Victor Hugo’s Le Roi s’amuse, premiered in November 1832, was on the surface simply historical fiction about Francis I. Somehow in the darkness, they trick Rigoletto into believing they are kidnapping a woman from the house adjacent to his, and in the ensuing action, Rigoletto actually assists in the kidnapping of his daughter. Outside the house, the noblemen mass to abduct Gilda, who they still think is Rigoletto’s lover. it’s the Duke! He bribes Giovanna into letting him in and in the ensuing love song lies to Gilda, telling her that he is a poor student. The only place Gilda is permitted to go is the church, and she has recently fallen in love with a young man she has seen there.Īs soon as Rigoletto leaves, that man promptly appears, and would you believe it.

Rigoletto has kept Gilda secret from the Duke, and Gilda does not know about Rigoletto’s job at the palace. She is the figure that the noblemen suspect to be his lover. Rigoletto enters his home, where his daughter, Gilda, greets him.

Sparafucile offers his services, but Rigoletto rejects his offer, saying he does not need them.

He comes across Sparafucile, the local assassin (every town should have one!), skulking in the darkness. Rigoletto trudges home, worried by the curse.

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