The "I" of the other : opera and gender in Vienna.

The extraordinary richness of musical life in early twentieth-century Vienna
coincided with an increasingly confident movement for the emancipation of
Women. While these two areas have attracted considerable academic
attention as separate phenomena, this thesis is the first to consider, in detail,
connections between the two. In particular, it investigates the way that opera
contributed to the discourse on gender in early twentieth-century Viennese
culture.
After a brief discussion of the existing literature on gender and opera, and of
the methodology adopted, the thesis examines the discourse on gender in
Vienna at this time, drawing on writings by a variety of authors. These
represent a spectrum of attitudes to the women's movement, from those
actively involved in it to those who strongly opposed it.
The analysis identifies three main themes in the gender discourse: the way
that power shapes relationships; the nature of gender difference; and the
experience of autonomy, which is central to a person's sense of self. These are
then used as a starting point in the investigation of the operatic life of the
period.
Three operas are used as case studies: Zemlinsky's Der Traumgorge, Strauss's
Salome and Schoenberg's Erwartung. Detailed analysis of each libretto and
score reveals how these operas reflect and contribute to the contemporary
discourse on gender. It becomes clear that opera provides a particularly
powerful way to explore a character's autonomy, through an expression of
her internal life as she develops and changes.
Finally, the way that ideas about gender appeared in operatic performance is
discussed, through an analysis of the life, work and writings of the singer
Marie Gutheil-Schoder. Her descriptions of her preparation of a role
demonstrate a preoccupation with the internal life of the character, which is
absolutely consistent with the themes developed in the rest of the thesis.