The Magic Flute story
The Magic Flute (German: Die Zauberflöte, pronounced [ˈdiː ˈt͡saʊ̯bɐˌfløːtə] (About this soundlisten)), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form during the time it was written that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on 30 September 1791 at Schikaneder's theatre, the Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden in Vienna, just two months before the composer's premature death. In this opera, the Queen of the Night persuades Prince Tamino to rescue her daughter Pamina from captivity under the high priest Sarastro; instead, he learns the high ideals of Sarastro's community and seeks to join it. Separately, then together, Tamino and Pamina undergo severe trials of initiation, which end in triumph, with the Queen and her cohorts vanquished. The earthy Papageno, who accompanies Tamino on his quest, fails the trials completely but is rewarded anyway with the hand of his ideal female companion, Papagena.
10 total · 3 choice · 5 major · 2 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| choosing between conflicting loyalties | choice | Pamina had to choose between her mother and her father |
| epic love | choice | central to the story was the epic love between Tamino and Pamina |
| man vs. woman | choice | central to the story was the conflict between Queen of the Night and Sarastro, probably tying into enlightenment ideas and backlashes thereto |
| father and daughter | major | Sarastro and Pamina |
| handing over the mantle before retirement | major | Sarastro wanted Tamino and Pamina to take over as leaders of the brotherhood because in their love was wisdom |
| love triangle | major | Tamino, Pamina, Monostratos |
| mother and daughter | major | Queen of the Night and Pamina |
| the need for companionship | major | Papageno spent the first half of the story lamenting that he had not a sweetheart, and looking for one |
| coping with an obnoxious chatterbox | minor | Tamino was upset with Papageno's incessant failure to be quiet in the Temple of Ordeal |
| patricide | minor | Queen of the Night ordered Pamina to kill Sarastro, Pamina's own father |