The Met Opera put together a more contemporary rendition of Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Traviata.”  The play is about a woman, Violetta, afflicted by illness who subsequently falls in love with a man, Alfredo.  While all the main characters have their own pressing issues that are addressed throughout the opera, I particularly like Violetta’s.  Violetta, selecting from many of her admirers, pays more attention to Alfredo for his looks.  She also discovers that he had been quietly admiring her for a year, during which time she did not know who he was.  Alfredo’s patience is enough to set him apart from the other men who, in a lustful stupor, frequently chase Violetta around and fall at her heels.

Despite some of Alfredo’s unique and desirable traits, I can’t help but think Violetta’s realization of her own mortality plays a major role in her choice to fall in love.  And it’s hard to blame her.  If you had a small time left to live, someone took romantic interest in you and you thought they were at least remotely attractive, I think it would be very easy to bow to the whims of romance without being too critical.    It makes me wonder if that weakens the relationship.  Alfredo had been meditating about this woman for a year, and while the two do have great passion for each other, Violetta does not have much time to deliberately weigh the pros and cons of falling so madly in love with her man.

The GRF who took us to see the opera mentioned that much of what the play is about is how a person chooses to live her life knowing that she will die, yet at the same time how that is the way everybody lives their lives everyday.  It’s definitely easy to forget your own limited amount of time living unless an illness abruptly reminds you of it.  There seems to be an optimal balance of living knowing you will die, while still thoughtfully considering the future.  The former is important so as to not waste away your days with little fruition, sort of how many of Violetta’s suitors actively chase her but never develop any other kind of relationship with her.  The latter is important so as to not rush into brash decisions laden with obstacles that may present themselves in the near or late future.  The tragedy for Violetta is that she doesn’t have much of a choice: her days are numbered from the beginning of the opera and she doesn’t have many left.