Why does Gilda sacrifice herself for the Duke? Why does she care more about him than her father?
In Rigoletto, Gilda saves the Duke although the Duke deceived her. How do you think this was perceived in the eyes of the first viewing in 1851? Did they view her as naive and foolish as we did? If they did, did they view this as abnormal?
Samantha Chiu
-Why does Gilda not know of her family and her father’s name? Where was she previously that she has only been with her father for three months?
-In the end of the play, why was Gilda dressed in man’s attire anyway? Do you think her character was developed enough by Verdi? Is Gilda a representative of all females during this time period?
-What was the significance of having Gilda’s last conversation be with her father and them being able to communicate before she passed?
The naiveté and one-dimensionality of Verdi’s female characters (particularly Gilda) is rather obvious and likely a result of the extreme patriarchy of the time, but do you feel as if some of the same stereotypes persist in today’s media? Additionally, do you think that Rigoletto could have been improved if Gilda were a more developed, serious character?
Why is Gilda depicted as such as naive woman? Her actions are taken without any consideration. When she falls in love, her actions nearly cause her father to be killed. Is this Verdi’s own opinion of women, or just the patriarchal views of society at the time?
Distinguishing majors and minors? Modulations and keys?! Sweet Jesus, how much learning is taken to master this stuff? Music is so complex. Is all this required? How does one get to the level of being able to understand and comprehend all of this terms, let alone craft it? Is the music world so intense? I might just rehashing what I said before, but I’m just getting more and more questions as I read this article!
Not a question so much as a comment: I usually associate opera with hardcore music and singing. The recitative portion of the opera departs from that in an interesting way.
I’m actually interested in the type of education the composers had before they became the renowned men they are celebrated as today? Did they grow up learning many instruments? Or did they study composition at some private school in Europe? Vienna perhaps?
In the reading, a man named Richard Wagner was considered an music, opera, and art critic although he never actually composed a work of his own. Should he still be considered someone of high regard in terms of opera?
Samantha Chiu
