I’ve seen a handful of operas before, but “Turandot” has the craziest plot out of all of them. Princess Turnadot is an icily independent person who refuses to marry anyone based on an ancestor’s terrible experience. To completely avoid matrimony, she employs a system where any man could marry her as long they solve three riddles. Simple enough, right? Not so much. The one disclaimer is that if you get any of the three riddles wrong, the princess reserves the right to murder you.
The story focuses on Calàf, a prince who is willing to risk his life (seriously dude?) to obtain the love of Princess Turandot. Despite this seemingly Disney-esque plotline, the story contains much more drama than the stereotype denotes. Calàf becomes the first person to solve all three riddles out of a plethora of men, and Turandot throws a hissy fit; she refuses to have her independence taken away from her. Calàf says he’ll make an exception to his rule: as long as she can guess his name by sunrise, the marriage will be broken off. Oh, and this agreement also states she could totally kill him if she wants to. Turnadot sends out a decree that everyone must find his name, or they’ll all be killed (seriously what does everyone see in this girl?!). They accuse Liù, Calàf’s slave, of knowing his name, and continue to torture her until she says it. Long story short, Liù says that she’s madly in love with Calàf, murders herself, and then Calàf and Turandot end up in love by the end of the opera.
I have a major problem with one aspect of Puccini’s masterpiece; this opera perpetuates the primitive stereotype that one’s looks defines who they are as a person. Boys are literally giving up their precious right to live for a princess whose sociopathic ways frightened me during most of the play; she treats killing people like a completely normal topic. Additionally, Calàf ends up loving Turandot in spite of the fact that she was the driving force behind the death of Liù, the girl who saved his life. Overall, it reflects a society that places a grater emphasis on materialistic and self-absorbed values, while completely ignoring characteristics such as intelligence and loyalty.
I am very excited to see how this work will be brought to life on stage Tuesday.
I completely agree that the opera places too much emphasis on materialistic values. Everyone is in love with Turandot simply because of her looks. Liu falls in love with Prince Calaf because he smiled at her once. It is very unrealistic for someone to fall in love purely based off of beauty. It makes me question if it is really love that causes the characters to do the things they do, or if it there is some sort of selfish motive.