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tatyana-dreaming · 3 years

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Potenza irresistibile: Leonora is Unstoppable

aka an empowered reading of (yet another) tragic opera heroine

aka my thoughts on Il Trovatore pt 3

(title from Manrico’s line in Act 2: Potenza irresistibile hanno de' fiumi l'onde! - The waves of the rivers have an irresistible force!)

with pictures because I have provided you ample walls of text as it is

Quick aside before we get into the libretto: in part 2 I concluded that both Azucena and Leonora are the only ones who really get what they want in this opera, and I think it’s pretty clear with Azucena... “Sei vendicata, o madre!” (even if we are unclear if she intentionally organized Manrico’s death and/or was conflicted by it or not).

Leonora. “I just came out to have a good time and honestly I’m feeling so attacked right now.” @ Ines, @ di Luna, even @ Manrico at the end

Because, out of everyone in this opera, Leonora is... happy? (I mean, yeah, she’s kind of set 100% of her hopes and dreams on this guy, and when she thinks he’s dead, she’s ready to head to the convent to pray to God until she can be reunited with him in death, saying “un riso, una speranza, un fior la terra non ha per me!” - earth no longer has for me laughter, hope, or flowers! But look at her circumstances and context, and it’s still a choice she’s making, herself, about how she wants to live. Respect.)

[sociological examination about religious/cultural factors influencing WHY she would make that particular choice: coming to a bookstore near you in 2022]

“I swear go God, Ines (literally, I just did) can you just support me for once and trust me on this” (jk I love Ines she’s just doing her best too)

Okay, but to get back to the point... Leonora just has this sparkle. She’s filled with life and joy and happiness in the beginning (and - while yeah, my 21st century feminist me is like *facepalms* don’t make it dependent on another person, especially not a guy, especially not a guy who isn’t really even that focused on you as a person, but more as a possession he has to jealously protect from Rivals - her joy is revived when Marico returns and honestly thank gosh he does, since otherwise di Luna was gonna wreck those convent plans.) ANYWAYS - di Luna clearly sees and wants to possess this sparkle, clearly having none of it himself.

Some exerpts from the libretto of this sparkly joy none of the characters ever get....(di Luna tries, haha...“la gioia che m'aspetta, gioia mortal, non è!“ but learns that maybe trying to seize someone against their will isn’t the best way to Spark Joy)

We’ve got Act 1 - “Gioia provai che agl'angeli solo è provar concesso! ...Di tale amor che dirsi mal può dalla parola...” Joy only the angels can feel...such love that cannot be described by words! - Act 2, upon rescue by/reunion with her beloved - “Non regge a tanto giubilo rapito il cor, sorpreso!” My surprised heart cannot bear such joy! - and finally, Act 4, once she is certain of saving Manrico - “ Vivrà! Contende il giubilo i detti a me!” He’ll live - my joy strips me of words!

Gosh, for such a tragic opera (if you take it seriously), Leonora is just this bundle of joy. Even in Act 4. It’s impressive.

She just has this energy, and I think it’s some sort of radiance from self-awareness and knowing exactly what she wants. You also may notice Leonora doens’t leave a body count the way di Luna, Manrico, and Azucena do. Well, unless you count herself :( but my point is she’s not about hurting people to get what she wants. And Leonora makes it explicitly clear from Act I: “ S'io non vivrò per esso, per esso morirò” - if I cannot life for him, I will die for him.

Leonora knows what she wants and nothing, NOTHING, and NOBODY is going to get in her way! And HOO BOY does di Luna try! So the convent kidnapping shit he tried to pull with the “not even God can claim [Leonora]” attitude didn’t pan out... but it also proved to Leonora that God wouldn’t necessarily save her (convent-style at least) so she leveled up and remembered OH YEAH PLANTS! *cue Juliet line*:

“ I'll to the friar, to know his remedy: If all else fail, myself have power to die.“

And honestly, she’s badass about it, too. From Act 1, she’s pretty fearless, from the moment Ines expresses fear and doubt about her infatuation with Manrico -

INES: Quanto narrasti di turbamento m'ha piena l'alma! Io temo... What you say disturbs my soul, I fear [for you!] LEONORA: Invano! [You fear] in vain! (or: don’t fear!)

