La Dame aux camélias
[Francesco Maria Piave's libretto for La traviata is based upon the novel La Dame aux camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The following article traces the creation of that work. - NMR]
Alexandre Dumas, fils (son), born in Paris in 1824, is considered one of the foremost French dramatists of the nineteenth century. He was the illegitimate son of Alexandre Dumas, pére (father), the author of such novels as The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers.
Dumas was raised by his seamstress mother, Catherine Labay, until his father legally recognized him and assumed responsibility for his care. He attended college but left before receiving a degree. His illegitimacy caused him much unhappiness, both in private school and in college where he had few friends. At age seventeen, he moved in with his father, soon adopted his extravagant lifestyle and fell into debt. At the theatre one evening he first saw Marie Duplessis, already famous in the demimonde for her beauty and ability to get men to spend money on her. In an episode reflected in the opera, he was at her home one day when a coughing episode resulted in her spitting up blood. He urged her to change her way of life, but she replied, "I should die. This life of excitement is what keeps me alive". He offered the kind of life she would need to get well, and she finally agreed upon the condition. "You are not to spy on me, you are not to ask questions; I shall live exactly as I please without giving you any account of what I do." Thus began liaison, as a result of which Dumas was soon deeply in debt. Finally, he decided he must break with her and sent her the following letter.
My dear Marie, I am neither rich enough to love you as I should like, nor poor enough to be loved by you as you would like. There is nothing for us to do but forget — you a name which must mean very little to you; I a happiness which is no longer possible for me. Needless to tell you how miserable I am, since you know how I love you. So, this is goodbye. You are too tenderhearted not to understand the reason for this letter, too intelligent not to forgive me. A thousand souvenirs, — A.D.
He was on a trip to Spain and North Africa when he learned that she was gravely ill. He wrote to her, telling her he would return and ask for her forgiveness. But he waited too long. Duplessis died of tuberculosis in 1846. Her tragic death, along with bitterness over his illegitimacy, inspire Dumas to write the novel La Dame aux camélias (The Lady of the Camellias), portions of which are based on the Duplessis-Dumas affair. The name of the hero, Armand Duval, is a thin disguise for the author. Actually, Dumas tells the story in the third person as it was related to him by Armand Duval.
Dumas ends his novel with great admiration for his heroine: "I do not draw from this story the conclusion that all women like Marguerite are capable of doing all that she did...far from it; but I have discovered that one of them experienced a serious love in the course of her life, that she suffered for it, and that she died of it". In life, Dumas had tried to save her; in the novel he tried to redeem her memory by making her a much less self-centered and more sympathetic character. This is the Marie best known today in her manifestations as Violetta, Camille and Marguerite.
Dumas's greatest triumph came in 1852 with the production of the stage adaptation of the play based on this novel. It faithfully portrayed the life of a Parisian courtesan and brought realism to the French stage. His father was at first skeptical of the proposal to convert the novel to a play but so moved by the result that he agreed to produce it. Censors feared audiences would recognize characters as admirers of Duplessis and create a scandal, delaying the opening for four years. A powerful member of the nobility, the Duc de Morny, half brother of Napoleón III, supported Dumas, and the play was a success. It enabled Duma to pay off his debts, many incurred with Marie. Henry James later observed, "Some tender young men and some coughing young women have only to speak the lines to give it a great place among the love stories of the world". Giuseppe Verdi apparently heartily agreed because he based his popular opera La traviata on Dumas's work.
The success of La traviata did not quiet the critics of Dumas's La Dame aux camélias. Some considered the story poor and clumsy and said it cast a very thin veil over the most immoral acts. The same critics said Marguerite Gautier (the name given to the Duplessis in the play) is totally corrupt and in real life would not have given up her lover until he had no money left to support her. One wrote, "We are bound to protest against the false halo which he has shed round Marquerite to render her attractive to the undiscriminating reader".
The critics and essayists have continued to evaluate Dumas's work. In a 1972 essay, Roger Clark wrote, "It is a society from which there can be no escape, in which the penalty for non-conformity is death". In 1874, Dumas was elected to the illustrious L'Academie Française, an act which also prompted severe criticism. It was said, "In comedies inherently vicious he pauses to preach virtue but with language shocking even to vice, yet he has been elected a member of the French Academy, constituted to be a tribunal of taste".
Clayton Hamilton attempted to explain why the play has held the stage for over a century. He believes that it is because every celebrated actress desires to play the role of Marguerite Gautier.
