The musical power and appealing melodies of PucciniÆs La Boheme are enhanced by the literary elements of the work. This story revolves around the fated love of a pair of youthful and emotional-drenched lovers, Rodolfo and Mimi. As Wallis (2004) maintains, the literary elements of opera ôàallow the characters to describe their feelings in a specific way that both charms and informs us. When words mount music and ring out as song, they acquire a heightened emotional contentö (p. 41). In RodolfoÆs song at the end of Act I, he describes himself to Mimi in ways that show a number of literary techniques used by Puccini to achieve a heightened emotional content. For in this song Rodolfo not only informs us and charms us but also reveals a number of aspects of the workÆs themes and characterizations through literary devices. This analysis will discuss the literary devices in RodolfoÆs song to Mimi at the end of Act I in order to reveal how it relates to other aspects of the work and enriches it overall.
When Rodolfo sings his song to Mimi in Act I that describes himself and his love for her, we see a number of literary devices at work that reinforce the tone, theme, characters and others aspect of the opera. We see in this song that Rodolfo is the young, passionate poet who loves life and women in a romantic sense. As Rodolfo tells us ôIn dreams and fond illusions / or castle in the airà / richer is none on earth than Iö (John, 1982, p. 65)! The image of a castle in the air is very significant to the transient nature of young love in the opera. It is also an allusion to something that is built on a non-concrete foundation, as very often is young love. We also see Rodolfo aggrandize his own importance by pretending to be the lord of this castle. These imageries of the fancies and imagination of the character suggest his poetic and passionate, if illusion-filled, nature. As Wallace (2004) notes in Act I, at this stage, ...