Falstaff’s Image in the Opera by Verdi: the Musical Embodiment of a Literary Archetype
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Abstract
The image of Falstaff as the hero of a picaresque plot genetically goes back to the literary genre
of a picaresque novel, and in this status he is the bearer of signs and properties typologically assigned to such a character. Many features of a literary hero as an archetype with invariant features were embodied first in A. Boito’s libretto, and then in Verdi’s opera. The typical properties of a literary proto-genre were manifested not only in the image of Falstaff and his relationship with other characters in the opera, but also in some features of the compositional structure of the work. Based on this statement, we can talk about the need to study the image of Falstaff as an archetype.
The article discusses the concept of “archetypeˮ in relation to the literary primary source, i. e. picaresque and invariant features of its protagonist – pikaro. Both the typical qualities of the main character of the picaresque novel and the rules of his statements, as well as the plot and compositional features of picaresque, are noted. Further, the manifestations of many features of the literary prototype in the image of Falstaff are revealed, some features of the compositional and plot structure of the picaresque novel in the structure of the opera are traced. The methods by which the composer achieves a comic effect are clarified, namely, due to the systematically created contrast between the pathos
of the sound of “highˮ musical genres in Falstaff’s characterization and the “low, profaneˮ content
of the text or situation in which “nobleˮ genres are used.
Keywords: Verdi’s opera Falstaff, picaresque novel, archetype, typical features of pi-caro, Falstaff’s image, techniques for creating the comic.
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