No woman has ever failed as Camille (the name later given the heroine in this country for no explicable reason). It is kept alive because it contains a very easy and celebrated part that every ambitious actress wants to play. La Dame aux camélias is brought back decade after decade, not by reason of the permanent importance of the suthor but by reason of recurrent aspirations of an ever-growing group of emotional actresses.
Among the famous actresses who have had successes as Camille were Eleanora Duse, Sarah Bernhardt and Greta Garbo, who starred in the 1937 film with Robert Taylor. Bernhardt first played the role in her thirties and continued it until a number of her 'farewell' tours when she was seventy and had only one leg.
Dumas had a relationship with a Russian princess in 1859. A daughter was born, but they did not acknowledge her as theirs until the princess was widowed. He continued to write material that shocked his contemporaries — eleven of his plays have illicit love as a theme — yet he was admitted to the Legion d'honneur. His wife died in 1895 and, after marrying his long-time mistress, he died that same year.
In 1929, the Chicago Civic Opera produced a new work, Camille by a young American composer, Hamilton Forrest, and commissioned by the famous soprano, Mary Garden. It was to be sung in French with a contemporary setting. After many delays, it finally opened to mixed reviews. Mary Garden was acclaimed, the music less so. One critic called it a masterpiece, another saw no future for it. It had a few more performances, and parts were broadcast on the radio; then it disappeared. Despite some recent attempts to revive interest in it, Camille is probably doomed to obscurity, while Verdi's La traviata continues to be one of the most popular and frequently performed operas.
茶花女》是法国亚历山大·仲马（Alexandre Dumas，1824年7月27日-1895年11月27日）的代表作，他为了与同为作家的父亲作区别，多称小仲马（Dumas, fils）。他本身是法国剧作家、小说家。《茶花女》是小仲马的代表作。 《茶花女》（La traviata）亦是朱塞佩·威尔第（Giuseppe Verdi）作曲的四幕歌剧。意大利文剧本由皮亚威（Francesco Maria Piave）编写，改编自亚历山大·仲马於1848年出版的小说《茶花女》（The Lady of the Camellias，La dame aux Camélias）。歌剧於1853年3月6日在威尼斯凤凰歌剧院（Teatro la Fenice）首演。作品名称「La traviata」解作「流浪的妇人」，或「失落的人」。 故事的原著小说，亦被改拍成电影《茶花女》（Camille）（1936）。《情陷红磨坊》（Moulin Rouge!）（2001）亦是以茶花女作蓝本改编。
