Line #201 Literature/Maskerade


1	[[quoteright:280:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maskerade-cover_7327.jpg]]
2	->''Ahahahahahahah!\
3	Ahahahahahahah!\
4	AHAHAHAHAHAHAH!\
5	'''BEWARE!!!!!'''''
6	-->''Yrs, the Opera Ghost''
7
8	The 18th Literature/{{Discworld}} novel, and the fourth or fifth in the 'witches' theme. Its purpose within the theme is to bridge ''Literature/LordsAndLadies'' and ''Literature/CarpeJugulum'', which it does by means of an [[TwiceToldTale extended parody]] of the 1925 silent film version of ''Film/{{The Phantom of the Opera\|1925}}''.
9
10	With the loss of Magrat to her royal calling, Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax find themselves with a coven of two. Their eye falls on the expansive Agnes Nitt, who prefers calling herself [[AwesomeMcCoolname Perdita X Dream]] (or, as the women of Lancre say, "that Agnes girl who calls herself Perditax"). Agnes, though, has no interest in witches, and wants to be an opera singer. Stealing away to Ankh-Morpork, she soon finds herself (and her amazing voice) as a vocal understudy to the skinnier but much dumber and less melodious Christine.
11
12	As it turns out, opera is much less about singing and more about superstition, mysterious strangers coming out of mirrors, vicious murders, and catty sniping. Oh, and losing buckets of money, much to the chagrin of the opera's owner. As it just so happens, Nanny and Granny have their own business in Ankh-Morpork, and are not above giving young Agnes a hand, regardless of whether she wants it or not.
13
14	Preceded by ''Literature/InterestingTimes'', followed by ''Literature/FeetOfClay''. Preceded in the Witches series by ''Literature/LordsAndLadies'', followed by ''Literature/CarpeJugulum''.
15	----
16	!!Contains examples of:
17	* AllergicToRoutine: At the start of the book, Granny Weatherwax is showing definite signs of going stir-crazy. After her adventures with Nanny Ogg and Magrat, ordinary witchcraft just isn't a challenge anymore. Nanny is beginning to worry that she'll either "go bad" or, perhaps more likely, spend so much time Borrowing that she forgets how to come back.
18	* AllPartOfTheShow: When Greebo chases the Ghost around the balconies in the middle of the performance of ''Il Truccatore'', the audience applauds; some genuinely think it's part of the show, while others are less sure but don't want to risk looking uncultured if they're wrong.
19	* AndThatWouldBeWrong: Granny spends a few paragraphs explaining in loving detail the CoolAndUnusualPunishment she could give the villain... ''if she was bad''.
20	* ArbitrarySkepticism: A deconstruction. Granny constantly feels people ''should'' be sceptical when she displays her magical powers, and observe that the same things could be done with trickery. If she knows you're at the door, she might have looked out a window. If she blocks a sword blade with her bare hands, she might have had a steel plate in her palm. (In truth, she didn't look out the window, and she actually did a BarehandedBladeBlock, but she still feels that people ''ought'' to be looking for common-sense explanations.)
21	* ArcWords: Granny asking people the question "If your house was on fire, what would you take out?" She finds out that Walter Plinge thinks in an unusual, but not evil, manner when he replies: "[[spoiler:The fire!]]"
22	* ArmorPiercingResponse: This exchange between [[spoiler: Walter]] and Agnes has a devastating but utterly true one:
23	--> '''André''': It'd be terrible if anything happened to [Christine] ''(in the aftermath of her 'fainting' again)'', everyone says she shows such promise.
24	--> '''Agnes''': Yes, but... ''you'' know it was me doing the singing.
25	--> '''André''': Oh, yes... yes, of course... but... well... this is opera... you know...
26	--> '''Agnes''' ''(to [[spoiler:Walter]])'': But it was ''me'' you taught!
27	--> '''[[spoiler: Walter]]''': Then you were ''very'' good. I suspect she will never be quite that good, even with many months of my tuition. But, Perdita, have you ever heard of the words "star quality"?
