Starting from the great dialogue between the godfather Wotan and his favorite daughter Brünnhilde in Act 3 of "Die Walküre," Elfriede Jelinek reinterprets the events of Richard Wagner's monumental "Ring" cycle and extends them into our present. The focal point is the significance of gold and money, which drive everything and propel nearly all actions. Their far-reaching influence spans from the struggle for the Nibelung treasure in mythological times to Karl Marx's theses in "Das Kapital," which was developed almost parallel to Wagner's "Ring," and up to today's banking crisis. In a sprawling stream of thought, while always staying close to Wagner's original text, Jelinek also touches on current political phenomena in "Rein Gold," such as the questionable financial dealings of federal presidents or the brutal murders committed by the Zwickau Nazi terror cell.