The aria is apparently cast in the form of an 18th century courtly dance - the minuet. But the essence of the music is very different from the usual minuet. It is an aggressive statement, full of menace and defiance. It is a declaration of war of the servant against his master. In this contest, there can be no doubt where Mozart's own sympathies lie. This was a feudal society, dominated by rank upon rank of nobles, ranging from the great lords of the land to the petty local landowner, and all of them exercising their tyranny over the mass of the people, not just the peasants who tilled their lands. These nobles behaved like a race apart.