28	--> '''Agnes''': Is it the same as ''talent''?
29	--> '''[[spoiler: Walter]]''': It is rarer.
30	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: A list of feared and respected opera conductors: the one who extracted a piccolo player's liver and fried it on a cymbal after one wrong note too many, the one who impaled three violinists on his baton, and the one who made really hurtful and sarcastic comments in a loud voice.
31	* AscendedExtra: Agnes briefly appeared in ''Literature/LordsAndLadies'', and goes on to have a prominent role in ''Literature/CarpeJugulum''.
32	* AsymmetricDilemma: Done brilliantly by Nanny Ogg.
33	--> "Has anyone got an opener for a bottle of beer? ... Has anyone got something to drink a bottle of beer out of? ... Good. Now, has anyone got a bottle of beer?"
34	* AwesomeMcCoolname: Perdita X. Dream, the name Agnes gives to herself. The "X" just stands for "Someone who has a cool and exciting middle initial", and the earthy folk of Lancre just don't get it, calling her "That Agnes girl who calls herself Perditax".
35	* BaitAndSwitch: Early on, Granny and Nanny discuss Greebo doing "It" when he got caught somewhere he shouldn't have been. It's a little later on it turns out "It" is Greebo turning human when startled.
36	* BalancingDeathsBooks: While the witches are staying with a farming family, both their son and one of their cows fall ill. Destiny says the child should die and the cow should live, but Granny plays Death at poker for the chance to make it the other way around.
37	* BanisterSlide: Nanny slides down the balustrade of the Opera House's big grand staircase while chasing after Mrs Plinge. The narrator notes that "it is the fate of all banisters worth sliding down that there is something nasty waiting at the far end"; in this case it's a fancy statue, which Nanny sees coming in time to dodge.
38	* BarehandedBladeBlock: Granny pulls this at the very end [[spoiler: when she blocks Salzella's sword. She can't magic steel, but she ''can'' magic her own hand, displacing the wound she has to sustain until she's ready to deal with it]].
39	* BatmanGambit: The scene where Granny Weatherwax decides to go to Ankh-Morpork (which involves, among other things, misdelivered letters, Granny berating Nanny Ogg, Nanny being cheated out of five thousand dollars, a humorous cookbook, Nanny being repentant and embarrassed for pretty much the entire conversation, and Granny being her usual take charge self) has its entire impact changed by the last line:
40	-->''In the scullery, [[ObfuscatingStupidity Nanny Ogg]] smiled to herself.''
41	* BewareTheNiceOnes: Nanny Ogg not only has [[ObfuscatingStupidity "a mind like a buzzsaw behind a face like an elderly apple"]] which she goes to some lengths to hide, but also a serious ruthless streak. Sharp remarks from her are described like "being bitten by a friendly dog".
42	-->"And don't go thinking I'm nice. I'm only nice compared to Esme, but so is practic'ly everyone."
43	* BigEater: ''Henry Slugg'', especially when he's around real Morporkian food. He's still a hell of an eater in his Enrico Basilica persona, but he's so famous that everywhere he goes, people fall over themselves to specially prepare his "native" Brindisian dishes. When Nanny subtly sees to it that the Opera House catering provides him a meal of regular Ankh-Morpork food, things get messy.
44	* BigFun: Henry Slugg is cheerful, good-natured and deeply enjoys music and food. He's not ''quite'' [[StepfordSmiler as happy as he pretends,]] though, having a few regrets about the girl he left behind and even more about how everyone insists on serving him pasta.
45	* BilingualBonus: The swan's line from ''Lohenshaak'''s "Pedlar's Song" translates as "I'm cutting my own throat", which is both a Dibbler reference and an accurate description of what the swan does by singing it.
46	** Henry Slugg, singing in the bathtub, segues between English and Italian versions of "Show Me The Way To Go Home".
47	* BornInTheWrongCentury: It's said that Agnes was born 20 years too late, rather than back when your voice mattered more than your looks and every opera singer had a build like hers; indeed, every one of the greats had names that were puns for how fat they were.
