Mozart’s The Magic Flute is in many ways an illustration of the Enlightenment process. It is not difficult to observe that Tamino, Pamina, and even Papageno are all wiser by the opera’s end. Although a slew of enlightened characters could be a heart-warming touch, not all of The Magic Flute’s characters are so privileged: Monostatos in particular evolves very little during the opera. He is not totally without development, though; by the opera’s end, Monostatos is arguably slightly bolder, he is more deliberate in his actions, and is slightly more accepting of his role in the world. A few very subtle changes do not a dynamic character make, but Monostatos is not as static as one might initially assume.
Despite Monostatos’s supposed position of authority, in act 1, Mozart closely associates Monostatos with the common man. In the act 1 finale (“This path leads you to your goal, O youth,”) , beginning with the scene that starts, “Now, proud youth, just come this way,” every vocal part is in a major key, with two exceptions. The chorus’s loud interjection during, “What can this mean?” and Monostatos’s part directly in response to this are both minor. This, in the presence of the noble Sarastro and fellow royalty Tamino and Pamina, works to distinguish Monostatos and commoners (represented by the chorus) from the supposedly morally-superior royalty. In this scene, Tamino and Pamina are understandably joyous, and Sarastro has yet to show any disapproval at their reunion, but the chorus and Monostatos are unable to comprehend the source of this joy. While Monostatos’s role in serving Sarastro gives him a certain amount of power, his understanding is only on par with an average man, and the audience is left wondering if Monostatos is eve...
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Monostatos, at first glance, appears to fit his name superbly; it is not difficult to see how the name likely means “one state,” and Monostatos does change very little throughout the opera. His lack of overt change makes it easy to consider him inhuman, a perfectly static machine. By the end of the second act, though, Monostatos certainly has undergone some amount of change and even self-improvement; as much as the audience may dislike him, he is certainly not a machine. Part of the beauty, then, of The Magic Flute, is that it conveys masonic virtues of the brotherhood of mankind; Mozart makes it impossible to deny even an evil character the title “human.”
Works Cited
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, The Magic Flute, The Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner, Deutsche Grammophon 449 166-2, 1996.
As the play opens, there is much merrymaking and festivity in preparation for the play. The sheer happiness of all of the colorful characters is transferred to the reader almost instantly. The mood is portrayed very well as being light and bubbly, an overall good feeling. The next major shift comes when Cyrano enters and, after riding himself of Montfleury, puts on the spectacle wherein he demonstrates not only his impeccable verbal dexterity, but also his fencing abilities - and both at the same time. This whole scene causes a strong reaction from the audience, and in turn, the re...
Hamlet, we first learn, is an intelligent student. Now by the end of the play
It is clear throughout the play that across a life span both brilliance and deterioration may co-exist within one person and that one may lead naturally to another. It cannot be made clear therefore, whether Catherine has inherited either her father's genius or his capacity for mental instability, however it should be noted that this question is problematic. This problem emerges as the question attempts to present brilliance and deterioration as mutually exclusive; something challenged by their presentation within the play
"The Mozart Project- Biography." The Mozart Project. mozartproject.org, 25, Apr 1998. Web. 22 Jun 2010. .
The play opens as Salieri, old and senile, sits hunched over and raving in his wheelchair as his servants scurry about, gossiping. He claims to have poisoned Mozart decades earlier, not with a potion, but with cunning and deceit. He then rises and transforms into his youthful self to tell the tale.
Perhaps no player better exemplifies this plot progression introduced by arrogance than the title character and protagonist of the play, Hamlet. While other characters may grow to become dismissive, Hamlet, from the very onset of the work, remains aloof and disregards information that may have been vital to his survival. Instead of being joyful that his mother could move on after the death of her husband, Haml...
“What's even worse than a flute? - Two flutes!” Those very words came out of arguably the greatest composer to ever live. Capturing the jovial personality of the great man, the quote shows his outlook on life. Even though he only lived for 35 years, he influenced the music realm than any other musician. His early, middle, and late life all made up the person we think of today when someone says the name, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Mozart wrote The Magic Flute in 1791, just after the French Revolution and just before he died. Haydn had introduced Mozart to Freemasonry, and the opera is full of the ideas (the autonomy of the individual, self-determination, appalling sexism), the ideals (power, wisdom, beauty), and the symbols (aprons, hammers, compasses, a pyramid with an ...
