Friday, November 12, 2004

synopsis of the fallen woman.

Insomnia strikes without warning.

Just finished the last cup noodles in my junk food stash.

The muted strains of La Traviata waft above my head.

Can't sleep. So I shall tell the story of La Traviata / The Lady of the Camelias, by Alexandre Dumas.

Consumptive Violetta, the courtesan heroine of Verdi's opera inevitably falls in love. Not with a man. Rather, she falls for a romantized notion of security in the form of honeyed words from Alfredo the Wimp. She knows she shouldn't, but she does anyway. Waltzing, waltzing to the tunes of the bourgeosis and her naive ideals. 1, 2, 3. 1, 2, 3. Her steps are numbered. Stupid woman.

And of course, her love of the Wimp dooms her in all ways. She gives up her sugar daddy for the pauper. The Wimp's Father assumes his Little Boy is squandering the family's fortune on her, and seizes on their unholy and blasphemous cohabitation as an excuse to get rid of her. He wants to keep his money. Thus, he blames their bourgeosis family's blackened reputation on her, which affected his daughter's arranged marriage. He blackmails her with that and sneers you high-class prostitute.

She feels guilty about her previous occupation, but I don't see why she should be. Infidelity and polygamy are not well-kept secrets. She does the customary 'I don't love you anymore' to the Wimp, even falling back on whoring and the stupid Dolt believes her lies. He publicly humiliates her by throwing money at her in public, announcing to the world that she's a kept woman. Not that it's not public knowledge, but some things oughta be left unsaid. He was a kept man too. After all, she paid for Toyboy's frivolous activities e.g. hunting insipid creatures such as foxes with her jewellery. Women are incredibly attached to them, you know. Reverse prostitution takes place. She sinks into poverty. You fool.

Of course, by the time the Idiot realizes that she's just putting on a front and rushes to her side, he's at her deathbed and watches her waste away from tuberculosis. The music hiccups along with her spasmodic gasps. The Sanctimonious Father pops up, and generously forgives her for 'leading his son astray'. He can well afford to, she's going to keel over any minute. Former Toyboy and dying Violetta muster up the energy for a good 10 min to warble together in a duet before she pukes and dies in his arms. Her death is the punishment meted out for leaving the demi-monde to be with Wimp. For 19th c. bourgeosis society demands she be ushered aside, to make way for a respectable lily-white woman to be Alfredo's trophy wife.

Such is the fate of Violetta, the Fallen Woman.

The End.

I can happily go to bed now.

blueprint

I will like to spend my days, as though they are my own, which I mostly end up doing in halves, for duty beckons, and I am answering its clarion call. Soon enough! I am also a veteran procrastinator.

fresh monodies

invasion of the petites.
"..and one eric can-to-naaaaaaa!"
It's amazing how playing on a Steinway or Bosendor...
whatever..
split guts = split milk.
come, let us find elements of BDSM in Wagner.
fingers are not moving, ears are not listening.
lynne embarks on a world-wide courtesy campaign.
check this out.
My net is down. I got caught for downloading media...

previous rants

August 2004
September 2004
October 2004
November 2004
December 2004
January 2005
February 2005
March 2005
April 2005
May 2005
June 2005
July 2005
August 2005
September 2005
October 2005
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
September 2006
October 2006
November 2006
December 2006
January 2007
February 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
November 2007
December 2007
January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
April 2008
May 2008
June 2008
July 2008
August 2008
September 2008
October 2008
November 2008
December 2008
January 2009
February 2009
March 2009
April 2009
May 2009
June 2009
July 2009
August 2009
September 2009
October 2009
November 2009
December 2009
November 2010
January 2011
February 2011
August 2011
October 2011
May 2013

treatises on life

arty jen
betty boop
carmentica
charming-linn
chasing snowy cars
cheeky lynn
cheryliciously glam
clean and cute
cyclist-mad bass
darling dominic
feisty jing
fellow ditz-sista/porkSTAR
hail mary!
hell's kitchen
hero on the beach
h-Euge heart
hunky lenny
lipgloss queen
little cheryl
live n learn, baby
lolita lou
loony loon
mr popular
musically dan
m y s t j
phringe
princess tania
roger smurf
runaway pigeon
sabotage king jeremiah
sibling angst1
sibling angst2
spector dan
spunky tian
steffy bunny
sun-sunzzz
teeny wee-nee
weeeee, leonard!
yangtze yang'en

frivolous pursuits

for shallow ppl
for very geeky ppl
for the truly bored
spun prose
binary thoughts
past imprints
some stamps
montage of images
other memories

mulling over

And there were phlegmatic souls.