La Traviata

La Traviata symbolizes many of the social conflicts of its era. A loosening of social mores provided for significant changes in society that pitter tradition against change. Included in this change was a rise in power of the middle-class from the growing industrial revolution. Such changes pitted the aristocracy against the bourgeoisie as mass entertainment forms became more popular and social institutions such as the demimonde were established. This analysis will explore the themes in La Traviata as they apply to social changes of the era, including the spread of a deadly strain of tuberculosis. A conclusion will address how Verdi's opera represents a triumph over conventional morality.

The nineteenth century saw the rise of many popular forms of entertainment, from music halls, vaudeville, burlesque and opera to the rise of the demimonde institution. The demimonde was a class of women who provided favors for wealthy gentleman, in arrangements that often resemble contracts, in exchange for money. Violetta Valery, the heroine of La Traviata, was a member of the demimonde. While not considered prostitutes, this class of women was considered less reputable and held in lower social esteem than truly respectable and virtuous women. La Traviata means "the frail one", generally considered to refer to Violetta's illness (Buckley 1).

Violetta's illness is consumption, an older term used in reference to the disease of tube

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t One of La Traviata opens to what appears to be the grand pursuit of enjoyment. Violetta is throwing a grand party, but though she seems happy and carefree she is privately afraid her illness is overcoming her. Violetta meets Alfredo, but she takes ill and rushes to another room consumed by the coughing and frailty characteristic of consumption. Violetta is smitten by Alfredo's charms and gives him a camellia, her favorite flower. This is symbolic because she tells him to come back when the flower dies, much like she, his flower, will die when he does come back at the end of the story. When Alfredo leaves the part Violetta sings Sempre libera degg'io, a song that shows the futility of trying to share love between classes, "When alone, [Violetta] wonders anxiously about the ardent and truthful love confession of Alfredo. But her condition doesn't allow a real love: she lives as a courtesan, and this low morals life is the sole remedy to her illness" (Characters 1). In Act Two, we see Violetta and Alfredo as happy as they will ever be. Unbeknownst to Alfredo, Violetta unselfishly sells her possessions in order to provide the funds for their idyllic existence. Alfredo becomes aware of this and leaves for Paris in a search f

Category: History - L