History YMMV / Tosca

* EvilIsSexy: Many portrayals of Scarpia.

** Tosca usually brings down the house with her aria ''Vissi d'arte''...which sometimes leads to the actor playing Scarpia [[SarcasticClapping giving a clap or two]] when the applause dies down.

** When Tosca proclaims "O Scarpia! We meet before God!" right before she jumps to her death; is she referring to killing Scarpia or [[SuicideIsShameful the fact she, a devout Catholic, committed suicide]]?

*** On top of that, when Cavaradossi is portrayed as knowing Scarpia will not let him live, [[FaceDeathWithDignity he decides to calmly accept Tosca's advice on how to fake his death]][[GoWithASmile with a smile on his face]].

** When Tosca appears in act 3 claiming that Cavaradossi's been pardoned, does he believe her or not? Judging by the remark ''triste'' ("with sadness") in the libretto, when he agrees with her instructions about how to fall, he doesn't.

* EndingFatigue/{{Padding}}: The opera doesn't have a lot of plot left after Tosca kills Scarpia at the end of the second act, so the third act begins with a long sequence of nothing but atmospheric, scene-setting music including the voice of a shepherd boy singing in the distance... and even with that, the act runs only a bit over twenty minutes.

--> ''The man is an absolute bastard.'' - Franco Zeffirelli, talking about how he arranged the Act II set to communicate this to the audience.

* WhatAnIdiot: This being an opera, logic sometimes slips away from the characters.
** When Cavaradossi's house is being searched for Angelotti, he scornfully laughs while the soldiers are doing their job; and when he's brought before Scarpia for questioning, he repeatedly and loudly denies the accusations against him, sometimes not even giving the time to ask him any questions. [[SarcasmMode Yes, that's definitely going to make yourself look innocent, Mario.]]
** Cavaradossi hasn't said anything in the torture room but when he's brought back, he gets cocky after hearing news of Napoleon's victory and sings something like: "Down with the tyrants!" ''right into Scarpia's face''. [[SarcasmMode Nice job, Mario,]] now Scarpia has all evidence he needs to have you executed for treason!
** VillainsNeverLie. In the first act Scarpia shows Tosca the Marchesa's fan, and she immediately jumps to the conclusion that Cavaradossi's cheating on her. Of course, she's not yet aware of Scarpia's full intentions regarding her, but really, she trusts the feared police chief more than her lover! Especially strange since in most productions Scarpia is obviously drooling at the sight of her already, and still it doesn't occur to her for a moment he might be using her to set a trap.
*** Tosca is a very devout subject of the Pope who trusts the "respectable" chief of police. In the play, she snaps when Scarpia insinuates that the "freethinker" Cavaradossi might be "an atheist in matters of love" as well.
** It's understandable that Tosca ''really'' doesn't want to sleep with Scarpia, but her stabbing him doesn't help the situation in the slightest. If Scarpia ''had'' kept his word and Cavaradossi was spared, how far do you want to bet they'd get before Tosca was hunted down for murder? Indeed, Scarpia's henchmen come to arrest her almost immediately after Cavaradossi is executed.
** Scarpia also qualifies. Blackmail and rape are always solid motives for murder (a fact which Scarpia, the chief of police should be aware of), and he combines them in one neat package, painting a nice solid target on his own back. He might also have realized that if he does want to go through with his plan he should at least make sure there are no potential weapons around for Tosca to grab. Like sharp dinner knives.

** Scarpia has an [[EvilIsCool evil awesome]] moment in the [[https://youtu.be/p3McP88FGHo?t=100 Te Deum]] where he gets to do EvilGloating talking about his EvilPlan, to some of the most drop-dead-gorgeous music in the whole thing.[[note]]Cute moment at 02:11, as Scarpia's assistant Spoletta leaves, his NiceHat collides with the brass lamp overhead.[[/note]]

* TheWoobie: Tosca and Cavaradossi are basically trapped in a sadistic officier's game bent on destroying their relationship in order to have Tosca just for himself.

* {{Corpsing}}: Literally in this case. Even in this intensely tragic melodrama, sometimes things just happen. Maria Callas was blind as a bat without her glasses and in one production the set was so damn dark after Tosca kills Scarpia that at the premiere she found herself literally bumbling around trying to find her way off the stage. Tito Gobbi (who was supposed to be dead) gallantly tried to discreetly point to the exit, but started giggling, which set her off, along with people in the front row. In subsequent performances he was able to whisper some directions to her.

** Scarpia has an [[EvilIsCool evil awesome]] moment in the [[https://youtu.be/p3McP88FGHo?t=100 Te Deum]] where he gets to do EvilGloating talking about his EvilPlan, to some of the most drop-dead-gorgeous music in the whole thing.[[note]]Cute moment at 06:01, as Scarpia's assistant Spoletta leaves, his NiceHat collides with the brass lamp overhead.[[/note]]

* FoeYay: Happens sometimes between Tosca and Scarpia, especially if the latter is a tall, handsome BadassBaritone. In fact, Maria Callas, one of the most famous Toscas, talked about how her character is attracted to Scarpia despite herself. [[note]]Even Tito Gobbi, hardly an Adonis anymore by that time, could pull this off just by being magnetic and ''interesting''; she wasn't the only one who regarded him as a BigBeautifulMan.[[/note]] Franco Zeffirelli came to the same conclusion, as shown in his 1985 interview concerning the MET Tosca.
** And there's the 1992 film (shot on the exact locations of the plot), famous for all the tension culminating in TheBigDamnKiss between the two.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: the whole opera, especially the last ten minutes.