HUM 101: A Comparative Study of Die Walküre and La bohème Operas

This essay provides a comparative analysis of Richard Wagner's Die Walküre and Giacomo Puccini's La bohème, focusing on their portrayals of love and fate. Die Walküre depicts characters who actively fight for their desires and principles, exemplified by Siegmund's defiance and Brünnhilde's compassion. In contrast, La bohème showcases characters who passively accept their fate, as seen in Rodolfo and Mimi's relationship amid poverty and illness. The essay also explores how the music in each opera enhances the emotional impact and storytelling, highlighting the differences in tempo and rhythm to convey love, sadness, and determination. The analysis concludes that while both operas depict passionate love, they offer contrasting perspectives on the role of fate and the extent to which individuals will fight for their ideals.

Running head: MUSIC ANALYSIS
MUSIC ANALYSIS
Name of the Student
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Author Note

1MUSIC ANALYSIS
Opera is a form of art where singers and musicians together perform a dramatic work that
combines text and music in a theatrical environment. This essay provides an insight on the Die
Walküre and the La bohème. Both of the operas speak about love and the hardships faced by
those in love.
Die Walküre starts with Siegmund being pursued by enemies in a storm and then found
by Sieglinde (Ethier, 2012). These two characters play the vital role of setting up an entrance
stage for the Valkyrie Brünnhilde. Hunding, one of the pursuers of Siegmund and the husband of
Sieglinde, is a support character who fights Siegmund but dies at the hand of Wotan the leader of
the Gods because he failed his role. His role was to defeat Siegmund who eloped with Sieglinde
and claim her back. Wotan wanted to support his son Siegmund and asked Brünnhilde to protect
him but then later due to his wife Fricka he had to go against his own wishes. Fricka was the
goddess of marriage and according to her, Siegmund had committed a crime by eloping with
Sieglinde. Brünnhilde, the Valkyrie is the main character here although she receives a late entry
to the plot. She received a curse from her father because she disobeyed him. The character of
Brünnhilde showed a brave and kind heart by having empathy on Siegmund’s situation. In Die
Walküre, the characters fought for the things they wanted and did not leave anything to fate
(Ethier, 2012). La bohème on the other hand shows that the characters leave everything to the
fate and face their imminent future instead of fighting for it. The scene opens with the four
characters Rodolfo, Marcello, Schaunard and Colline showing the status of artists of Europe in
the 19th century. They are poor but they never try to work to achieve more wealth instead they
are content with what they have. Rodolfo falls in love with Mimi. Musetta and Marcello are
depicted as lover here as well. The six of them are content with their lives without even trying to
improve. In the later stages, Mimi gets Tuberculosis and Rodolfo decides to distance himself

2MUSIC ANALYSIS
from her, as he is unable to buy medicines for her. She decides to die in the arms of Rudolf. The
portrayal of the deep love between the characters Siegmund and Sieglinde also Rudolf and Mimi
are similar. Yet, the portrayal of the characters are completely different. Siegmund decides to
fight for his love whereas Rudolf gave up, left everything to fate and decided to leave his love.
The characters of Die Walküre Siegmund, Sieglinde and Brünnhilde express themselves
in a compassionate way and with distinctive bravery for the people they love and admire and the
principles, they believe in. The character of Wotan failed his duties as a father to Siegmund,
Sieglinde and Brünnhilde to maintain his position and power as the leader of the Gods. He tried
to force Brünnhilde to help Hunding to kill Siegmund, which shows that he values his duties as a
God more than he values his children. Frika as a character is assertive to the extent that she
forced Wotan to obey her wishes and punish Siegmund for breaking the marriage between
Hunding and Sieglinde. Brünnhilde shows compassion towards Siegmund by warning him of his
impending death. She saw the undaunted courage of Siegmund and defied her father’s orders.
She helped Sieglinde to escape Wotan knowingly that she would have to face his wrath instead.
In contrast with the characters of Die Walküre, the characters of La bohème showed great
contentment with the little amount of wealth they had. Thus, the character of Rudolph later on in
the story could not treat the Tuberculosis of Mimi. Both of them were filled with happiness when
they met and fell in love. Rudolph expressed his disappointment for failing to treat Mimi by
distancing himself from her whereas Mimi on the other hand showed her love for Rudolf when
she chose to die in Rudolph’s arms.
The music of the operas are as enticing as the text. The expressions of the characters are
delivered visually and acoustically to the audience. The characters of Die Walküre exemplify to
the audience that everyone has the power to fight the wishes of even the Gods and defend their

3MUSIC ANALYSIS
ideals. The La bohème’s characters on the other hand shows that destiny can never be escaped.
They were fulfilled with their life until Mimi was diagnosed with Tuberculosis. The inability to
buy medicine and the disappointment of Rudolph was clearly expressed in the music. The
declaration of love between Mimi and Rudolph was clearly portrayed by the verses sang by
Rudolph to Mimi in the moonlight. They had sung only two arias and they fall in love as soon as
they sing it. The last scene where Mimi dies is heart touching for the audience and the music
intensifies the effect.
The music of operas helps to set the mood of the scenes of the story and gives the
audience an environmental and acoustical impact on what they are about to see (Citron, 2014).
The love scenes between the characters are shown with high tempo and high rhythmic music
(Kamien, 2014). The sadness in the heart of Wotan when he put Brünnhilde to sleep or the
heartbreaking moment for Rudolph when Mimi dies are expressive through the slow tempo and
soft rhythmic music (Ikegami & Shigeno, 2013).
This essay can be concluded by saying that the operas the Die Walküre and the La
bohème both depict the passionate love between two people. The contrast lies in the facts that La
bohème shows that people can be content with what they have and that can be dangerous during
the times of crisis. Die Walküre on the other hand shows the extent a person can go to defend
their ideals even when the lives of their family members are at stake and to protect their loved
ones from any impeding danger.

4MUSIC ANALYSIS
Reference list:
Citron, M. J. (2014). Nineteenth-Century Music Review. Nineteenth-Century Music
Review, 11(1), 177.
Ethier, S. (2012). Die Walkure Act I. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-
Ave50F1uc
Ethier, S. (2012). La Boheme Acts I & II. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=kuTbbNvsqtw
Ikegami, S., & Shigeno, S. (2013). Effects of swing on music appreciation: a study on perceived
impressions of various swing ratios. Shinrigaku kenkyu: The Japanese journal of
psychology, 84(2), 119-129.
Kamien, R. (2014). Music: An Appreciation. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Rackham, A. (2013). Rackham's Color Illustrations for Wagner's" Ring". Courier Corporation.