The French grand opera "La Juive" (1835): A sociohistorical study.
Item
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Title
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The French grand opera "La Juive" (1835): A sociohistorical study.
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Identifier
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AAI9530879
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identifier
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9530879
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Creator
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Hallman, Diana R.
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Contributor
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Adviser: L. Michael Griffel
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Date
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1995
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Music | Religion, History of | Theater
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Abstract
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This dissertation, an in-depth study of the French grand opera La Juive, explores literary, philosophical, and socio-political meanings reflected in the opera's presentation of Jewish characters and religious conflict. The work is viewed as representative of the political and philosophical liberalism predominant in the early years of the July Monarchy, as well as of the ideologies of its principal authors, the librettist Eugene Scribe and the composer Fromental Halevy, and an important contributor to the work, the composer's brother, Leon Halevy. As revealed in the opera's development from Scribe's early ideas to a dramatic stabilization after the premiere, documented by libretto and music manuscripts, and bolstered by biographical and contextual evidence, La Juive was clearly intended as a critique of the intolerance and fanaticism of political and religious institutions, particularly the absolutist ancien regime and the Catholic Church: a critique suggestive of Voltairian views that gained renewed force in France in the 1820s in opposition to the Restoration and that continued into the 1830s.;This study argues that the opera's Jewish elements carry particular relevance to the history of Jews in France. Although Eleazar and Rachel, partially drawn on Shylock and Ivanhoe's Rebecca, are modishly reflective of the Shakespeare-Scott vogue and the French fascination for the Oriental, these characters embody ambivalent attitudes toward Jews in French society, some 40 years since their emancipation. The ambiguous presentation of Eleazar as a symbol of oppression, a fanatic, and a miserly Jew--while linked generally to the condemnation of intolerance--relates specifically to questions of Jewish assimilation and separatism and to fears of the practice of usury and capitalistic expansion. In alignment with views expressed in Leon Halevy's Jewish histories and other contemporary publications, and underscored by the dramatic and musical development of the opera's plot and characters, La Juive resonates with post-emancipation, humanist sympathy for the history of Jewish oppression, as well as reformist beliefs in a new identity, one less Oriental and separatist than in prior decades, that promised Jews fuller participation as French citizens.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
