History Theatre / Rusalka

* UnrequitedTragicMaiden: Rusalka, who cannot bring herself to kill the Prince even after he betrays her, and ends up condemned to be a death spirit.
* YourCheatingHeart: The Prince ends up seduced by the Foreign Princess ''on his own wedding day'', and has no second thoughts about betraying Rusalka.

* GoOutWithASmile: How the Prince dies in Rusalka’s arms.

* EvilSoundsDeep: Averted with Vodník, a bass role, who’s friendly and teasing towards the Wood Sprites, and kind and fatherly towards Rusalka. Jezibaba, a mezzo-soprano role, plays with this a bit. Subverted with the Foreign Princess: while she's definitely evil, she's actually a soprano role.

* EvilSoundsDeep: Averted with Vodník, a bass role, who’s friendly and teasing towards the Wood Sprites, and kind and fatherly towards Rusalka. Played straight with the Foreign Princess, however, who is always sung by a mezzo-soprano.

''Rusalka'' is one of 10 operas by Czech composer Music/{{Antonin Dvorak}}. With a libretto by Jaroslav Kvapil, ''Rusalka'' is also Dvorák's most famous opera. The Slavic version of ''Literature/{{The Little Mermaid}}'', our heroine Rusalka is a water nymph who lives in a lake instead of the ocean. She falls in love with a human prince and wishes to become human, so Rusalka goes to Jezibaba, the witch, to do so. Jezibaba demands that Rusalka gives up her voice, which is a terrible thing to do in an opera, but she does it anyways. The Prince quickly becomes disenchanted with the mute Rusalka, falling instead in love with the evil, manipulative Foreign Princess, and ends up being cursed by Vodník, Rusalka's father. This being an opera, there is no happy ending. Betrayed, Rusalka returns to her lake, where she learns she must stab the Prince in order to become a water spirit again. But she doesn't have the heart to do so, and thus ends up condemned to be a demon of death.

* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: How Rusalka feels in Act II, especially when you see the way the Gamekeeper and Turnspit talk about her.

* BerserkButton: Seeing Rusalka being mistreated by the Prince, the Turnspit, and the Gamekeeper is a huge one for Vodník, who curses the Prince and scares both the Gamekeeper and Turnspit away from the forest.

* BittersweetEnding: The Prince tracks down Rusalka in Act III, who has become a death spirit, and begs for her forgiveness and for her to kill him with a kiss. Rusalka does so, allowing the Prince to die happily in her arms.

* DealWithTheDevil: In order for Rusalka to be a human and gain a human soul, she has to give up her speech and immortality, and if she fails to win the Prince’s heart, the Prince will die and Rusalka will be eternally damned.

* UnrequitedTragicMaiden: Rusalka, who cannot bring herself to kill the Prince even after he betrays her, and ends up condemned to be a death spirit.

* SceneryPorn: Traditional productions tend to have very beautiful sets of the forest and lake.

* GorgeousPeriodDress: During Act II, the Foreign Princess always wears one of these. Rusalka also wears one in [[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b5/b6/f0/b5b6f073601cbb840484fd578e1f3f79.jpg Act II]], along with her [[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9a/6e/21/9a6e219f1a74c154a8a67a2abb38bd65.jpg water]] [[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/62/a9/09/62a909a3c7f31b486ee769c88889f4f5.jpg nymph]] [[https://static01.nyt.com/images/2017/02/04/arts/04-RUSALKA-01-SUB/04-RUSALKA-01-SUB-facebookJumbo.jpg dress]] in Act I.

* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Many productions portray Rusalka as having long blonde hair, which matches her sweet, pure heart.

* Myth/{{Slavic Mythology}}: Rusalka is a water spirit from Slavic mythology, and Vodník is the Czech version of the Vodyanoy, a male water spirit. Jezibaba, meanwhile, is a figure from West Slavic folklore that is closely related to Baba Yaga, a supernatural being in the form of a deformed woman.

* CuteMute: Rusalka when she's human and meets the Prince.

