This essay is in two parts. In the first part I look at the position that takes opera initially to be a divided object; this position pre-conditions critics to talk about opera in terms of integration, correspondence, dissonance, and so on. What the aesthetic of division forecloses is what I call a full appreciation of the human, by which I mean that it short-circuits our ability to take the human situations opera puts before us seriously, to fail to see what interest they might hold for us.

In the second part I go through a number of readings of the final moments of The Marriage of Figaro, and advance my own reading. I argue that to approach opera criticism in a way that does not divide its representation of actions from its musical register means that the conditions of the medium (the conditions of singing and theatricality) must, in significant moments, break through into the diegesis. Opera, as with other “multivalent” art forms, presents us with scenes in which aesthetic fantasy is folded into our expectations for how the world might work.

As usual, we’ll meet in Logan 801, the Terrace Seminar Room, from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 13. Chaz Lee will be the respondent.

Come engage in a vibrant discussion, including food and beverages for your delectation!