Sparafucile says that the reason he doesn’t want to listen to Maddalena and kill Rigoletto is because “What client of mine has ever been cheated?” He wants to be true to his word. But how is killing the next person that comes in not cheating Rigoletto if he’s not following what he was paid to do?
In Rigoletto we see Maddalena and Gilda are both so determined to save the Duke, even though it will counteract all that their male counterparts (Sparafucile and Rigoletto respectively) hoped to achieve by killing him. Is Verdi trying to say that women are easily seduced and swayed by love?
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?
Is Gilda’s decision supposed to be admirable? Are we supposed to pity her? It is hard to understand Verdi’s portrayal of her decision by just reading it.
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!
