Nietzsche has influenced much of the world of creative writing. For instance, W. B. Yeats read the works of Nietzsche and the tenor of his poetry changed. As a result, sentiment gives way to rawness, the poetry of blood and mire.
In addition, the playwright George Bernard Shaw is shaped in the biological sphere and as a result Shaw depicts the efforts of the individual to live the ruthless life, which justifies itself.
The influence of Nietzsche is also seen in the work of D. H. Lawrence who conceived of social and sexual authenticity, even brazenness, but it should be pointed out that this understanding of what it means to be a sexual human being was likely never intended by Nietzsche himself.
Finally, it seems that much of the criticism of Nietzsche, even the avoidance of his work, is rooted in the unfortunate appropriation of Nietzsche's concept of the Ubermensch by the Nazi's. The German Nationalist Socialist movement's adoption of Nietzsche as a basis for their philosophy of racial superiority has forever contaminated Nietzsche and his work.
The question arises as to the extent to which Nietzsche is responsible for this unfortunate adoption of his philosophy by so horrendous a group which committed such atrocious acts.
It seems that Nietzsche has to be associated with Nazism to some extent but it should also be remembered that Nietzsche never intended such an appropriation and distortion of his philosophy. The fact is that Nietzsche is not only a tragic figure in the sense of his own person, but also in the manner in which his work has been misunderstood. No writer's work is invulnerable to adoption by some aspect of the lunatic fringe.
The reality is that in the midst of his extreme and shocking literary method, Nietzsche is advocating with his concept of the Ubermensch such concepts as self-control, self-containment and these things have nothing to do with Nazism. Consequently, it seems that Nazism tragically appropriated Nietzsche's philosophy, but Nietzsche's philosophy is essentially radically opposed to the actions of Nazism.
