Dido and Aeneas Essay

Dido and Aeneas

Dido and Aeneas is an opera written by Henry Purcell in the late 1600’s. Composed of three acts, this dramatic performance depicts a lonely woman, Dido, whom attempts to cure her sadness with a marriage between herself and a Trojan man named Aeneas. However, a powerful sorceress whom is plotting to destroy the city of Carthage interferes with the wedding. The sorceress convinces Aeneas to sail to Italy instead of marrying Dido. Aeneas at the end of the opera changes his mind and claims to Dido that he will instead stay with her instead of departing, however Dido casts him away for even considering leaving. The ending results with Dido’s life slowly coming to an end. This opera was not filmed as a traditional opera from one point of view on a stage but was filmed as if it were a movie. Within the production itself, the scenery used was very elaborate, and really set the theme for the entire show. Set in an elegant building, with people gathered around in expensive looking clothes, it is safe to assume the characters in this production are based upon members of the upper class, most likely due to the targeted audience population. What stood out to me was the fact that they conducted a good amount of filming of this production outdoors, which is much harder than using an indoor set due to variables such as weather and lighting. Many of the props that were used were fairly sophisticated for the time, such as the use of real fire, as well as the large sailboat during the loading and unloading scene. Another aspect of the set that stood out to me was the intense fog during the scene with the sorceress, which really helped set the mood of the scene.

            Because this was the first opera I have ever watched all the way through, I made a lot of discoveries throughout my observation. My first finding in this production is that by voice and facial expressions alone, it is quite difficult for me to determine the overall mood and or feeling of a scene without using the background and or props for reference. For example, during the scene where the devastating storm arrives, the singing generally sounds upbeat and positive. However, the scenery and franticness of the people indicate a frightening scenario. Another discovery I had made is the use of repetition to emphasize dramatization, such as in the first scene when Dido claims that “Peace and I are strangers grown” multiple times. When the piece originally aired, I think that audience members would have had a positive reaction upon first viewing, as the production has a solid storyline based on love, betrayal and eventually, death. I would think that this performance would have been more well-liked by those who enjoyed the more dramatic side of theatre, without a lot of action. Technology is used throughout this film in various ways, one of the most apparent being the storm scene, where debris was flying throughout the screen, as well as background scenery being blown by the “winds”.

            If I were a 21^st century director with the task of turning this piece into a videogame, my first thought would be to simulate a romanticized adventure type game, such as the Legend of Zelda. The main character of this game would be Aeneas, and the goal of the game would be to rescue the princess (Dido), from her captor, the evil sorceress. This game could also be related to the cat and mouse type chase of Mario and Bowser, in the pursuit of Princess Peach. Each level would consist of Aeneas traveling from city to city, ultimately arriving at Carthage. Each city would have new enemies sent by the evil sorceress to stop Aeneas, such as demonic imps and ghouls. At the final level of Carthage, Aeneas would be greeted by the sorceress, whom he will have to battle in order for Dido to be freed from her prison. Failure to free Dido would result in the destruction of Carthage, and the permanent imprisonment of Dido.
            In conclusion, although opera is not my preferred style of music, in the studying of this performance, I have come to value the artform much more than I previously have. I have learned a lot about the creation of these productions and how important aspects such as the scenery are in order to complete encapsulate the audience’s attention, and truly convey the message it is meant to. The ability to exhibit such powerful emotion without the use of speech, and song alone, is a powerful form of art.