|
Act I, Scene 1: At a party in the ducal palace, the Duke talks of his intention to bring a fitting conclusion to his adventure with a pretty but unknown young girl. However, for the moment he has his eyes set on the lovely Countess Ceprano. He joins the Countess while his jester, Rigoletto, makes sport of the furious husband. Meanwhile, Marullo secretly tells his fellow courtiers about a startling discovery: the hunchback Rigoletto has a sweetheart. The courtiers, who hate Rigoletto, seize upon this news to plot a long-awaited revenge. At the entrance of Monterone, whose daughter is numbered among the Duke’s victims, Rigoletto teases him for coming to reclaim his daughter’s honor. Monterone utters a curse, singling out Rigoletto for laughing at a father’s grief. Monterone is arrested and led away, still repeating his curse.
Act I, Scene 2: Rigoletto is on his way home, Monterone’s curse still on his mind, and is approached by Sparafucile who introduces himself as an assassin for hire, offering his services. Horrified, Rigoletto refuses the offer, but takes the assassin’s name just in case. Alone again, Rigoletto compares himself to Sparafucile: what the jester does with words, the killer does with a knife; both are assassins. As he enters his home, his young daughter, Gilda, newly arrived from the convent, comes to greet him. She tries to find out more about his life, but instead he talks lovingly of Gilda’s dead mother. While Gilda tries to console him, he tells her that she is the only loved one he has left on earth. He calls her nurse Giovanna and asks her to watch carefully over his daughter, but is interrupted by a noise at the gate. When he goes to check it out, the Duke slips past him and hides. After Rigoletto leaves, Gilda tells Giovanna about the unknown young man who has been following her to church. The Duke, who is this very man, slips some money to Giovanna to leave them alone, and comes forward. Extolling the powers of love, he is joined in his tender sentiments by Gilda. They are interrupted by Giovanna, who tells them she hears voices in the street. After a fervent farewell, Gilda sings of her new-found love, as the courtiers just entering the street are struck by her beauty. Thinking she is the jester’s sweetheart, they make plans to abduct her. Rigoletto, still tortured by the curse, returns just then, but is told by the quick-witted Marullo that they have come to steal Ceprano’s wife. They cover his eyes and ask him to hold the ladder against what he believes is Ceprano’s house, then they steal into his own house and carry away Gilda. Rigoletto, weary of holding the ladder, finally tears off the mask, finds his house open and Gilda gone. In horror, he remembers the curse and falls despairingly to the ground.
Act II: The Duke enters his palace in great agitation over discovering that his beloved Gilda has been stolen from her house. When the courtiers come in bragging of their plot of vengeance and inform him that they have brought Gilda to the palace, his mood quickly changes, and he dashes to his boudoir to see her. Rigoletto appears and, though mocked by the amused courtiers, makes a heroic effort to appear unconcerned and joyful. A messenger from the Duchess enters, and when the courtiers refuse to admit him to the Duke’s apartment, Rigoletto realizes that Gilda must be with the Duke. Desperately, he tries to force his way into the Duke’s rooms, but is rebuffed by the courtiers. Furiously, he reviles them, then pleads with them. Suddenly the door opens and Gilda, disheveled, rushes into her father’s arms. He listens sorrowfully to the tale of his daughter’s disgrace, while at the same moment, Monterone, under guard, is led past. Rigoletto promises revenge despite Gilda’s pleading for forgiveness.
Act III: Rigoletto and Gilda, through the window of an inn, look into the house of Sparafucile as the Duke enters, asking for wine and a room, and lightheartedly expressing his thoughts on women. Maddalena, Sparafucile’s sister, joins the Duke, whose advances at first only amuse her. Outside the house, Gilda, heartbroken over the Duke’s unfaithfulness, and Rigoletto, thinking of vengeance, join their voices to those within. Rigoletto orders Gilda to precede him to Verona, dressed in men’s clothes he has left for her at home. She leaves and Sparafucile comes outside to meet Rigoletto to receive half the fee in advance for killing the man in the house. The jester promises to return at midnight with the other half of the money, and to receive the body which he wants to dump in the river himself. Inside, the Duke is shown to a bedroom, and Maddalena, now moved by a strong affection for him, implores her brother not to harm him. Meanwhile, Gilda has returned in men’s clothing, and hears Maddalena and Sparafucile arguing over the Duke’s life. Sparafucile agrees that the man he was paid to kill may live if someone else comes along whose body can be substituted. Gilda, determined to offer her life for the Duke’s, bravely enters the house and is stabbed by Sparafucile. Rigoletto returns at midnight to receive the body and is given the wrapped corpse by Sparafucile. As Rigoletto is preparing to dispose of the body, he hears the voice of the Duke from the bedroom. Frantic, Rigoletto unwraps the corpse and recognizes in horror his own daughter. Dying, she confesses her sacrifice and asks his forgiveness. With his daughter lifeless in his arms, Rigoletto cries out, “The Curse!”, and collapses over Gilda’s body. |
