| Abstract | This thesis surveys Giacomo Puccini’s operas, contextualized with coverage of the social and political climates of Italy in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as well as an examination of Puccini’s life and his relationships. His weaving of fin-de-siècle aesthetics with verismic elements emerging in Italian literature and opera created his famous heroines that earned him fame and notoriety. These heroines are categorized as either Madonna or whore based on their behavior and their interactions with their heroes. Typically these determinants are their chastity, or lack thereof, their fidelity, and their willingness to sacrifice themselves. These heroines are also othered in both libretti and scores through physical isolation, musical isolation, and class connotations. Through analysis of six of Puccini’s operas, this thesis highlights the ways in which Puccini uses verismo and fin-de-siècle aesthetics to portray lower-class women as Others on the operatic stage. |
