I read the libretto version of The Nose first, and I was in two moods the whole time: confused or amused. Sometimes both. The entire opera was rather confusing—I mean, it started off with a nose baked into bread. How did that nose get into the bread dough to begin with? Apparently even Gogol didn’t know—I read his original short story after the libretto, and it clarified a lot of things. At the same time, really subtle things were different in both versions. In the libretto, Kovalev confronts his nose in a cathedral, where it’s praying, but in the short story, the Nose is found outside shops. In the libretto, it appears that police officers assault a marketwoman, but that never takes place in the short story.
While reading the libretto, I was reminded of the story of Tycho Brahe, a famous philosopher from the Age of Enlightenment. Part of his nose was lopped off in a duel with a Danish nobleman, who also happened to be his third cousin, and so he was forced to wear a replacement nose made out of precious metals (and copper, it’s believed).
I found it really funny that Kovalev was so shallow that he didn’t care about losing the ability to smell—he pretty much only cared about his reputation and how women were going to look at him now. It’s especially hilarious when, right after he goes to convince his nose to return to his face, he’s distracted by a young woman with whom he wants to flirt. When he returns, the nose is obviously gone—he actually lost his chance to get his nose back because he wanted to flirt.
The multiple Ivans actually confused me when I’d read only the libretto, because an Ivan is laying on a couch in Kovalev’s apartment, singing about love at one point. I thought he was Ivan the barber, but he’s actually not–part of that is probably due to the nature of the libretto as dialogue and action-oriented.
At one point in the libretto, there’s an elderly woman (this is after the part with the traveler and the gentleman and lady) who says that “the dead have no need for dresses.” Not only was I thinking about how that seemed to illustrate the social class—she was likely poor and mindful of spending—but my first thought when I read that part was of the song “If I Die Young” by The Band Perry. It was an ironic thought, mostly because the song goes, “If I die young, bury me in satin / lay me down on a bed of roses” but the woman is elderly and strongly protests the idea of being buried in fancy clothing.
I was horrified by the portion of the libretto in which many policemen appear to assault a marketwoman who is selling bagels. The scene does not appear in Gogol’s original short story—I was hoping it would, because the scene was not exactly clear in the libretto, and Gogol’s story actually made some sort of sense out of the libretto, surprisingly—so it struck me as strange that it was added to the libretto. After a while, I theorized that perhaps it was added to illustrate the corrupt practices in Russia during the 1930s, when the libretto was written.
There’s a scene in the libretto where a coachman blows a horn and then the Nose comes in. It made me think of the phrase used to describe someone loudly blowing his or her nose, which reminded me of the movie 12 Angry Men: “Well, your horn works, now try your lights.” (The video’s below—I couldn’t find a precise clip of the scene, but I’ve copied the link according to the time it’s supposed to be at. If it doesn’t work, the time is around 7:23 or so!)
By the end of the tale, I realized that Kovalev didn’t learn any lesson from the whole ordeal. He was just as shallow and conceited as ever, and was possibly even more prideful, which irritated me. Overall, though, I was mostly amused by the whole tale, slightly confused, and only a tad irritated with Kovalev for being annoying. The Nose was probably my favorite character in the whole thing, mainly because it’s almost used as a tool to mock Kovalev, who seems to represent the privileged upper class. Also, it was praying in a cathedral. I don’t know about you, but my nose can’t do anything like that.
Credits for photos & videos:
Image 1— The Galileo Project (galileo.rice.edu)
Image 2— “The Lid” (yidwithlid.blogspot.com)
Video 1— Official “The Band Perry” YouTube Channel
Video 2— Obtained from YouTube—link goes directly to the source
Image 3— The Talent Code(.com)
I enjoyed the fact that you used a nice array of sounds and images to portray what you imagined while reading The Nose. The scene from 12 Angry Men in particular was quite funny because you were able to pinpoint such a distinct moment which truly does remind one of The Nose. I’d have to agree that I was also slightly confused by all of the Ivans. Finally, I liked your last paragraph where you were expressing concern about the whereabouts of the nose. I do think that it’s interesting how the nose was wandering around town and went to the cathedral. Also, you mention that the nose was your favorite character which is comical, but understandable. You also decided that the nose was placed in the text at points to mock Kovalev. I think “mock” is exactly the right word because the nose serves to ridicule the society of that time and their concern with rank. Thus, I think you did a great job with all of the images you conjured up while reading, and on a deeper level you realized the significance of the nose of a character, wacky as he may be.