Chastity or Debauchery: Violetta's Portrayal in Verdi's La Traviata

Abstract

This paper investigates Violetta, the female protagonist of Verdi's La Traviata, from a modern standpoint, extrapolating from the La Traviata reception to Violetta's portrayal in the text. Violetta Valery possesses qualities of both chastity and debauchery. In weighing in the two directions, Violetta's extravagance and resistance are greatly diminished to move closer to popular morality. Through a series of textual analyses and reception history investigations, this paper will incorporate a gender-related perspective to deconstruct the core of La Traviata's story in the context of contemporary values. In addition, the discussion on Violetta's image provides inspiration for examining the inner and outer space of the character itself. Considering the results, both the conception of the La Traviata story and the characterisation of Violetta are re-creations of the objectification of prostitutes in a patriarchal society. Multiple factors are involved and influence the transformation of Violetta's characterisation. It is also from the heights of modernity that these factors are able to be structured in a socialised and gendered context. Despite having the potential to become Europe's nineteenth-century Medea, Violetta Valery remains inevitably weakened in romanticised narratives and descriptions into a one-dimensional individual who combines both the stereotypes of chastity and debauchery.