Before our class discussion on Monday, i had absolutely no experience with operas of any kind. From the class discussion, I expected to see Turandot, Calaf, Liu, The Emperor, and Timur all dead by the ending of the script. This is not what happened, we only see Liu give her life for Calaf, after professing her love for him. While this is incredibly tragic, it is not tragic to the extent of which I expected from the opera experiences of my classmates and professor.
Calaf seems to be a foolish man. Not five minutes after being reunited with his father after a long period of separation, Calaf decides that he must risk his life in order to be with Turandot. This is a selfish decision. Imagine the emotional rollercoaster that Timur must have been on during the rest of the opera. He must have experienced the full range of sadness in seeing an execution, to the joy of finding his lost son, back to the panicked frenzy of trying to talk Calaf out of making the foolish decision of risking his life for the princess, to the terror of seeing his son risk everything in the trial, to the joy of seeing Calaf succeed in solving the three enigmas, to the sheer shock of his son ONCE AGAIN risking his life in the bet that the princess cannot find out his name by dawn, and the final relief of Calaf and Turandot falling in love. It is shocking that Timur did not die of a heart attack!
I do not believe that Turandot is an honorable princess or a role model to the citizens. Turandot is a vengefull woman, she has no problem killing dozens of men that adore her just because her ancestor was tied down in a marriage in situations that she did not like. While this is by no means ok, it is no reason to go around killing your citizens. All the princess had to do was refuse to marry, instead she set up a spectacle of killing to put on a show to satisfy her crazed citizens.
I have no problem at all seeing why this opera was banned in China until the end of the twentieth century. Names like Ping, Pang, and Pong are racist cues that would not fly if this play was released today. I am actually surprised that the performance of this opera does not cause protests to to its racism. The emperor and princess are very eager to execute the suitors, this is certainly not the image you want the leaders of a nation to have.
I agree wholeheartedly. I don’t think this opera was an accurate representation of China or Persia, or any other country/nation it attempted to convey. I, like you, just have such a hard time with the racist qualities of this opera. It almost seems as though the writers simply didn’t research anything about China or Chinese culture before this opera was released. The play was so dramatic it was almost sarcastic in nature, and right after I finished it, I really thought it was meant to be comical.
I enjoyed reading your blog post a lot Brandon. I overlooked what poor Temur must have been going through during this entire debacle. Like you said, he had just been reunited with his son, who then goes and puts his own life and his father’s health on the line for a girl he has never even spoken to. It is a bit absurd just thinking about it, but this exaggeration of what a man will do for love serves to depict love’s importance in every day life. I do agree with you that Turnadot seems like more of a sociopath than a prized maiden; however I feel like that serves to intensify her character development. Turnadot goes from being a vengeful murderer to a timid lover all because Calif was willing to die for her. This transformation reveals love’s healing power.
I agree that it was important to view things from Temur’s point of view. He emotionally suffered for years before finding his son. Although I think you should have mentioned how Temur was grief-stricken by the loss of his faithful servant, Liu. Given how easily his son disregards him for the sociopathic (great description for her – thanks Chris!) princess, I don’t foresee his future being happy.
I never really thought to look at the play from Timur’s point of view, and now that you’ve pointed it out, I realized how much empathy we must have for his character as well. This may be a dark analysis, but though he may have not died from all these events (high hopes to despair and back again), maybe the mere fact of being alive and having to go through all of it, is enough to be considered a death. If Timur had been dead then, yes it would be sad that he died, but he would have died peacefully. By having him alive to witness what his son was going through, that may have just been enough to “kill” him. So although he isn’t physically dead, his heart may as well be. I really appreciated your analysis of Timur, and I’m going to keep an special eye of for him during the Opera next week.
I agree with you Brandon, this play cannot be used as leverage for racism. But now as we are a more developed society, we understand the emotions and human actions that occur. Your analysis i felt was very heartfelt, indeed Turandot is not respectable at all based on current societal values. This play was not something I expected as well, it provides very shocking material.