Images of carnival in selected works of Giuseppe Verdi.

摘要

Verdi's interest in incorporating comic and light moments in his operas is not a new subject, yet the relationship between his operas and the aesthetic of contrast embraced by a number of artists, writers, and composers in the 19th century has yet to be fully explored. In my dissertation, I argue that an important source of this aesthetic stems from a tradition of carnival imagery, and that such imagery can be found throughout Verdi's oeuvre.;Part I of this dissertation introduces concepts and historical information which lay the groundwork for making an investigation of carnival imagery in Verdi's operas, surveying scholarly works on carnival and related subjects. I also explore the aesthetic of contrast which drew the interest of writers and artists in the late 18th century and suggest that this aesthetic is a Romantic manifestation of carnival.;In Part II of my dissertation, I examine Verdi's use of carnival imagery, focusing on his characters, plot situations, and scene types in selected operas, including Macbeth, Rigoletto, La Traviata, and Un Ballo in Maschera suggest that while particular aspects of Verdi's early operas might have carnivalesque qualities, a change occurred in the late 1840's, as Verdi increasingly sought to make "varieta," or the contrast of light and dark, an element of the opera as a whole. His efforts in this direction came to full fruition beginning with his opera Rigoletto. After this point there are a number of Verdi's operas in which the carnivalesque spirit permeates the work as a whole.;Viewing Verdi's work in light of its carnival imagery helps us to better place his operas in the context of the cultural and historical setting of Europe in the 19th century, which was characterized by political upheaval and substantive changes in the purpose and content of stage works.