48	** To drive this home, there is more than one scene where characters who truly love the music lament that now a woman has to look like Christine to star in opera and the music has to be slipped in somehow.
49	* BrainlessBeauty: Christine is a heavy parody of the trope. She is both tremendously stupid and has an astoundingly low attention span for anything that's not her, zoning out within seconds.
50	* BreadEggsMilkSquick: When Granny comes back from seeing Mrs Plinge home, she asks Nanny what's happened while she was gone. Nanny reports that one of the male opera singers sang an aria, then one of the female opera singers sang an aria, then a dead body fell onto the stage.
51	* BrickJoke:
52	** From [[Literature/LordsAndLadies four books ago]]. In preparation for his wedding to Magrat, Verence tried to get a book on "[[TheTalk marital arts]]", but ended up with one on ''martial'' arts instead. Apparently he has since succeeded, since Nanny found such a book in the castle and spent a few minutes [[MustacheVandalism drawing moustaches]] on all the illustrations. [[note]]Also a GeniusBonus, to those who know the original copiously illustrated guidebook ''The Joy Of Sex'' invariably featured men who at the very least sported TheSeventies moustaches - big obvious ones.[[/note]]
53	** Early on, the opera staff regard it as a sign of dread that Mr. Bucket is the sort of person who thinks he can determine what people are like by looking in their eyes and shaking their hand. Later on, Granny Weatherwax reveals she thinks along the same lines.
54	** Nanny Ogg is familiar with Mrs. Palm's because her son stayed there while he was stealing lead off the roof of the opera house (in Nanny's mind, it's not a crime when an Ogg does it). Later on, Mr. Salzella lists off the list of "... accidents" the opera house has been having, but mentions he's pretty sure the missing lead from the roof isn't part of the Ghost's antics. [[spoiler:He'd know.]]
55	* BrutalHonesty: One the Ghost's defining character traits. He's not doing it to be cruel, but some of his responses can be absolutely ''vicious'' in their accuracy, particularly in his response to Agnes (pretending to be Christine in the dark) when she says [[ButHeSoundsHandsome (correctly) that "Perdita" is much better than 'her' (Christine)]].
56	-->"This is true. But while I can teach you to sing like her, I cannot teach her to look like you."
57	** Granny Weatherwax carries on her habit of using Headology to dupe people into coming to these sorts of conclusions completely on their own. One of the most vicious examples comes when she asks Agnes if she's ''really'' enjoying "being someone else's voice" and standing in the shadows while Christine gets all the attention.
58	* ButHeSoundsHandsome: When the Ghost offers "Perdita" singing lessons thinking she's Christine[[note]]Christine and Agnes switched rooms, but he can't tell because it's dark and Agnes decides to play along to find out what he wants[[/note]] she can't resist telling him, "Perdita is a lot better than me". She quickly comes to regret it, because, with his natural BrutalHonesty, he responds by telling her precisely why he doesn't consider Perdita worth his time. To be exact, while Perdita is an incredibly talented singer, whose talent he admires, she's also a fairly textbook BrawnHilda. And while he can train Christine to be as good as Perdita (he later modifies this once he finds out the truth, admitting that Christine won't ever be ''quite'' as good as her, not even after many months of one to one tuition), he can't train Perdita to be as slim, pretty, and graceful as Christine.
59	* ChandelierSwing: When Greebo is chasing the Opera Ghost around the Opera House. Reality itself actually realigns so he can accomplish this, rather than plummeting to his death.
60	* ChekhovsGag: Nanny Ogg's "suicider" scumble, mentioned in a footnote, comes up toward the end when she uses it to knock out Mrs. Plinge, and Nobbs and Detritus.
61	* ChekhovsSkill: When Granny calculates the royalties Nanny should be getting, the text notes that she's "keenly numerate" because she suspects anyone using numbers is trying to get away with something. At the end of the novel[[spoiler: she quickly deciphers the Opera House accounts book, which has been carefully curated by Salzella to conceal his embezzlement]].
