FEMALE CHARACTERS IN SERAGLIO GENRE: CHANGING SOCIAL MILIEU AND PUBLIC SPACE FOR WOMEN DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
With a harem-abduction narrative, the eighteenth-century seraglio opera ostensibly focuses on a male protagonist, or seemingly celebrates the Oriental male ruler as an enlightened monarch who conveys the Enlightenment messages. It is, nonetheless, the female characters that seraglio opera features...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Babeș-Bolyai University
2019-12-01
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| Series: | Studia Universitatis Babeş-Bolyai. Musica |
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| Online Access: | http://193.231.18.162/index.php/subbmusica/article/view/2102 |
| _version_ | 1797365159947141120 |
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| author | Oak Joo YAP |
| author_facet | Oak Joo YAP |
| author_sort | Oak Joo YAP |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
With a harem-abduction narrative, the eighteenth-century seraglio opera ostensibly focuses on a male protagonist, or seemingly celebrates the Oriental male ruler as an enlightened monarch who conveys the Enlightenment messages. It is, nonetheless, the female characters that seraglio opera features prominently as they take initiative in a harem escape. Highly contrasting themselves with the prevalent contemporary sentimental heroine type, they unmistakably exhibit compelling stage presence and dominance over feeble or ineffectual male characters. Pasha Selim in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail is, for instance, a mere speaking role stripped of eloquence expressed in singing. In Haydn’s L’incontro improvviso, female characters’ actions propel the seria side of the narrative, thus negating stereotypical notions of Oriental women: languorous, sensual or submissive beings. This paper argues that such a portrayal of women in seraglio genre reflects the changing social landscape during the Enlightenment: the burgeoning voice for and evolving views of women; the composers’ embracement of Enlightenment zeitgeist; and the societal recognition of women’s merit and power cultivated at public spaces such as salons or Freemasonic lodges during a century of sweeping socio-political currents.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T16:46:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7e2efe38f13d4304a74e8e58ab2b9c07 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1844-4369 2065-9628 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T16:46:12Z |
| publishDate | 2019-12-01 |
| publisher | Babeș-Bolyai University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Studia Universitatis Babeş-Bolyai. Musica |
| spelling | doaj.art-7e2efe38f13d4304a74e8e58ab2b9c072024-01-05T09:41:24ZengBabeș-Bolyai UniversityStudia Universitatis Babeş-Bolyai. Musica1844-43692065-96282019-12-0110.24193/subbmusica.2019.2.01FEMALE CHARACTERS IN SERAGLIO GENRE: CHANGING SOCIAL MILIEU AND PUBLIC SPACE FOR WOMEN DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY Oak Joo YAP0Lecturer Ph.D., Mahidol University International College, Thailand. E-mail: oakjoo.yap@mahidol.ac.th With a harem-abduction narrative, the eighteenth-century seraglio opera ostensibly focuses on a male protagonist, or seemingly celebrates the Oriental male ruler as an enlightened monarch who conveys the Enlightenment messages. It is, nonetheless, the female characters that seraglio opera features prominently as they take initiative in a harem escape. Highly contrasting themselves with the prevalent contemporary sentimental heroine type, they unmistakably exhibit compelling stage presence and dominance over feeble or ineffectual male characters. Pasha Selim in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail is, for instance, a mere speaking role stripped of eloquence expressed in singing. In Haydn’s L’incontro improvviso, female characters’ actions propel the seria side of the narrative, thus negating stereotypical notions of Oriental women: languorous, sensual or submissive beings. This paper argues that such a portrayal of women in seraglio genre reflects the changing social landscape during the Enlightenment: the burgeoning voice for and evolving views of women; the composers’ embracement of Enlightenment zeitgeist; and the societal recognition of women’s merit and power cultivated at public spaces such as salons or Freemasonic lodges during a century of sweeping socio-political currents. http://193.231.18.162/index.php/subbmusica/article/view/2102seraglio opera, women, sensibility, public space. Freemason, Enlightenment. |
| spellingShingle | Oak Joo YAP FEMALE CHARACTERS IN SERAGLIO GENRE: CHANGING SOCIAL MILIEU AND PUBLIC SPACE FOR WOMEN DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY Studia Universitatis Babeş-Bolyai. Musica seraglio opera, women, sensibility, public space. Freemason, Enlightenment. |
| title | FEMALE CHARACTERS IN SERAGLIO GENRE: CHANGING SOCIAL MILIEU AND PUBLIC SPACE FOR WOMEN DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY |
| title_full | FEMALE CHARACTERS IN SERAGLIO GENRE: CHANGING SOCIAL MILIEU AND PUBLIC SPACE FOR WOMEN DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY |
| title_fullStr | FEMALE CHARACTERS IN SERAGLIO GENRE: CHANGING SOCIAL MILIEU AND PUBLIC SPACE FOR WOMEN DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY |
| title_full_unstemmed | FEMALE CHARACTERS IN SERAGLIO GENRE: CHANGING SOCIAL MILIEU AND PUBLIC SPACE FOR WOMEN DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY |
| title_short | FEMALE CHARACTERS IN SERAGLIO GENRE: CHANGING SOCIAL MILIEU AND PUBLIC SPACE FOR WOMEN DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY |
| title_sort | female characters in seraglio genre changing social milieu and public space for women during the eighteenth century |
| topic | seraglio opera, women, sensibility, public space. Freemason, Enlightenment. |
| url | http://193.231.18.162/index.php/subbmusica/article/view/2102 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT oakjooyap femalecharactersinseragliogenrechangingsocialmilieuandpublicspaceforwomenduringtheeighteenthcentury |