Leonora’s not afraid. She’s simply on a mission. Once Shit Gets Real and di Luna promises to kill Manrico, maintaining strict alignment with Mission “S'io non vivrò per esso, per esso morirò,” asking di Luna to “Piombi, piombi il tuo furoresulla rea che t'oltraggiò, vibra il ferro in questo core che te amar non vuol né può”- Let your fury fall on the evil girl who offended you; plunge your sword into this heart that cannot, will not love you!

[again, not condoning Leonora’s choices, such as throwing herself under the ‘di Luna is going to blame Leonora for all his psycho actions’ Bus, but I respect her making her choices and fighting back]

Of course, di Luna is like “YOU CRAZY!” and literally tells Leonora her blood wouldn’t be enough to quell his rage. “l tuo sangue, o sciagurato, ad estinguerlo fia poco!” - Your blood, wretch, would hardly be enough! ~really playing the romance here~ :)

Leonora doesn’t get the point, since in Act 4, she repeats her pleas to exchange her live for Manrico’s - still not getting the Blood is Not Enough memo, apparently - “Svenami, ti bevi il sangue mio!” - Take me out**, drink my blood!

**no, di Luna, she isn’t asking you out on a date (sorry it’s so hard not to just 100% shitpost this opera) - but I couldn’t find a better translation. You don’t really say “faint me” in English and I don’t think the direct translation is “kill” but “take me out” seemed like an acceptable euphemism.

Of course, Leonora ultimately ends up accomplishing her Mission. [Like I said in part 1, my initial reaction to her self-sacrificial death was just anger and disappointment. But in context, she’s pulling a valid Juliet move... her circumstances are awful and suffocating and there are very few ways out for her in the world she lives in... but she ends up exiting the game on her terms.

{At the subjective level, at least. Objectively, her only choices are a vampire who will suck her life dry [di Luna] - in which life might be merciless - or choosing to withdraw from life with Help from Plants [poison] - in which death is merciful. Again, sociological exploration of Leonora’s CHOICE ARCHITECTURE coming to booksellers near you. Might even include Alternate Ending: running away into the mountains with the gypsies instead, but we all know that isn’t part of Mission “S'io non vivrò per esso, per esso morirò.” Plus I think we are all familiar with the concept that as humans we are more likely to stick with the evil we know rather than strike out into the great unknown. Heck, somebody stop me, these asides will be the death by boredom or exasperation of us all. Wait, are you reading this!??! WOW and bless you!! Thanks and I’m sorry}

Unfortunately, Manrico has to be a little turdball and start cursing Leonora, being the jealous self-centered guy that he ultimately is, before he realizes what she’s done to save him. “Manrico I’m literally dying FOR YOU and this is how you repay me?”

In Act 1, she begs di Luna to see reason through his jealous rage, but by Act 4 it’s her own beloved, the person she’s organized her Life Goal around, who is displaying the same jealous, blinding rage, refusing to listen to her. “Oh come l'ira ti rende cieco! Oh quanto ingiusto, crudel, crudel!” Oh how rage blinds you, how injust, how cruel you are [Manrico]!

Oh, the sweet and cruel irony Leonora getting her unconditional, immense, “eternal” love dismissed because Manrico doesn’t get it the way he wanted it [i.e. uh oh are we going to circle back to possessiveness/jealousy? Is Leonora the only one - and granted, she is a little psycho/obsessed/infatuated à la di Luna, but without trying to POSSESS her object of affection -- who can love in a semi-healthy way in this opera?? apparently]. My poor girl. At least Manrico Comes to his Senses before she dies (just in time for him join Leonora’s fate himself). *sad cheering*

Let me end by emphasizing that Leonora did not die JUST to “save Manrico.” Yes, the libretto says “Prima che d'altri vivere, io volli tua morir! “ - Rather than live as another’s, I wanted to die yours. But to me, it’s pretty clear she’s dying for herself - dying as her own self, as hers (I mean, technically she never became Manrico’s “legal property” anyways if we want to get into the morbid lack of womens’ rights, so she wasn’t even “his” in that way). And in the end, choice architecture aside, the point is that all the way, Leonora knew what she wanted, made her own decisions, stayed true to herself, and accomplished what she set her mind to. Nothing and nobody stopped her. Who’s to say what else she might have wanted if she had had different opportunities, choices, knowledge, or most importantly had been born in a different context.