Gossett, Philip, William Ashbrook, Julian Budden, Friedrich Lippmann, Andrew Porter, Mosco Carner. Masters of Italian Opera. New York: Norton and Company, 1980.
...the opera Cosi Fan Tutte (All Women Are Like That, 1790), much of his early instrumental music, and canons (rounds) with nonsense words. Mozart also produced deeply serious music. His most profound works include the piano concerto in D minor, several string quartets, the string quintet in G minor, and his last three symphonies - E flat major, G minor, and the Jupiter. Larger works may contain both serious and light elements, as does Don Giovanni. Mozart belonged to the Order of Freemasons and wrote several compositions for their meetings. Some scenes from his fairy-tale opera The Magic Flute was inspired by Masonic traditions and beliefs. A catalog of Mozart’s works was first prepared by Ludwig Kochel (1800-1877), a German music lover. Today, Mozart’s works are still identified by the number Kochel assigned to them. Today Mozart’s music is well known and admired throughout the world. His compositions continue to exert a particular fascination for musicians and music lovers today.
The spectacle of this play is limited which is why there is such weight put on the actors themselves. Their scene and ensembles never show signs of change yet they develop and grow. There is a huge stress on the statue, which whom the Learned Ladies bow
Many would perceive madness and corruption to play the most influential role in Hamlet. However, it could be argued that the central theme in the tragedy is Shakespeare's presentation of actors and acting and the way it acts as a framework on which madness and corruption are built. Shakespeare manifests the theme of actors and acting in the disassembly of his characters, the façades that the individuals assume and the presentation of the `play within a play'. This intertwined pretence allows certain characters to manipulate the actions and thoughts of others. For this reason, it could be perceived that Shakespeare views the `Elsinorean' tragedy as one great puppet show, "I could see the puppets dallying".
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is perhaps the most well-known composer of all time. Countless accounts of his life have been created through the years, and all of them approach the topic of his life with a slightly different perspective. Amadeus provides a humorous and insightful look into the life of Mozart through the flashbacks of an elderly Italian man named Salieri. In his old age, Salieri confesses to a priest that he felt God taunting him throughout life because he always had a profound appreciation for Mozart’s music, but yet could never produce anything like it. Therefore, he turned bitter and spent his life trying to ruin Mozart and his career. Through Salieri’s lense, the audience learns about Mozart’s unique personality. Mozart is shown in the movie as a musical prodigy with an impeccable ability to play and compose. However, Mozart also has a childish, socially awkward side that causes him to be misunderstood by many adults. He lacks practicality and appreciation for social graces, instead preferring to make inappropriate jokes and attend wild parties. Our class’s textbook, The Enjoyment of Music, also
Opera is a unique genre of spoken word and song accompanied by music. The music takes one through ascending and descending ranges of emotions. Mozart's Don Giovanni is a perfect example of how this genre emits a wide variety of feelings and attitudes. This "dark comedy seems to convey Mozart's feeling that events have both comical and serious dimensions…" (Kerman, 205). The opera, as a whole, is neither exclusively comedic nor entirely tragic.
The Chorus, in this play, guides the audience. In the end, it is up to the individual as to what reaction they have to the play, but the Chorus is there to, in a way makes this reaction more complicated. One could leave the play totally condemning Medea, but the Chorus display’s Medea in a way that makes the audience sympathise with her, and so the moral conclusions that need to be come to side, become more complex. The audience has to base their reaction to Medea on what crimes they have seen her commit, and on what they have heard of her through the Chorus. Their integral part in the play acts in many ways, to follow, revise, and extend the plot of the play, and to influence the opinions and sympathies of the audience. It is a literary, and dramatic device that Euripedes uses, and uses well, to help portray a tragedy, and also a moralistic play, in which the Chorus is the voice that provides the morals.