2 The themes of Amadeus

Amadeus probes universal, profound, sometimes disturbing themes that transcend the personalities of both Mozart and Salieri. It is a play of ideas, in which Shaffer touches upon aspects of psychology, sociology, theology, and musicology, all of which are integrated into the Mozart-Salieri conflict. These various elements interact with each other in every speech, scene, and dialogue of both the play and the film to create a "combined aesthetic and metaphysical conundrum" (Gianakaris 1985, 89) around the eternal mystery of genius.

In the following part, I will describe the various issues and conflicts dealt with in Amadeus, as well as changes in emphasis resulting from the film adaptation.