenge, the fact that it is simply through music does not yet hinder his virtues which he has promised God to keep. Nevertheless, this aritistic revenge soon changes to thoughts of sexual revenge as he suspects that Mozart has slept with his dear Katherina Cavalieri, one he had kept his ‘hands off’ due to his bargain with God to lead a virtuous life. Salieri black mails Constanze into sleeping with him and in return he will recommend Mozart as a tutor for Princess Elizabeth. This can be described to be a parallel with the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis. The serpent (Salieri) is hidden and makes sure he can tempt Eve (Constanze) on her own, without Adam (Mozart). This is Salieri’s first sign of his disobedience against God in holding his promise; his mind seems to be more occupied with taking revenge on Mozart than keeping his end of the bargain with God, ‘Fidelity – virtue – all of that? I couldn’t think of that now!’. This shows that his relationship with God is starting to weaken and that he is growing further away from God; revenge is more important to him.

        However, once Salieri read through Mozart’s manuscripts which Constanze had given to him, his attitudes towards God and Mozart immediately change. At once he regards God as his enemy rather than Mozart, ‘From this time we are enemies! You and I!’. This relationship between Salieri and God can be compared to the controversial poem ‘Paradise Lost’ by John Milton. Within this poem Milton describes how and why Satan disobeyed God. How Milton depicts Satan is very much like how Shaffer presents Salieri. Before Satan became a fallen angel he was one of God’s messengers, then known as Lucifer. However, God created man and Lucifer saw humanity’s greatness and God’s love for his creation. It is from here that Lucifer’s jealousy erupted and his disobedience began. Similar to Satan, Salieri had promised to be God’s ‘servant for life’ in his bargain but when he sees Mozart and eventually has a chance to read through his manuscripts he realises that God has chosen Mozart over him to be his instrument, ‘What was evident was that Mozart was simply transcribing music’; Salieri is convinced that Mozart has become God’s incarnation. What makes it even more painful for Salieri is that he is the only one at that time that has the ability to recognise Mozart’s greatness and therefore pointing out his own mediocrity, ‘my only reward…is to be the sole man alive in this time who shall clearly recognize your Incarnation’. God has granted the gift of inspiration to a ‘spiteful, sniggering, conceited, infantine Mozart’; he feels betrayed and holds a sense of injustice as he held his end of the bargain by leading a virtuous life. Like Satan, Salieri now starts his battle with God. The battle is no longer with Mozart; Mozart is simply the battle ground. What is interesting here is that instead of Salieri losing his faith and his belief in God, he simply decides that God has not kept his end of the bargain and is cruelly flaunting Mozart in front of him in order to reveal his inferiority. Salieri still believes in God however instead of worshipping him he will battle against him through Mozart.

        Salieri does not murder Mozart directly however he does send him into poverty by preventing him from holding public concerts and being a successful composer. By doing this he is therefore also blocking God ‘in one of his purest manifestations’ which is his aim. Towards the end of the play, the only support Mozart is receiving is from The Masons and this is also extinguished by Salieri. He persuades Mozart to use The Masons and their rituals in one of his compositions. This finishes Mozart off as he no longer has an income and his poverty leads him to become extremely ill which eventually leads to his death. Salieri’s virtuous life is no more and has been overpowered by sins. Salieri felt but relief for the man he helped to destroy, no guilt.  He saw Mozart’s death as a completion of his revenge, he has ‘weakened God’s flute to thinness’. In the last scene of the play he describes how he ‘will win battle with Him’ as he will get his wish of being remembered, not in fame but in infamy, and God will be ‘powerless to prevent it’. Salieri strongly believes that through Mozart’s death he has won the battle with his ‘uncaring God’ and his reward is that ‘for the rest of time…they will say Salieri with loathing’; Salieri would rather be famous for his evil that not at all.

        It is clear that Salieri’s religion and God are major themes within the play. Some might even say that it is the basis of the play as everything Salieri does or how he acts is based around his beliefs. He believes he has made a bargain with God at the start of the play and he leads a virtuous life, for example he could not sleep with his ‘prize pupil’ Katherina Cavalieri. However, once he sees Mozart’s obscene ways and hears his overpowering music he believes that God has betrayed him; his attitudes towards God, Mozart and himself change. Instead of worshipping God, God becomes his enemy. Instead of treating Mozart as a fellow composer, he is treated as a battleground. Instead of leading a virtuous life, it starts disintegrating, for example he resists temptation by having Katherina Cavalieri as his mistress.