62	* ChessWithDeath: As usual, Death dislikes the traditional game, so Granny challenges him to a hand of poker instead for a boy's life. She wins, though it's implied that Death let her, because he's ''on our side''. Death had four "ones" -- an ace can either be counted as below the deuce or above the king. She also fixes his arm for him with her chiropractic know-how.
63	** Although there is also the implication that he was scared of her. [[spoiler: She admits that, if she had lost, the first thing she would have done would be to [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu break his arm]].]] A implication heavily reduced by her behavior towards Death compared to others though.
64	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: When Mr Bucket is told that the opera spends a small fortune on ballet shoes because they wear out so fast, he instructs the ballerinas to incorporate more high jumps into their choreographies and stand on tip-toe when possible. Guess which activities wear out these shoes the most...
65	* ContinuityNod:
66	** Obscure, but Mr. Bucket's remark about "a dreadful bend in the road" might be referring to Dead Man's Curve, where Susan's parents and [[spoiler: Mr. Clete]] were killed in road accidents in ''Literature/SoulMusic''.
67	** Also, several to ''Literature/LordsAndLadies'', such as the brief mention of another Carter son named after a vice, Deviousness Carter.
68	** The happy greetings Granny Weatherwax receives when she and Nanny Ogg show up at Mrs. Palm's looking for a place to stay while in the city, due to all the witching she did for them back in ''Literature/EqualRites''. (Much to Nanny's astonishment, who assumes Granny doesn't realize the place is a brothel.)
69	** There's a mention of how the show went on even when a dragon was roosting on the roof of the opera house, which happened in ''Literature/GuardsGuards''.
70	** At least one of the girls who Nanny dismisses as no longer qualified to replace Magrat was one of Lucy 'Diamanda' Tockley's friends in the previous book. (She appears in the next, too, if you remember her from this mention.)
71	** When Nanny reflects that she's seen many strange things in her life, the ones listed are all from previous books.
72	** When Granny is getting a makeover, the beautician remarks that she has excellent skin and she sadly agrees, which is a nod to the bit in ''Equal Rites'' about how she's always regretted having a good complexion because a few warts would make her look more witchy. And when the hairdresser asks how she has such good hair she says "You have to make sure there's no newts in the water", which is a nod to a joke in ''Literature/ReaperMan''.
73	* ContrivedCoincidence: Played for laughs when someone's long-lost love shows up at the very end, with no real impact on the plot, to Agnes' despair. Hey, that's how opera works.
74	* CouldSayItBut: [[spoiler:Walter]] resorts to this to tell Nanny Ogg what they know about The Ghost, as they've been told not to tell but know they should.
75	* DeadlyDodging: The Ghost uses this tactic against some muggers threatening Granny Weatherwax and Mrs. Plinge, dodging and weaving so much the muggers end up stabbing each other.
76	* DeadpanSnarker: Salzella. He takes it so far he almost becomes the MetaGuy who subsists on BlackComedy.
77	* DeconstructiveParody: In particular, much is made of the fact that seeing a serial killer as a dashing romantic figure is a sign that your priorities are seriously out of whack.
78	* TheDitz: Christine.
79	* DoesNotLikeSpam: Basilica has gotten incredibly sick of pasta (it doesn't help that it's usually cooked very badly), but he can't tell anyone he hates it because it's part of his makeover as a singer from Brindisi.
80	* DoingItForTheArt: InUniverse example: Salzella tells Mr. Bucket this is the reason why anyone produces opera, as it makes no money. [[spoiler:It turns out he's lying through his teeth, as he's stealing all the profits and actually ''hates'' opera with a passion.]]
81	* DoorDumb: Either the person singing Porta Maledetta (literally "Damn Door" in [[FantasyCounterpartCulture Italian, er, Brindisian]]) is Door Dumb or the person who labelled the door in the first place was, because it's labeled Pull and indeed she is pulling...perhaps it should be marked Push? (Then again, it sticks no matter what the hell she does.)
82	* DontFearTheReaper: Granny plays poker with Death for child's life. She gets four queens, he gets four aces... but decides to declare "[[AC:I lose, all I have is four ones]]" with a wink.
