Opera is the most classical and traditional form of singing ever developed. The art form, which began in Italy, is now over 400 years old, and includes thousands of operas in most of the Western European languages. Many operas were based on ancient stories from mythology, folk tales, and novels. While the stories are exciting and expressive, classical operas always offer a clear picture of good versus evil and wrong versus right.
Those less familiar with opera may comment about what they perceive as “mature,” or inappropriate, content in the plots. Such a critic might cite the numerous affairs, murders, suicides, liaisons, and examples of prostitution in the most famous operas. However, one is doing an injustice to any story to magnify an isolated element out of context and assume that it defines the whole scenario.
Classical operas are like silent films—they communicate visually and through music, but not with words. Unless opera attendees are fluent in the language, they need supertitles or a translation to understand operatic texts.
Fallen Women and Dangerous Lovers
One of the most common opera plots is the tale of the fallen woman. Perhaps the most famous is Giuseppi Verdi’s “La Traviata” (which means, “The Fallen Woman”). It’s the story of a courtesan who gives up her life of opulence and pleasure for the true love of a sincere young man. However, they live together out of wedlock. Although she repents of her former life, she dies of tuberculosis in the last act.“Manon” by Jules Massenet and “Manon Lescaut” by Giacomo Puccini follow a similar story. In these, the title character is an innocent young girl on her way to a convent, who runs away to live with a young man in unwed passion. She later leaves him for the opulent courtesan’s life. The main character in both operas ends up dying of exposure and exhaustion.
Although these women are harlots, none of their disreputable work occurs onstage. We simply understand that they are women of low moral character. They always are throwing elaborate, alcohol-filled parties at their salons, with no obvious honorable means of support. There usually is a wealthy (often older) nobleman who acts as her main “protector” or supporter.
Even in the scenarios where young couples in love are clearly living together, the intimate aspects of their relationship never appear onstage. We may see the temptation in a passionate duet, but it ends with singing in a garden. We may see them around the house together, but they are always in the living room. Even in cases where there is no prostitution but merely unwed intimacy, as in Puccini’s “La Bohème,” the price of this impure happiness is the soprano character’s death.
Then there’s the case of the dangerous lover, the promiscuous man or woman who revels in the conquest, corrupting many enamored innocents. The most obvious female example is Carmen from Georges Bizet’s opera of the same name. The beautiful gypsy tempts Don José away from his duty and his pure fiancée, leading him into the outlaw’s life before tossing him aside for a matador.
A male example is Don Giovanni from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s opera. Don Giovanni (Italian for “Don Juan”) has gone through so many women that his sidekick, Leporello, has to keep track of the names in a little black book. Don Juan doesn’t care whom he hurts in his lustful exploits, even murdering the father of one conquest.
Both characters face a violent end as punishment for their sins. Carmen is stabbed to death outside the bullfight ring by an enraged Don José, and Don Giovanni is dragged down to hell by the statue of the man he murdered. The title characters in Charles Gounod’s “Faust” and Hector Berlioz’s “The Damnation of Faust” are carried off to hell by the devil himself as payment for corrupting an innocent young woman.
Age-Appropriate?
The argument that the average opera isn’t “family friendly” or “age-appropriate” for children is based on the same logic which fuels the modern rating system. The depiction of any form of sin, wrongdoing, evil, or immorality is considered outside the scope of juvenile understanding.No matter what the context or what kind of moral message is present, a story which contains any mature or serious subject matter is said to be automatically inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18, or 13 in milder cases. However, are we to believe that anyone over these magical ages will unfailingly be mature enough to discern the difference between wrong and right, even in a story which glorifies evil and provides absolutely no redemptive message?
If presented traditionally, operas are powerful moral tales. Despite recent trends to make them lewd and graphic, they are meant to be staged very tastefully and decently. Evil, sin, and immorality are common themes in opera. However, they are shown to be wrong and dangerous destroyers of happiness. Characters often renounce their evil deeds or are denounced by other characters. Either way, at least one sinner usually pays with his life.
This follows the ancient moral that “the wages of sin are death.” Operas are a beautiful form of traditional entertainment because they present moral truths as well as beautiful music.
