Line #3 Theatre/TheAbductionFromTheSeraglio


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3	''The Abduction from the Seraglio'' (German: ''Die Entführung aus dem Serail'') is a 1782 singspiel opera by Music/WolfgangAmadeusMozart, to a libretto by Christoph Bretzner. Although it's [[OvershadowedByAwesome less famous]] than Mozart's later works, nowadays many know it thanks to a subplot in ''Film/{{Amadeus}}'' about its production.
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5	In the backstory, Konstanze and her servants, BetaCouple Pedrillo and Blonde, are taken captive by pirates. However, they are bought by Selim, a Turkish pasha, who brings them to the luxury of his palace... and soon falls in love with Konstanze. An attempt by Konstanze's beloved Belmonte to rescue the group from the pasha's seraglio is foiled, and on top of it all Belmonte turns out to be the son of Selim's bitterest enemy, so Selim prepares to execute him and the rest of the heroes. Ultimately, though, he has a change of heart and instead lets them go, and the final chorus has everyone praise his generosity.
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7	There are productions of various operas that include the heroine's ShipTease with the antagonist, but ''The Abduction'' is one of the operas to which it happens especially often, to the point of almost becoming the rule. It helps that Pasha Selim is extremely kind to Konstanze for most of the time, shares many tender scenes with her, and both her most famous arias are sung to him.
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10	!!''The Abduction from the Seraglio'' provides examples of:
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12	* AbortedArc: Selim decides that, since Konstanze won't yield to either pleas or threats, he'll use cunning to get her to accept him. However, he never gets around to doing so and we never even find out what his plan was.
13	* BenevolentBoss: Pasha Selim is adored by his servants, who sing two choruses in his praise.
14	* BettyAndVeronica: TenorBoy Belmonte and passionate Pasha Selim for Konstanze. The libretto has her unwaveringly loyal to Belmonte, many productions, not so much.
15	* BlamingTheVictim: Pedrillo is jealous and suspicious of Blonde because he thinks Osmin might have raped her. Blonde slaps him when he says it, tells him he's not worthy of her, and only forgives him after long and profound apologies.
16	* BravadoSong: Pedrillo sings his aria "Frisch zum Kampfe" as he musters the courage to get NotSoHarmlessVillain Osmin drunk.
17	-->Now to battle!
18	-->Now to arms!
19	-->Only cowards are afraid.
20	* CantHoldHisLiquor: Pedrillo plans to get Osmin drunk in the hopes of invoking this trope. He seems to succeed... until it turns that no, Osmin is conscious enough to catch the heroes red-handed in their escape attempt.
21	* CharacterCatchphrase: Osmin says "Gift und Dolch!"[[note]] "Poison and dagger!"[[/note]] multiple times throughout the opera, usually when he expresses dismay or irritation at something.
22	* ChekhovsGun: In the often-cut spoken lines, Pedrillo mentions that Selim was born and lived in Europe before settling in the Ottoman Empire and converting to Islam. It is seemingly a random piece of backstory that has nothing to do with the plot... and then in one of the final scenes Selim reveals he was forced to leave his country due to the machinations of Belmonte's father.
23	* DarkAndTroubledPast: Selim lost his beloved (it's left unclear whether she died or simply was separated from him), his possessions, his good name, and was forced to leave his homeland and start from scratch in a completely different country and culture, all thanks to Lostados Sr.
24	* DeadpanSnarker: Selim.
25	-->'''Osmin:''' ''[about Pedrillo]'' He has deserved death a thousand times!\
26	'''Selim:''' Well, let him find it in his own country.
27	* DefiantCaptive: Blonde utterly refuses to obey Osmin and bosses ''him'' around instead.
28	* EpicInstrumentalOpener: The aria "Martern aller Arten" has almost two ''minutes'' of fanfare and concertante-style orchestral solos before Konstanze starts singing. This can sometimes present a problem for directors to figure out what to do in this lead in terms of action on stage while waiting for the vocals to begin.
29	* EyeScream: Blonde tells Osmin that if he tries to assault her again, she'll scratch out his eyes.
30	* FaceDeathWithDignity: Belmonte calmly tells Selim to take his revenge. Instead, Selim announces he has changed his mind.
31	* ForcefulKiss: In many a production, done by Selim to Konstanze (usually during the very, very long orchestral prelude to her third aria).
32	* GildedCage: Konstanze is treated like a queen, but Selim won't let her leave and keeps trying to court her.
33	* GoingNative: Selim has fully embraced the Ottoman culture.
34	* GoneHorriblyWrong: The heroes' entire plan. Pedrillo seemingly succeeds in getting Osmin drunk, but it turns out he isn't drunk enough to pass out, so the group is caught in the attempt to escape. Then Belmonte reveals his family name in the hopes of convincing Selim to release them for a ransom. Instead, it turns out Selim has a deep-rooted hatred for his father. If Selim hadn't had a change of heart, this would have been a tragedy.