83	* DramaQueen: According to Salzella everyone in opera is a highly-strung maniac on a good day.
84	* DudeNotFunny: In-universe example. Salzella makes several jokes about people who have just been murdered; Mr. Bucket finds them distasteful. [[spoiler: This takes on a whole new meaning after the reveal Salzella was the one who committed the murders]].
85	* DudeWheresMyReward: This is Agnes' reaction at the end of the book. Nanny and Granny don't seem to sympathise with her very much, but they've been in the exact situation many times before and Agnes is going to need to learn that LifeIsntFair if she's going to be their third witch.
86	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: [[spoiler:Andre]] being a secret policeman becomes this after ''[[Literature/NightWatchDiscworld Night Watch]]''. While most of this isn't too much of a problem - it makes sense for Vimes to recruit undercover policemen - there's a whacking great problem with the name. Specifically, the idea that he would ''ever'' create anything even ''approximating'' a secret police division that's named the 'Cable Street Particulars' after the reveal of what the [[ANaziByAnyOtherName original Particulars were like]] makes about as much sense as UsefulNotes/MahatmaGandhi advocating the foundation of a Fourth Reich. You can probably just blame the History Monks for that one.
87	* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Mrs. Plinge tries to invoke this when she and Granny are attacked by thieves: "Oh, please don't hurt us, kind sirs, we are harmless old ladies! Haven't you got mothers?" One of them responds: "I 'ad a mother once. Only I think I must of et 'er..."
88	* EverythingSoundsSexierInFrench: Or Brindisian in this case.
89	* ExactWords: The "Departure" aria Agnes sings at one point is described as being about how hard it is for a character to leave the man she loves. It turns out the lyrics literally translate into a complaint about a stuck door.
90	** Death and Granny Weatherwax [[ChessWithDeath play a hand of poker for the life of an infant]]. Death, naturally, wins - but, due to Granny having a hand of four queens and him having a hand of four aces, he folds, saying he only has four ones.
91	* EyelashFluttering: Christine flutters her eyelashes when reviving from her swoon, or possibly when realising people aren't paying enough attention to her reviving from her swoon.
92	* FakeFaint:
93	** Christine is a master of [[FaintInShock feminine fainting]], with Agnes' inner monologue sourly noting that it's something she's intelligent about, considering how she managed to do so with such precision that it likely didn't even hurt.
94	** Not just Christine--at one point, it's noted that some of the ballerinas faint "carefully, so as not to get their clothes dirty."
95	** Dame Timpani does this as well, pointedly, before resorting to hysterics to try and get some of the attention back from Christine. It doesn't work.
96	* FallingChandelierOfDoom: {{Subverted}}, and in fact {{defied}}. Everyone says that the chandelier is an accident waiting to happen. But despite the villain's best efforts (and thanks to the intervention of Nanny Ogg), it doesn't happen.
97	* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Brindisi (the name of a real city, and also an operatic term for a drinking song) for Italy.
98	* {{Fauxreigner}}: Brindisian tenor Enrico Basilica--once known as Henry Slugg of Ankh-Morpork, because you can't sing opera with a name like "Henry Slugg".
99	* FelonyMisdemeanour: Granny treats Nanny having written a book with the same sort of disdain usually held for committing actual crime.
100	* {{Flynning}}: Shown and mentioned between [[spoiler: the two Ghosts]], until it becomes deadly real. Except not, because in true Discworld fashion, they're ''still just Flynning''.
101	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Henry Slugg from Ankh-Morpork becomes Enrico Basilica from Brindisi, because "the trick is to make sure that everywhere you go, you are from somewhere else", with Nanny noting that conjurers are the same way, making grandiose claims about being fresh from the Court of Klatch. Later, Andre claims that he "...used to teach music to the Seriph's children in Klatch" indicating he isn't who he claims to be.
102	* FormulaBreakingEpisode: Unlike the other witches books where there is some sort of overt great magical threat, like TheFairFolk in ''Literature/LordsAndLadies'' or Lily in ''Literature/WitchesAbroad'', ''Maskerade'' is a murder mystery more akin to the watch books.
