 
The Fidelity of Woman is like the Phoenix of Arabia |
The Fidelity of Woman is like the Phoenix of Arabia
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Cosi fan tutte
Guglielmo and Ferrando, two wealthy officers, rave about the fidelity
of their lovers, Fiordiligi and Dorabella. Don Alfonso, who listens to
these raptures, says that the two women are not faithful. The fidelity
of woman is like the phoenix of Arabia: everybody has heard of it, but
nobody has ever actually seen it.
Ferrando and Guglielmo demand proof. They wager with Alfonso that their
fiancées Fiordiligi and Dorabella would never prove unfaithful. Alfonso,
to prove to the two men that they are mistaken, devises the following
plan: Ferrando and Guglielmo will pretend to depart from their mistresses
but will return disguised as other men to test the fidelity and steadfastness
of the ladies. Here Alfonso's experiment begins. With the cooperation
of the two men he sets up a situation which is calculated to prove that
in their absence their mistresses will immediately prove faithless. The
wager sets the ball rolling. The men begin to open up to a world hitherto
unknown to them. The game begins - a journey into new possibilities.
In the same way as he enters the world of the two men and opens up new
horizons to them, Alfonso also enters the lives of the ladies. He visits
them as they sing of their love for Ferrando and Guglielm. They conjure
up the delights of love as they gaze at the portraits of their lovers.
If my heart should ever change its yearning, may Amor's lasting chastisements
be mine. Alfonso tells them that their fiancés had to go posthaste to
the war, having been called up to fight against the Turks.
The couples are not alone in their experiment
Then the departure scene begins. The ladies' sorrow is unbounded as they
bid their lovers adieu. Suddenly the privacy of the scene opens up and
the leave-taking becomes a public affair. The couples are not alone in
their experiment - the world is also there. Again and again fragments
of reality assert themselves in the game organized by Alfonso and the
serious elements of love and war overlap. Society and the actualities
of war impinge on the love relationships of the two couples. Alfonso remains
behind with the two ladies. What happens after that is in his hands. He
will direct the lovers along their paths. The women are on the verge of
collapse. They bemoan the terrible fate of their lovers and their own
sorrowful abandonment.
Despina, their maid, sees things differently. She scolds the ladies for
foolishly withdrawing into sorrow and sadness. If you lose two you still
have all the others. One is as good as another, for none of them is worth
anything. She doesn't believe that men are faithful. After all, Ferrando
and Guglielmo will also enjoy their new freedom, she says. The women come
to the decision to do the same as the men and, if the opportunity arises,
to love for their own enjoyment. Alfonso reveals his plan to Despina and
makes her his accomplice. Her role is to help the disguised men win the
hearts of the ladies. In the meantime Ferrando and Guglielmo have become
two strangers come to visit the house and Despina lets them in. At first
the women reject their advances and remain steadfast in their fidelity.
On Alfonso's advice, the scorned suitors pretend to put an end to their
lives by taking poison. Disguised as a doctor, Despina, who is a knowing
accomplice in the plot, restores them to life. The joke that the men wanted
to play becomes serious and contains more truth than is apparent to them.
Their revival brings about a change. The suitors, in a kind of amorous
rage, implore the ladies again with the ardour of unfulfilled passion.
The ladies remain constant and true but in the end they begin to waver.
Their oaths of fidelity become more and more uncertain as they lose themselves
in the labyrinth of love.
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| Reinhard von der Thannen's stage design for Cosi fan tutte. |
The men are both winners and losers
What follows is epitomized in the words of Despina: What's done is done.
Let's forget what's past. Broken be the bond that is the sign of slavery.
Dorabella has already decided for one of the men. The one she has fallen
for is Guglielmo, Fiordiligi's fiancé. As soon as she is alone with him
she gives up all resistance and gives him her Ferrando portrait. Fiordiligi
is more steadfast. She rejects Ferrando, Dorabella's fiancé. The latter
accepts his defeat until his friend Guglielmo proudly tells him of Dorabella's
capitulation. Whereupon he returns to Fiordiligi to finally conquer her.
He, too, achieves his goal. Fiordiligi becomes unfaithful to her fiancé.
The deceived lovers want to punish their faithless mistresses. Alfonso
advises them to marry them: Take them as they are. They come to the conclusion
that everybody does the same. Alfonso organises a double marriage, for
the new pairs of lovers should marry. The atmosphere is merry and glasses
clink as the past is forgotten. Let no memories of what's past remain
in our hearts. In order to make the whole thing look as credible as possible,
Despina has now disguised herself as a notary. But no sooner have Fiordiligi
and Dorabella signed the marriage contract than Alfonso announces that
Ferrando and Guglielmo have returned from the war. Dorabella and Fiordiligi
send the supposed strangers from the room so that they can welcome home
their fiancés. Ferrando and Guglielmo now enter, dressed again in officer's
uniform. Ferrando and Guglielmo discover the marriage contract and ask
their ladies for an explanation. The trick and the disguises are explained
and the original couples now get married. Embrace each other and be quiet.
Once more they vow to be faithful to each other. The women are deeply
embarassed. The men are both winners and losers. Alfonso triumphs. He
has achieved his goal. He has succeeded in proving to the passionate lovers
that love as they have understood it is but a chimera and that fidelity
is not a foundation on which they can rely.
Both couples have, to the same degree, embarked on a voyage on which they
have revealed both themselves and others in a new light by virtue of the
losses incurred. In the end they have profited from their journey. They
have discovered many possibilites of finding their way in a world that
now appears very different to them. The lovers have gained in experience.
They have become far-sighted and prudent. From now on they are conscious
of the depths to which love can fall. But their voyage has also given
them the strength to base their existence on a new and firm foundation
in a world that is devoid of all certainty and all security.