A Feminist Perspective on Opera Interpretation

Drawing upon gender studies, musicology, German studies, and literary theory, A Feminist Perspective on Opera Interpretation develops a feminist analytic framework for interpreting opera and for critiquing the usual interpretations of opera, using Richard Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer as a case study. The feminist analysis, in contrast to prior interpretations of Holländer, identifies the intersection of gender and religion as at the core of the opera's main woman character, Senta. This analysis allows for recognition of Senta's power and moral agency and demonstrates that the theory of interpretation rather than the opera text determines the narrative.