103	* FunWithForeignLanguages: The Italian... er, Brindisian aria in the opera is about [[TrainStationGoodbye how hard it is for the heroine to leave her beloved]]. In fact, it quite literally is:
104	---> "This damn door sticks, this damn door sticks
105	---> it sticks no matter what the hell I do
106	---> It is marked 'pull' and indeed I am pulling
107	---> Perhaps it should be marked 'push'?"
108	** There's also a fragment from a song in German, "''Schneide meinen eigenen Hals''" - [[BilingualBonus not translated in the text]], but means "cut my own throat". Fans won't be surprised, because the song is called "The [[CMOTDibbler Pedlar's Song]]".
109	* GeniusDitz: Christine has all the skills and traits needed to be a legendary opera Diva... save for the actual singing part. Which fortunately isn't all that important nowadays.
110	* GenreSavvy: Agnes knows full well that in stories the girl with "a great personality" is not the one who stumbles onto the villain's secret basement lair, but if it was someone like Christine, she'd find it no problem.
111	* GodivaHair: Implied of the portrait of Nanny Ogg as a young woman.
112	-->'''Nanny Ogg:''' I wore my hair longer in those days.\
113	'''Granny Weatherwax:''' Just as well, considering.
114	* GoodIsNotDumb: Agnes.
115	* GoodIsNotNice: Unsurprisingly, Granny Weatherwax. She stitches up the injuries of the muggers who ''tried'' to attack her. What she needed was a sharp, fresh needle and some alcohol, but sadly, all she has is a rusty, blunt one and some ditchwater.
116	** [[spoiler:Walter Plinge's alternative personality known as The Opera Ghost]] is not a bad person. But he's also brutally honest, and when Granny and Nanny use headology to give him that personality all the time, he's perfectly willing to go along with picking Christine over Agnes.
117	--> '''Granny''' ''(holding up the needle, while a mugger stares at it, whimpering)'': Now... ''let's do some good.''
118	* GoodOldWays: Nobby Nobbs complains about modern policing, where you have to do things like ''detect'' and ''catch people'', rather than the old days where you just let criminals run away and didn't try too hard to catch them.
119	* HarmfulHealing: Granny Weatherwax does this to some injured thugs, involving old sewing supplies that were not intended for stitching people. Granny is GoodIsNotNice. She may have to heal people she doesn't like, but she doesn't have to make it pretty.
120	* HeadTiltinglyKinky: Nanny Ogg's book, ''The Joy of Snackes.'' At one point, Granny has to turn it sideways.
121	* HotInHumanForm: Greebo.
122	* HumanityEnsues: The human-form Greebo the cat from ''Literature/WitchesAbroad'' reappears, first as a gag about how he tends to do it when in a tight corner (thereafter spending most of his brief time as a human desperately looking for a pair of trousers), and a nod to the Discworld shapeshifting concept (once an object/living creature has taken a form, it is much easier to take it again). Later, he's pressed into service as Granny's fake paramour and bodyguard.
123	* HurricaneOfPuns: In the grand tradition of Literature/MovingPictures and Literature/SoulMusic, [[spoiler: Walter's]] opera titles are all puns on popular musicals.
124	* HypocriticalHumor: The villain gives a long FinalSpeech about how ridiculous opera conventions like the long FinalSpeech are. This comes not long after he claims to be the OnlySaneMan, using multiple exclamation marks (a sure sign of madness). Oh, and [[spoiler: he's not been skewered through the heart - the sword went between arm and body, to make it look like it]]. The absurdity of this is lampshaded.
125	* IJustWantToBeNormal: Agnes. Or at least, she wants to be able to ''choose'' what she wants to stand out ''for''.
126	* ILetYouWin: Death cannot be beaten at Chess. Or Poker. Or games of chance. People can still challenge him, but unless Death is actively trying to lose, he'll always win no matter what he does. He ''can'', however, engage in some LoopholeAbuse by folding to Granny's hand of four queens, because he has "only four ones" - all of which are aces.
