Opera Plots I - MDC Faculty Home Pages

meaning of true happiness a perfect love. He folds her in his arms, and the opera ends with the
declara-tion of his love for the faithful Djamileh.
21. LA DAME BLANCHE
Opera Comique By François Adrien Boieldieu
Libretto By Scribe
First Produced Opéra Comique, Paris, Dec., 1825
Chief Characters Anna, Jenny, George, Gaveston, Dickson
THE subject of this opera is founded on Sir Walter Scott's romance of " Guy Mannering "; and the
scene is laid in Scotland. The Laird of Avenel, a Royalist, is proscribed after the battle of
Culloden; and before going into his enforced exile, he leaves his castle and estate in the charge of
his steward, Gaveston, telling him of a certain great treasure, which he has stored in the statue of
an ancestress called" The White Lady," whose spirit is believed by the clansmen to haunt the old
castle. Gaveston, an unscrupulous man, has caused the only son of the Laird to be kidnapped
during his infancy; and as soon as he hears the report of his master's death in exile he determines
to sell the estates and take the proceeds, together with the hidden treasure in the statue, for himself.
The old Laird has a ward, however, Anna, an orphan, whom he had adopted; and this maiden,
suspecting the evil designs of the steward, determines to frustrate them, since she believes the heir
to the estates to be still living. On the opening of the opera a stranger, a young man named George
Brown, has arrived in the village; and hearing the villagers talk of " The White Lady," an
apparition which they declare is frequently to be seen at night around the castle, he is much
interested. He is staying at the house of one of the tenants named Dickson, who has just received a
command, purporting to come from " The White Lady," to meet the ghost in the castle that night;
and as the tenant is nervous, yet dares not disobey the ghostly command, he volunteers to take
Dickson's place, thinking that he will enjoy the adventure. Dickson gladly consents; and at the
appointed time, George goes to the rendezvous. The young Anna has many times amused herself
by scaring the villagers by impersonating "The White Lady"; but this time she has done it with a
reason. When George, in the guise of the tenant Dickson, appears in the haunted chamber of the
castle, Anna presently appears, arrayed as the ghost; and relating to him the story of the hidden
treasure, and her suspicions as to the heir of Avenel being still alive, she lays on him a stern
command to endeavour to frustrate the schemes of Gaveston by outbidding him at the sale of the
estates next day, so that they may be saved for the true heir when he shall appear, since she knows
that he is indeed alive. George promises to obey the ghostly command, feel-ing that it comes from
human lips; and on clasping the hand of Anna in token of his fidelity the touch thrills him, and
love for the hidden maiden springs up within him. Anna, also, having now realised that the visitor
is not Dickson, and recognising him as a young man whose life she had once saved by her tender
nursing of him when wounded in a recent battle, is filled with joy; for she had conceived a passion
for her unknown patient during his illness, and had longed to meet him again. In the next act the
sale of the estates takes place; and to the great chagrin of Gaveston, George Brown, the stranger
who has so unexpectedly visited the village, outbids him by three thousand pounds. He declares,
however, that the stranger will be unable to produce the money which is required to be
forthcoming a few hours later; but on the arrival of the justice and other legal authorities, Anna
appears in the garb of "The White Lady," to the awe of the onlookers, and open-ing the statue she