(*faceplams* had been born?!! She’s a fictional character god Karo go to bed already) (*peels hands off face* it’s okay you are processing outrage over the Female Experience and Leonora represents a lot of real women, living and dead)

I conclude. LEONORA IS UNSTOPPABLE. Let’s part with some lovely lines from our complex (if a bit compulsively devoted), tragic, yet joyful, empowered, and fearless heroine:

Tu vedrai che amore in terra mai del mio non fu più forte: vinse il fato in aspra guerra, vincerà la stessa morte.

You will see that never on earth was there a stronger love than mine; it defeated Fate in violent strife, it will defeat death itself.

* * * * * * * *

Screencaps from IL Trovatore (Met 2011) ft. Sondra Radvanovsky, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, and Marcelo Álvarez

#first of all this is extremely long and I still don't know how to use keep reading so apologies for the spam #long post #il trovatore #verdi #opera #trovatore #mine #writing tag i suppose #sondra radvanovsky #idk i'm just going to tag her for now #i stayed up til 1am writing this for like. 3 hours. It's fine #im defintiely fine #i guess I just really love Leonora now look how far we've come #watch out if I do one of these for Tatyana Larina :O

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monkeymindscream · 4 years

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You've had Warden Wrath hcs, what about our dear Emperor Belos?

Of COURSE I have headcanons for Emperor Belos I love him!!

- He is ridiculously charismatic. This is the guy who managed to gain the support of an entire populace and radically alter their way life shortly after appearing seemingly from nowhere. Even if we assume that the majority of that influence came from people believing he could talk to the Titan, he still would’ve had to make them believe he could in the first place. A big part of the borderline-worship admiration his subjects have for him stems from his people skills back before he shut himself up in his castle.

- Pumpdrake spice season is his favorite time of year. What is a pumpdrake, you ask? It’s the botanical Frankenstein of a pumpkin and a mandrake. Instead of “carving jack’o’lanterns,” the tradition on the Boiling Isles is to hunt and slay the pumpdrake with the face/expression you want. Afterwards you gut your kill then display its rigor-mortis-ridden carcass on your porch or in your window or something. The guts themselves are super flavorful, with the smaller, more yellow-y ones being more savory (often used in soups and things) and the darker orange ones being sweet (the aforementioned pumpdrake spice). EB will eagerly consume literally anything containing pumpdrake spice in it. — Also: Like on Earth, there’s kind of a stigma against openly liking pumpdrake spice, because God forbid anyone be allowed to like harmless things on this wretched plain of existence. It’s a good way to get yourself labeled as “basic,” actually. Enter our Emperor, gracefully not giving a damn. Should he ever come across anyone complaining about people liking pumpdrake spice, he’d likely take great pleasure in materializing behind them and politely interjecting, “Well I happen to quite like pumpdrake spice, actually; would you care to explain to me why you’re so offended by it?” then quietly enjoy the rest of his drink as they shat themselves and tried to backpedal. — I have no idea how he enjoys the aforementioned drink while wearing his mask. Maybe he pours it into his eyes like he did with the palisman innards; maybe he has some sort of proboscis that pokes out from under his mask that he uses to slurp it up. Maybe he just uses a straw. Who’s to say.

- He has a genuine soft spot for Kikimora. This derives solely from the fact that he called her “Kiki” at the end of Young Blood, Old Souls. Like yes I know Lilith called her “Kiki” too and they obviously didn’t care for each other, but look: as far as we’d seen up until that moment EB referred to people almost exclusively by their formal full name/an unshortened form of their first name (“Edalyn/Lilith Clawthorne”), or by a derisive title (“Human”). But he gave Kikimora a (seemingly honestly affectionate??) nickname of sorts. Plus she’s essentially his face and mouth when he either doesn’t feel like making public appearances or just plain can’t - that has to imply at least some level of trust there. — Kiki’s fully aware of this, and is insufferably smug about it. She’s lucky the Isles’ Top Dog likes her, because literally no one else does. (She’s not particularly bothered.)