127	* IllNeverTellYouWhatImTellingYou: Death and the swan.
128	* InnocentSoprano: Played with. The cheerful, bubbly, and pretty but unbelievably dim Christine has no singing talent, and in fact only got the main role because her father is one of the opera's backers. Agnes has to sing in her place thanks to her MagicMusic talents letting her sing multiple voices at the same time — she can both be in the choir and cover for Christine's tone-deaf "soprano" squeaking.
129	* InOneEarOutTheOther: While the actual visual gag itself doesn't happen on page, it is referenced.
130	-->''"After you'd kown [[BrainlessBeauty Christine]] for any length of time, you found yourself fighting a desire to look into her ear to see if you could spot daylight coming the other way."''
131	* InsistentTerminology: Granny ask Agnes how many fiddle-players there are in the band. Agnes tells her how many violinists there are in the orchestra. Granny ignores this aspect of the reply as irrelevent.
132	* ItsAllAboutMe: Christine, not because she's a bad person (she appears to be fond of Agnes/Perdita) but because thanks to her chronically short attention span/lack of brains, [[LawfulStupidChaoticStupid she can't really comprehend anything more complex than her own immediate interests]]. This leads to a strange dichotomy with her being able to pick up stage-tricks like conveniently learning to faint in a dramatic pose whenever something "operatic" happens, but limits her ability to realize that Agnes is pretending to be her voice:
133	--> '''Christine''' (to Agnes): Perdita, dear? It did seem to me you were singing the ''teensiest'' bit loud, dear! I'm sure it must have been a little difficult for everyone to hear me.
134	* TheJoyOfX: Nanny Ogg's book of rather suggestive recipes. ("Suggestive" in the form of yelling through a megaphone, mind.)
135	* JustTheIntroductionToTheOpposites: Black Aliss went so mad that she turned people into gingerbread and had a house made out of frogs.
136	* LampshadeHanging: Plenty, of course, but the stand-out is the end of [[spoiler:Salzella's]] death rant:
137	-->"... and the ''worst'' thing about opera is the way everyone takes... such[[SanitySlippage !!!]] ... a[[SanitySlippage !!!!]] long[[SanitySlippage !!!!!]] time!!!!! ... to!!!!! ...argh...argh...argh...." ''(dies)''
138	* LargeHam: Christine is this. She has all the qualities of a modern-day prima donna. Modern as in she looks good, is overly dramatic and can faint on cue. As opposed to a traditional prima donna who merely had to have an amazing voice.
139	* LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain: Salzella and Bucket agree never to mention their harrowing lunch with Granny Weatherwax again. Understandable, given that [[spoiler: they were subject to the full force of Granny Weatherwax while also [[RagingStiffie suffering severely]] from the effects of Nanny Ogg's [[OrgasmicallyDelicious aphrodisiac]] chocolate sauce.]]
140	* LiveMinkCoat: Nanny wears her cat around her neck at the opera. Someone later complains that her fur stole is eating their chocolates.
141	* LongLastingLastWords: The death of [[spoiler: opera director Salzella]] goes on, and on, and on for a ''long'' time...
142	* LovePotion: The chocolate sauce recipe Nanny Ogg uses in one scene has ''interesting'' effects on some of the people who try it. There's nothing magical about it though— it's merely a powerful natural aphrodisiac.
143	* MagicFeather: [[spoiler: Walter can't access his Phantom persona without his mask. Eventually, Granny gives him an "invisible mask" so he can be the Phantom all the time.]]
144	* MagicMusic: ''Technically'' defied on Discworld, according to Nanny Ogg:
145	--> Music and magic had a lot in common. They were only two letters apart, for one. And you couldn't do both.
146	* MagicPokerEquation: For the NarrativeCausality of the Discworld, a poker game for the life of a young boy is obviously important enough to qualify. That is why Granny draws four queens and Death gets four aces - which he immediately proclaims to be "four ones" and thus the losing hand.
147	* MaskOfConfidence: The Ghost - [[spoiler:the original, Walter Plinge,]] is not suspected of what he is because without the mask, he acts like an altogether different person.