* DarkIsNotEvil: Jezibaba is more of a neutral figure in the opera, as she had no ulterior motivations, and her price was simply payment.
* DealWithTheDevil: In order for Rusalka to be a human, she has to give up her speech and immortality, and if she fails to win the Prince’s heart, the Prince will die and Rusalka will be eternally damned.

* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Rusalka is typically portrayed as having long blonde hair, which matches her sweet, pure heart

* GodivaHair: Some adaptations of the opera, particularly Petr Wiegl’s film, have Rusalka with long blonde hair.

* FireAndIceLoveTriangle: The passionate Foreign Princess vs. the quiet and chilly Rusalka. Even though the Prince falls in love with Rusalka, he grows bored since she’s cold and cannot talk, and instead goes after the Foreign Princess. However, he ultimately chooses Rusalka in the end.

* EvilSoundsDeep: Averted with Vodník, who’s friendly and teasing towards the Wood Sprites, and kind and fatherly towards Rusalka. Played straight with the Foreign Princess, however, who is always sung by a mezzo-soprano.

''Rusalka'' is one of 10 operas by Czech composer Music/{{AntoninDvorak}}. With a libretto by Jaroslav Kvapil, ''Rusalka'' is also Dvorák's most famous opera. The Slavic version of ''Literature/{{The Little Mermaid}}'', our heroine Rusalka is a water nymph who lives in a lake instead of the ocean. She falls in love with a human prince and wishes to become human, so Rusalka goes to Jezibaba, the witch, to do so. Jezibaba demands that Rusalka gives up her voice, which is a terrible thing to do in an opera, but she does it anyways. The Prince quickly becomes disenchanted with the mute Rusalka, falling instead in love with the evil, manipulative Foreign Princess, and ends up being cursed by Vodník, Rusalka's father. This being an opera, there is no happy ending. Betrayed, Rusalka returns to her lake, where she learns she must stab the Prince in order to become a water spirit again. But she doesn't have the heart to do so, and thus ends up condemned to be a demon of death.

''Rusalka'' is one of 10 operas by Czech composer Antonín Dvorák. With a libretto by Jaroslav Kvapil, ''Rusalka'' is also Dvorák's most famous opera. The Slavic version of ''Literature/{{The Little Mermaid}}'', our heroine Rusalka is a water nymph who lives in a lake instead of the ocean. She falls in love with a human prince and wishes to become human, so Rusalka goes to Jezibaba, the witch, to do so. Jezibaba demands that Rusalka gives up her voice, which is a terrible thing to do in an opera, but she does it anyways. The Prince quickly becomes disenchanted with the mute Rusalka, falling instead in love with the evil, manipulative Foreign Princess, and ends up being cursed by Vodník, Rusalka's father. This being an opera, there is no happy ending. Betrayed, Rusalka returns to her lake, where she learns she must stab the Prince in order to become a water spirit again. But she doesn't have the heart to do so, and thus ends up condemned to be a demon of death.

* GorgeousPeriodDress: During Act II, the [[ https://dv2oc5tyj18yr.cloudfront.net/13pressroom/files/2017/04/RUS_9146a.jpg Foreign Princess]] always wears one of these. Rusalka also wears one in [[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b5/b6/f0/b5b6f073601cbb840484fd578e1f3f79.jpg Act II]], along with her [[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9a/6e/21/9a6e219f1a74c154a8a67a2abb38bd65.jpg water]] [[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/62/a9/09/62a909a3c7f31b486ee769c88889f4f5.jpg nymph]] [[https://static01.nyt.com/images/2017/02/04/arts/04-RUSALKA-01-SUB/04-RUSALKA-01-SUB-facebookJumbo.jpg dress]] in Act I.

* GorgeousPeriodDress: During Act II, the Foreign Princess always wears one of these. Rusalka also wears one in Act II, along with her blue water nymph dress.

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* BreakTheCutie: Poor Rusalka. She gives up her voice and immortality in order to find love with the Prince, who quickly grows indifferent to her when she can’t speak and thinks she’s too cold before pursuing a Foreign Princess, even kissing her in front of Rusalka! Even worse, Rusalka cannot return to the lake and is condemned by her sisters, so she ends up as a water demon trapped at the bottom of the lake.