Normal and Pathological Mourning: A Kleinian Interpretation of Verdi and Rigoletto

This essay utilizes the Kleinian theory of the depressive positive as the unifying framework that highlights the process of workingthrough of loss, its relevance for the mid-life crisis, and the process of artistic creativity. These themes are relevant for a psychoanalytic understanding of Rigoletto, Verdi, and the relationship between the composer and the operatic character.

I propose an interpretation of Rigoletto as a case of pathological mourning and compare it to Verdi's presumably normal mourning. Rigoletto does not overcome loss and does not recover trust in life. Instead, he suffers a new loss through the enactment of a murderous fantasy, condemning himself to unending suffering. The evidence that Verdi worked through his losses is also convincing. Verdi's real losses were similar to Rigoletto's fictional ones; he had a passionate relationship to the libretto; he composed the score with remarkable speed and inspiration; Rigoletto initiated the middle operatic period during which he obtained musical transcendence and international fame; and, finally, soon after, he introduced a number of long-lasting changes in his personal life. The theory of the depressive position includes a view of midlife development and artistic creativity particularly fitting to Verdi's case, because it predicts that successful mourning results in a reorganization of psychic structure with renewed optimism and creativity. The evidence for the interpretations applied to Rigoletto and Verdi varies. The text of the opera is closed and final, giving a defined material for interpreting, whereas an analysis of Verdi's character is necessarily based on letters, journals, and memories of friends and witnesses.