35	* GreenEyedMonster: Not only do Pasha and Osmin guard Konstanze and Blonde, respectively, with extreme jealousy, but Belmonte and Pedrillo are suspicious about the ladies' fidelity as well. Konstanze and Blonde are understandably angry.
36	* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Lampshaded by Selim as one of the reasons he lets the heroes go. He wishes that Konstanze never regrets her choice.
37	* IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim: One of Selim's reasons for pardoning the heroes. He knows that Belmonte's father in his place would have been merciless, and he doesn't want to sink to his level.
38	* InThatOrder: Osmin has a highly detailed plan concerning [[MurderTheHypotenuse his rival Pedrillo]]: "First beheaded, then hanged, then impaled on red-hot spikes, then burned, then manacled and drowned; finally flayed". At least one production (the Zürich Opera video recording with Malin Hartelius and Piotr Beczala) plays up the comedic effect in full: Osmin meticulously stresses the "first", "then", and "finally" (while Pedrillo, amused, counts the threats on his fingers).
39	* LastKiss: In the 2015 Glyndebourne production, Selim and Konstanze share a kiss in the final scene before she leaves with Belmonte.
40	* LikeFatherUnlikeSon: Belmonte is noble, honest and courageous, and his father, from what we learn about him, doesn't sound like any of that.
41	* MeaningfulName: In the libretto, Konstanze's defining quality is her constancy. Subverted in numerous productions that have her stray towards Selim or at least consider doing so.
42	* MelancholyMusicalNumber: Konstanze has two arias ("Ach, ich liebte" and later "Traurigkeit") about how miserable she is after being separated from her beloved Belmonte.
43	* MelismaticVocals: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sV1O9qb72YM "Martern aller Arten"]] -- described (rather unfavourably) by Salieri in ''{{Theatre/Amadeus}}'' as "ten minutes of ghastly scales and arpeggios, whizzing up and down like fireworks at a fairground".
44	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: If the production (such as the one by Christof Loy) has Konstanze temporarily give in to Selim, she is horror-struck soon afterwards.
45	* NotSoHarmlessVillain: Osmin, after serving as comic relief for the entire opera, catches the heroes in their escape attempt and gloats about how he'll watch their torture.
46	* TheOneThatGotAway: It turns out that there was a lady whom Selim loved more than life itself and who was torn from him thanks to the scheming of Belmonte's father (it isn't clear whether he separated them, killed her, or did something else). Even now, with the many women in his harem who adore him, Selim still feels the loss.
47	* PromotedToLoveInterest: In the Christof Loy production, Blonde is shown to have some feelings for Osmin, and instead of making fun of him she is mostly sad and angry, since she sees the two of them aren't going to work out due to a massive CultureClash.
48	* RedOniBlueOni: The female leads are fiery, cheerful Blonde and melancholy Konstanze.
49	* StockholmSyndrome: In many stagings, Konstanze is shown to grow very fond of Pasha Selim who holds her captive. It helps that a) before that, he rescued her and her HiredHelpAsFamily servants from pirates and b) he treats them very well and is a generally good-hearted man if with an explosive temper and [[LoveMakesYouEvil too passionately in love with Konstanze]]. Not to mention that, as his is a non-singing part, the directors are free to cast any attractive and/or charismatic actor without considering the voice type. For extra irony, the ShipTease with Selim usually happens when Konstanze is singing how she'll never be inconstant to Belmonte.
50	** The Christof Loy production takes it up to eleven by having the syndrome affect not just Konstanze, but her fiery maid Blonde (who usually is too busy playing pranks on her captor Osmin to consider developing any tender feelings towards him). Konstanze shares a passionate kiss with Selim and barely restrains herself from continuing it. Blonde lectures Osmin on feminism, as usual, but her expressions and body language show that she is clearly attracted to him (for instance, she sits on his lap herself and giggles happily when he caresses her), and rather than making fun of him as she usually does, she grows angry and sad that he can’t understand women value their freedom.
51	** The 2015 Glyndebourne production cast handsome and fit Cirque du Soleil actor Franck Saurel as Selim and gave him a ShirtlessScene in the second act’s beginning. This Selim very nearly manages to seduce Konstanze: he almost gets her consent and only ruins his chances by blurting out that she ''[[EntitledToHaveYou must]]'' love him. And still she looks very torn about refusing him.
52	* SurprisinglyHappyEnding: When the two couples are getting ready to die horribly, Selim suddenly changes his mind.
53	* UnexpectedKindness: Pasha Selim sentences the four main characters to death, because they have been trying to whisk his beloved Konstanze away from his harem (and Konstanze, also being among the sentenced, has agreed to be whisked away) and because Konstanze's fiancé Belmonte is the son of Selim's bitterest enemy. However, at the last moment, Selim changes his mind and lets the entire group go. Amazed, they say heartfelt farewells to him and join in a celebratory final chorus praising Selim and wishing him a long life.

Context Theatre / TheAbductionFromTheSeraglio