Tragedy in Performance Art

Verismo Opera
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Verismo Opera
Part A
Tragedy in performance art is a form of voyeurism. Tragedy in theatre evokes feelings of guilt or anxiety. Theatre is a voyeuristic exchange between the performer and the audience where the performer and the audience are placed in a safe environment to interact (Stone, 2017). Voyeurism implies a morally dubious position seen in the way people enjoyed tragedy in Puccini’s operas. Verismo, the artistic movement for Puccini’s operas, was considered to promote voyeurism in view of its excessive violent content.
People, who are neither wicked nor depraved, enjoy art that portrays suffering or misfortunes of others. There has never been a satisfactory explanation of such a reaction to tragedy. There various explanations: either because people see horrific matter controlled by majestic art or because tragedy actually reaches out to the dark side of human nature (Nuttall, 1996). Others view responding to tragedy as a way of exercising our emotions in preparation for real grief and fear.
Puccini’s enduring popularity has been due partially to his skill in administering sadistic gratification. Verismo had become popular at the time as it was concerned with the mores of the lower classes, or as Puccini referred to them “little Italy”, and their depiction in art transformed theatre. The focus of Puccini’s operas on the violent content of this population, full of sadistic representations made it popular. His operas usually featured the tragic death of the heroine (Ashbrook, 1985). Puccini’s operas did not promote social evil (by giving an outlet on people’s evil fantasies) but instead promoted social good. The moral lesson in his operas was that the evil will always be punished and that good inevitably triumphs over evil.
Decadence influenced art at the end of the 19th century such that it was full of sadistic representation. Decadence was associated with the discourse of cultural pessimism and decline in European civilization in regards to politics, society, culture, and ...