The Rake's Progress Teachers Guide - San Francisco Opera

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The Devil and Temptation! The Devil is a title given to the supernatural being, who, in mainstream Christianity, Islam, and other religions, is believed to be a powerful, evil entity and the tempter of humankind. The Devil is commonly associated with heretics, infidels, and other unbelievers. In mainstream Christianity, God and the Devil are usually portrayed as fighting over the souls of humans, with the Devil seeking to lure people away from God and into Sheol. The Devil commands a force of lesser evil spirits, commonly known as demons. In the Western Christian tradition, the Devil has entered popular folklore, particularly in his role as a trickster figure. As such, he is found as a character in a wide number of traditional folktales and legends from Ireland, Newfoundland, Italy and the United Kingdom, where he often attempts to trick or outwit other characters. In some of these tales, the Devil is portrayed as more of a folk villain than as the personification of evil. The Devil also features prominently in a number of hagiographical tales, or tales of the saints such as the popular tale of St. Dunstan, many of which may fall outside the authorized religious canon. The Devil is also a recurring feature in tales explaining the etymology of geographical names, lending his name to natural formations such as The Devil's Chimney. Faust (German for "fist") or Faustus (Latin for "auspicious" or "lucky") is the protagonist of a classic German legend in which the protagonist makes a pact with the Devil. The tale is the basis for many literary, artistic, cinematic, and musical works, such as those by Christopher Marlowe, Goethe, Thomas Mann, Hector Berlioz, Franz Liszt, Oscar Wilde and Charles Gounod. The name "Faust" has come to stand for a charlatan alchemist (some claim "astrologer and necromancer") whose pride and vanity lead to his doom. Similarly, the adjective "faustian" has come to denote acts or constellations involving human hubris which lead eventually to doom. Nick Shadow is an incarnation of this kind of folk devil and Tom Rakewell is similar to Faust in his dealings with this devil force. Can you think of other examples of stories where the devil or outside visitors affect the lives and influence the actions of a main character? 30
Bedlam The Bethlem Royal Hospital of London, which has been variously known as St. Mary Bethlehem, Bethlem Hospital, Bethlehem Hospital and Bedlam, is the world's oldest psychiatric hospital. The word Bedlam has long been used for lunatic asylums in general, and later for a scene of uproar and confusion. Bethlem has been a part of London since 1247, first as a priory for the sisters and brethren of the Order of the Star of Bethlehem. Its first site was in Bishopsgate. In 1330 it became a hospital, and it admitted the mentally ill in 1403 but there were only nine inmates. Early sixteenth century maps show Bedlam, next to Bishopsgate, as a courtyard with a few stone buildings, a church and a garden. Conditions were consistently dreadful, and the care amounted to little more than restraint. In 1675 Bedlam moved to new buildings in Moorfields designed by Robert Hooke, outside the City boundary. In the 18th century people used to go there to see the lunatics. Eighteenth century Bethlem was most notably portrayed in a scene from William Hogarth's A Rake's Progress (1735), the story of a rich merchant's son whose immoral living causes him to end up in a ward at Bethlem. This reflects the view of the time that madness was a result of moral weakness, leading to 'moral insanity' to be used as a common diagnosis. In the early modern period it was widely believed that patients discharged from Bethlem Hospital were licensed to beg. They were known as Abraham-men or Tom o' Bedlam. They usually wore a tin plate on their arm as a badge and were also known as Bedlamers, Bedlamites, or Bedlam Beggars. In William Shakespeare's King Lear, the Earl of Gloucester's son Edgar takes the role of a Bedlam Beggar in order to remain in England unnoticed after banishment. 31
Page 1: The Rake’s Progress San Francisco
Page 4 and 5: Many thanks to the proud sponsors o
Page 7: Table of Contents A Short Introduct
Page 11 and 12: Opera Glossary Accompaniment - An i
Page 13 and 14: Libretto - Literally “little book
Page 15 and 16: Operatic Voices Operatic singing de
Page 17 and 18: Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (June 1
Page 19 and 20: Stravinsky and Pablo Picasso collab
Page 21 and 22: W.H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (21 Fe
Page 23 and 24: Once upon a time… The Story of Th
Page 25 and 26: William Hogarth (November 10, 1697
Page 27 and 28: Plate 3 — The Tavern Scene Plate
Page 29: Plate 7 — The Prison Scene Plate
Page 33 and 34: The Five C’s Using the Five C’s
Page 35 and 36: 7. What obstacles are beyond your c
Page 37 and 38: New Endings Summary of Activity Fol
Page 39 and 40: Other Graphic Art Ancient cave pain
Page 41 and 42: Audience Etiquette The following li
Page 43 and 44: The Publications Coordinator then g
Page 45 and 46: The Lighting Designer works with th
Page 47 and 48: Questions and Activities In general
Page 49 and 50: Opera and the California State Fram
Page 51 and 52: SAN FRANCISCO OPERA EDUCATION DEPAR
Page 53: Do you have additional comments/sug

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