The 48 Laws Of Power

390 LAW 44

Image:

The

ShieldofPerseus.Itis

pol-

ishedinto

a

reflecting

mirror.

Medusacannotsee

you,only

her

ownhideousnessreflectedbackather.

Behindsuch

a

mirror

you

cande~

ceive, mock,

and infuriate. With

oneblow

you

severMedusa’s

unsuspecting

head.

AWARNING:BEWAREOFMIRROREDSITUATIONS

Mirrorscontain

greatpower

butalso

dangerous

reefs,

including

themix»

roredsituation--a

situation

that

seems

to

reflector

closely

resemblea

pre

vious

one,

mostly

in

style

andsurface

appearance.

Youcanoftenbackinto

suchasituationwithout

fully

understanding

it,

whilethosearound

you

un-

derstandit

quite

well,

and

compare

itand

you

towhatever

happened

be-

fore.Mostoften

you

suffer

by

the

comparison,seeming

eitherweaker

than

the

previousoccupant

of

yourposition

orelsetainted

byanyunpleasant

associationsthat

person

haslefibehind.

In 1864

the

composer

Richard

Wagner

movedtoMunichatthebehest

of

Ludwig

11,

known

variously

astheSwan

King

ortheMad

King

of

Bavaria.

Ludwig

was

Wagner‘sbiggest

fanandmost

generouspatron.

The

strength

ofhis

support

turned

Wagner’s

head»-<mceestablished

in

Munich

underthe

king'sprotection,

hewould

be

ableto

say

anddowhateverhe

wanted.

Wagner

movedintoalavish

house,

whichthe

kingeventuallybought

forhim.Thishousewasbutastone’sthrowfromtheformer

home

of

Lola

Montez,

thenotoriouscourtesanwhohad

plungedLudwig

II’s

grandfather

into

a

crisisthathadforcedhimtoabclicate.Warnedthathecouldbein-

fected

by

this

association,

Wagneronly

scoffed-——-“IamnoLola

Montez,"

hesaid.Soon

enough,

however,

thecitizensofMunich

began

toresentthe

favorsand

money

showeredon

Wagner,

anddubbedhim“the second

Lola,”

or“Lolotte.”He

unconsciouslybegan

to

treadinLo1a’s

footsteps-

spendingmoneyextravagantly,meddling

inmatters

beyond

music,

even

dabbling

in

politics

and

advising

the

king

oncabinet

appointments.

Mean-

while

Ludwigs

affectionfor

Wagner

seemedintenseand

undignified

fora

l-:ing——just

likehis

grandfather’s

love

for

LolaMontez.