In the first section, the author reviews Roman life in the late 18th and 19th centuries, paying considerable attention to how Puccini's own prejudices shaped his story and how Sardou (the French playwright) reinterpreted the historical realities that the opera treats. In the second section, she looks at how Rome circa 1800 was viewed through the eyes of a painter, a singer, and a policeman (the occupations of the opera's three main characters). The third section gives a scene-by-scene analysis of the opera. An appendix shows the parallels (and discrepancies) between the play and the opera.
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