Re: Unintentionally Sympathetic Villains

In article <lvusn3tbd5bm797hceriij4n75s5cloapc@xxxxxxx>,
David Johnston <david@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Thu, 3 Jan 2008 21:40:47 GMT, djheydt@xxxxxxxxxxx (Dorothy J Heydt)
wrote:

I can't think of another example of broken characterization like
that, in SF or elsewhere. I can think of a seriously broken
PLOT, and that's _The Magic Flute._ Yeah, I guess the broken
plot does break the characterizations. It's still not SF, but
you can call it fantasy.

I sympathised with the Queen big time. For all of Sarastro's
posturing about how he is Wisdom and she is Ignorance isn't this
essentially a child custody dispute and he's badmouthing the ex the
same way she was badmouthing him?

Well, there's nothing in Schikaneder's original libretto saying
that Sarastro is Pamina's father. That interpretation, if I'm
not mistaken, came in with Ingmar Bergman's adaptation.

Now, you can interpret it that way if you like. You could
interpret it to say that the Queen and Sarastro are really the
same person with multiple-personality disorder, only I don't
think there's anyone on this planet who could sing the role.

But, as Tolkien pointed out in another context, "the one resides
in the freedom of the reader, and the other in the purposed
domination of the author."


Dorothy J. Heydt
Albany, California
djheydt@xxxxxxxxxxx
.

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