In: Psychology
How does Puccini’s opera Turandot portray China and the Chinese people? Be as specific as you can by giving an example from the opera.
The opera replication of the story has been designed in China with an involvement of the Prince Calaf. The prince is falling deeply in love with this Princess Turandot. She is one of the cold princesses. In order to obtain her permission for marriage, he has sent a suitor, who requires solving three riddles in order to obtain her permission. If there is a single wrong answer, it would result in his death. The prince is able to pass the test. Though, the princess still refuses the marriage proposal. He gives her another option: that if the princess would be able to identify his name before the dawn of the upcoming day, then he would die at daybreak.
It portrays the Chinese because there is Mandarin who is reading out the edict to the Peking people. The rhythmic cords of the opera remind of the Chinese culture. The music, in the opening score, took people back to their roots as the opera opened in Beijing. This has come to be known as the only opera of West that comes with the Chinese setting.