剧本简介
剧本。法国小仲马作于1848年。巴黎名妓玛格丽特为青年阿尔芒的真挚爱情所感动，毅然离开社交生活，与阿尔芒同居乡间。阿尔芒之父责备玛格丽特毁了儿子的前程，玛格丽特被迫返回巴黎重操旧业。阿尔芒盛怒之下，在社交场合当众羞辱她。玛格丽特一病不起，含恨而死。阿尔芒读了玛格丽特的遗书，方知真相，追悔莫及。
作者简介
小仲马（1824~1895），19 世纪法国著名小说家、戏剧家。他的父亲是以多产闻名于世的杰出作家大仲马。在大仲马奢侈豪华而又飘浮不定的生活影响下，小仲马最初“觉得用功和游戏都索然寡味”。20岁时，他就结识了一些有夫之妇，过着纸醉金边的生活。另一方面，小仲马就热切地期望着自己也能像父亲一样，扬名于文坛。于是，他也开始从现实中取材，从妇女、婚姻等问题中寻找创作的灵感。
剧情详介
玛格丽特原来是个贫苦的乡下姑娘，来到巴黎后，开始了卖笑生涯。由于生得花容月貌，巴黎的贵族公子争相追逐，成了红极一时的“社交明星”。她随身的装扮总是少不了一束茶花，人称“茶花女”。
茶花女得了肺病，在接受矿泉治疗时，疗养院里有位贵族小姐，身材、长相和玛格丽特差不多，只是肺病已到了第三期，不久便死了。小姐的父亲摩里阿龙公爵在偶然发现玛格丽特很像他女儿，便收她做了干女儿。玛格丽特说出了自己的身世，公爵答应只要她能改变自己过去的生活，便负担她的全部日常费用。但玛格丽特不能完全做到，公爵便将钱减少了一半，玛格丽特入不敷出，到现在已欠下几万法郎的债务。
一天晚上10多钟，玛格丽特回来后，一群客人来访。邻居普律当丝带来两个青年，其中一个是税务局长迪瓦尔先生的儿子阿尔芒·迪瓦尔，他疯狂地爱着茶花女。
一年前，玛格丽特生病期间，阿尔芒每天跑来打听病情，却不肯留下自己的姓名。普律当丝向玛格丽特讲了阿尔芒的一片痴情，她很感动。玛格丽特和朋友们跳舞时，病情突然发作，阿尔芒非常关切地劝她不要这样残害自己，并向玛格丽特表白自己的爱情。他告诉茶花女，他现在还珍藏着她六个月前丢掉的纽扣。玛格丽特原已淡薄的心灵再次动了真情，她送给阿尔芒一朵茶花，以心相许。
阿尔芒真挚的爱情激发了玛格丽特对生活的热望，她决心摆脱百无聊赖的巴黎生活，和阿尔芒到乡下住一段时间。她准备独自一人筹划一笔钱，就请阿尔芒离开她一晚上。阿尔芒出去找玛格丽特时，恰巧碰上玛格丽特过去的情人，顿生嫉妒。他给玛格丽特写了一封措辞激烈的信，说他不愿意成为别人取笑的对象，他将离开巴黎。
但他并没有走，玛格丽特是他整个希望和生命，他跪着请玛格丽特原谅他，玛格丽特对阿尔芒倾述“你是我在烦乱的孤寂生活中所呼唤的一个人”。
经过努力，玛格丽特和阿尔芒在巴黎郊外租把一间房子。公爵知道后，断绝了玛格丽特的经济来源。她背着阿尔芒，典当了自己的金银首饰和车马来支付生活费用。阿尔芒了解后，决定把母亲留给他的一笔遗产转让，以还清玛格丽特所欠下的债务。经纪人要他去签字，他离开玛格丽特去巴黎。
那封信原来是阿尔芒的父亲迪瓦尔先生写的，他想骗阿尔芒离开，然后去找玛格丽特。告诉玛格丽特，他的女儿爱上一个体面的少年，那家打听到阿尔芒和玛格丽特的关系后表示：如果阿尔芒不和玛格丽特断绝关系，就要退婚。玛格丽特痛苦地哀求迪瓦尔先生，如果要让她与阿尔芒断绝关系，就等于要她的命，可迪瓦尔先生毫不退让。为阿尔芒和他的家庭，她只好作出牺牲，发誓与阿尔芒绝交。
玛格丽特非常悲伤地给阿尔芒写了封绝交信，然后回到巴黎，又开始了昔日的荒唐的生活。她接受了瓦尔维勒男爵的追求，他帮助她还清了一切债务，又赎回了首饰和马车。阿尔芒也怀着痛苦的心情和父亲回到家乡。
阿尔芒禁仍深深地怀念着玛格丽特，他又失魂落魄地来到巴黎。他决心报复玛格丽特的“背叛”。他找到了玛格丽特，处处给她难堪。骂她是没有良心、无情无义的娼妇，把爱情作为商品出卖。玛格丽特面对阿尔芒的误会，伤心地劝他忘了自己，永远不要再见面。阿尔芒却要她与自己一同逃离巴黎，逃到没人认识他们的地方，紧紧守着他们的爱情。玛格丽特说她不能那样，因为她已经起过誓，阿尔芒误以为她和男爵有过海誓山盟，便气愤地给玛格丽特写信侮辱她，并寄去了一叠钞票 玛格丽特受了这场刺激，一病不起。新年快到了，玛格丽特的病情更严重了，脸色苍白，没有一个人来探望她，她感到格外孤寂。迪瓦尔先生来信告诉她，他感谢玛格丽特信守诺言，已写信把事情的真象告诉了阿尔芒，现在玛格丽特唯一的希望就是再次见到阿尔芒。
临死前，债主们都来了，带着借据，逼她还债。执行官奉命来执行判决，查封了她的全部财产，只等她死后就进行拍卖。弥留之际，她不断地呼喊着阿尔芒的名字，“从她的睛里流出了无声的眼泪”。她始终没有再见到她心爱的人。 死后只有一个好心的邻居米利为她入殓。当阿尔芒重回到巴黎时，她把玛格丽特的一本日记交给了她。从日记中，阿尔芒才知道了她的高尚心灵。“除了你的侮辱是你始终爱我的证据外，我似乎觉得你越是折磨我，等到你知道真相的那一天，我在你眼中也就会显得越加崇高。”
阿尔芒怀着无限的悔恨与惆怅，专门为玛格丽特迁坟安葬，并在她的坟前摆满了白色的茶花。
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