- Romance is his favorite book genre, believe it or not. Or at least it would be if the writers on the Boiling Isles could step away from clichés for five freaking seconds. — DO NOT GET HIM STARTED ON PINIET PUBLISHING HOUSE THEIR BOOKS ARE THE WORST OFFENDERS OF THEM ALL. Hell, their books are the reason half those clichés are even clichés to begin with - they mass produce utter shit. He’s wanted to petrify righteously arrest Piniet for years, but Kiki always stops him by pointing out that the publishing company’s books are wildly popular amongst his coven (the whole Isle, really, but speaking specifically here) and destroying the source would likely cause a massive dip in morale. And anyway, he hasn’t technically done anything legally wrong that they could bring him in for - it’s ultimately more trouble than it’s worth.

- He’s fucking clueless when it comes to some of the actual responsibilities that come with keeping an empire running. Don’t get me wrong, he understands there are certain things that need to get done, and he understands why they need to be done. He just doesn’t have the instincts for how. Like if some official-whoever were to come up to him and ask him “Emperor, how do you plan to stimulate the economy in some of the Isles’ poorer areas?” he’d be lost. Fuck if he knows, man, how is one person supposed to be able to answer that?? He knows magic - he has dissected magic down to its core and could list the names of all its squishy bits by heart. He knows greater-scope things. He does not know how to break-up infighting between two townships. — When he’s asked questions like this, he will usually respond by looking to his right. Kiki (who was standing there, waiting) will then promptly step forward, say something to the effect of “The Emperor has discussed this issue with me previously, he is of the mind that-” and will then offer a suggestion. No one questions it because well the Emperor is sitting literally right there, so obviously if he had any issues with it he’d have punted the little gremlin into orbit by now, right? Everyone just assumes EB doesn’t feel like repeating himself when he’s already discussed it with his assistant. Truth is Kiki pulled that out of her ass on the spot. Lucky for the Isles she’s good at her job. — This plays a big part in why EB’s likes Kiki so much. She takes a good chunk of responsibility and stress off his shoulders so he can focus on whatever mysterious tasks the Titan may (or may not we’ll have to see) be instructing him to complete.

- His omnipresent/all-seeing shtick comes from his connection to the Titan. By virtue of the Isle literally being made from their body, the Titan is, essentially, everywhere. Therefore, EB’s awareness spreads everywhere. This has limits, obviously, since at the end of the day EB’s just one person and can only split his focus so many ways (not to mention it takes more energy to “see” the farther he looks away from his physical self), but it’s still more than what most people can do. Even more than what most Oracle witches can do.

- He takes abysmal care of himself. Yes, I know, it’s shocking to think that the guy who’s dumping magic goop into his face wouldn’t be a paragon of self-care, but trust me on this one. He will go days without sleep then get frustrated that his body is behaving so sluggishly; he’ll neglect to eat until his stomach is so empty it’s cramping, and he’ll still put it off for “just a bit more, it can wait for just a little longer.” The man is a disaster. — This also actually stems from his connection with the Titan. Over time, EB has become so entwined with it (see: its heart beating faster when he’s agitated/excited) that his own body has slowly stopped registering its own needs. Its attuned to what the Titan needs, and the Titan doesn’t need anything. Which is a flawed fucking system, really, because he still needs everything, he just has no way to gauge when or how much anymore.

- The reason the main nine covens are “the main nine” is specifically because they’re each a track of magic that EB is proficient in. And as the creator of the coven system, he got first say in which ones were quote “important.”

I have more (because if left sit long enough I could talk about my favorite characters for days) but a good chunk of what’s left kind of move out of “headcanon” territory and into “theories,” so I’ll stop here. If anyone’s interested in hearing the theories (or AUs, or ships, or whatever) feel free to send an ask and I’ll ramble some more.

#owl house #muttering about owls #Emperor Belos #testingforcake23

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