Nessun dorma could be the theme of our times. It's a fantastic aria for tenor, and you probably know it like you know all kinds of classical music, by it being used in commercials and such. but the reason it's been used as such is exactly the same reason that I say what I say
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you can notice these things, often, first in what happens in music. this is all hindsigth for my part though. however, what I propose is this:
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this piece of music was written as part of a fairy tale, and even to a listener who doesnt understand italian or knows anything about the plot, you can get a *gist* of that plot by pure intonation, the sort of molecules body language is made from, a sense of ur-language
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the story in the opera is about "the unknown prince", who courts a cold and basically evil princess. He loves her none the less. fairy tale style, he has to pass through trials and tribulations, and solve three riddles to marry her. all well and good, standard stuff
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the twist is though, that she is "evil", cold, unwomanly. You have to wonder why the unknown prince falls in love with her at all - the modern interpretation would no doubt be something like, "its a power game and he's not really in love, he's instrumentalising it" - BUT
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all it takes is to listen to the song, and this approach is revealed to be utter absurdity. the prince is in love, madly in love; he must be, for the singer to be able to sing him like this. So what's going on here?
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that he is "the nameless prince", and that the entire plot reaching its climax around that point is no coincidence. If you know the name of something, you are it's master, it's handler. same reason its important to put traumatic experiences "into words" (all words are names)
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the idea of knowing the secret names of demons to bind them, the unspeakableness of the name of God being required by him being God, being something that by definition cannot be mastered or contained
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the naming thing is at the core of many social itches of the day: all the sex stuff and all the "social" (ie. not-economic) politics. "identities", lacking them, creating them, the possibility of needing a stable shared blueprint for a good one.
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we were all born nameless, despite what our parents intended. there is no more baptism in the modern world, and the reason we all feel like npcs are because we have not yet gotten names
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how do you get a name then? you win it in some sort of ideal. everyone who has publicly done something stupid in high school knows this. same reason a wizard or a cowboy or a secret detective with "many names" is instantly impressive and interesting.
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the fun thing about the nameless prince is that his name, the only way to signify him, is "the nameless prince", because he is exactly the blueprint for someone who has not yet won a name, and the plot is a story about that in a way
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What the nameless prince is challenging her to do is to *know* him. Basicly, proving him wrong about her. "I understand you, I see what you are, and you are hurt from feeling exposed. Prove me wrong, by *knowing* me, then!".
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It's a clever trick, because in the meta sense, he doesnt have one. The only way for her to outwit him and "solve" the riddle would be to humiliate him by saying he doesnt have one; this, spoiler alert, luckily doesnt happen
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the princess is acting out vengence for a grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grandmother, who was raped and humilitated 1000 years earlier, and she has sworn to never let any man wed and is making a sport out of humiliating and murdering the men that come seeking her hand
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she is taking out anger at something that didnt happen to her, on people who arent related to her, or the incident, or anything. Just blind revenge on Everything.
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"oh no it's not me im worried about its everyone else we have to think about and its important that we start a discussion about rape culture."
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the final riddle is "What is ice which gives you fire and which your fire freezes still more?" and the answer turns out to be turandot, the princess.
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See, she's cold, but he's got the hots for her, and his affection makes her dislike him all the more making her "colder", because she hates all men, because she's scared about a ghost story someone told her about how in the 1940's women were barefoot and pregnant 24/7
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having been outwitten and frankly owned, she falls to the ground, crying out: "Will you take me by force?", fearfull that all her ghost fears are finally coming true
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the unknown prince then offers her a wager: If she can find out what his name is before damn, she can kill him and live her cool wine aunt dreams in peace
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he princess agrees and orders all of her servants to get to work solving the secret of his being, his True Name, and decrees that if they fail they will all suffer collective punishment and be put to death. "none shall sleep until his name is discovered"
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Nameless prince then talks to himself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oU_8QakhMnM … "None shall sleep! None shall sleep! Not even you, oh Princess, in your cold bedroom, watching the stars that tremble with love and with hope!"
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"But my secret is hidden within me; no one will know my name! No, no! On your mouth I will say it when the light shines! And my kiss will dissolve the silence that makes you mine!"
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its a story about loving someone enough to want to fix their fucked up worldview, essentially. And let me tell you, if you are a twenty something who havent gone through this? You will before long, give it a couple of years, you’ll meet someone who’s terrible
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and love her – love her real bad, in a way that is bad writing and its bad really and why does he even fall in love with her? it’s so unrealistic just because shes pretty or what? Wow what shit writing. Could never happen 4 real
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the climax of the story is the princess of death couldnt figure out what his name was, and that she has come to both love and hate him, and to please just go away and leave her with the mystery because she’s scared of commitment
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and if he just leaves, this whole thing just becomes a post card, a fun story to tell her girlfriends.
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If he leaves, she can have this potential relationship forever, a fantasy relationship in her mind, that will always have the crispness and excitement of the honeymoon period; something that demands nothing of her, and that she can suckle on the memory of for the rest of her life
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A great big “what if” to nurture herself when she’s 40 and independent and still drinking alone, trying to kill the envy and hatred the feels for her “friends” who are more succesfull and independant than her, with sedatives and depressants
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The prince promptly responds: “Calaf, son of Timur!”, earning his name. Of course in the lore he had it all the time, but in the narrative sense, this is his christening. This is also giving her the opportunity to fulfill the bargain and kill him if she wants
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