148	* MasqueradingAsTheUnseen: As Granny is quick to lampshade, the only reason people recognize the Ghost is because he wears a mask.
149	-->You can recognize him because he's ''got a mask on?''
150	* MeaningfulName:
151	** "Walter Plinge" is used as an alias for actors in British theatre cast lists, when it is necessary to avoid spoiling a major plot twist of the TwoAliasesOneCharacter type. The twist here being [[spoiler:Walter is one of the characters pretending to be the opera ghost]].
152	** Salzella (pronounced like “salt seller”) is a reference to Italian composer Antonio Salieri whose surname means "seller of salt".
153	* MommasBoy: Walter Plinge.
154	* MotiveRant: [[spoiler: Salzella gives one after being revealed before dying.]]
155	* MrFanservice and AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Greebo's human form is described as being almost uncontrollably attractive to human women.
156	* MuggingTheMonster: Subverted; Granny and Mrs. Plinge are threatened by some muggers, but before Granny can open up a can of whup-ass on them, the Ghost does it for her.
157	* MundaneUtility: Borrowing is one of Granny's greatest skills in witchcraft, the ability to ride in another being's consciousness, see what it sees, and hear what it hears. At one point, she borrows Nanny Ogg... so she can see herself as she puts her hat back on and adjusts it. Nanny then questions why she doesn't just use a mirror. [[note]]Possibly a callback to her sister Lilith's use of magic mirrors.[[/note]]
158	* NeverWinTheLottery: Nanny comes into a windfall of several thousand dollars, but most of it ends up getting spent as part of Granny's scheme to straighten out matters at the opera.
159	* NewChildLeftBehind: [[spoiler: One of the opera attendees is the unknowing son of Henry Slugg, who'd gotten his girlfriend pregnant before he left the city to make a career as a singer.]]
160	* NoListeningSkills: Christine is both dimwitted and self-centered, to the point where Agnes tells her her father is the Emperor of Klatch and her mother is a small tray of raspberry pastries without any of it registering.
161	* NoodleIncident: The scene where Nanny Ogg takes over serving drinks during the opera and decides to take some revenge on the demanding customers on behalf of Mrs. Plinge. The narration cuts away as she shakes up a couple of champagne bottles and steps out into the corridor, and picks up again as she ducks into a room while a lot of people run past. What, exactly, she did is never elaborated; some fairly simple scenarios are obvious, but Nanny wouldn't be a witch if she wasn't good at inventive cruelty.
162	* NotListeningToMeAreYou: Agnes does it with Christine:
163	-->"Do tell me about yourself!!"\
164	"I'm from somewhere up in the mountains you've probably never heard of..."\
165	She stopped. A light had gone off in Christine's head, and Agnes realized that the question had been asked not because Christine in any way wanted to know the answer but for something to say. She went on: "...and my father is the Emperor of Klatch and my mother is a small tray of raspberry puddings."\
166	"That's interesting!" said Christine, who was looking at the mirror. "Do you think my hair looks right?!"
167	* ObfuscatingStupidity:
168	** Commander Vimes does this off-screen. He sends Detritus and Corporal Nobbs to act as "undercover officers" in the last act of the book. The attention on them leaves the ''real'' undercover officer, [[spoiler:André]], free to get on with things. Once she figures it out, Granny is grudgingly impressed.
169	** Also Death during his [[ChessWithDeath poker hand with Granny]] for the life of the innkeeper's son; it's implied he knows ''damn well'' that 4 aces beats 4 queens, but he figures he can get away with "losing" if he pretends to misunderstand the rules of poker enough to think it's "four ones".
170	** The villain has done this to the opera's account books. It ''looks'' like it's been slap-dashedly put together by people who don't think money is important, and the owner spends most of the story trying to work out what they were trying to record. When Granny gets time to look at it she realizes that it's been deliberately messed with to hide massive theft; for instance, she finds a page where the columns are misaligned to hide that they don't all have the same number of entries.
171	** ''Possibly'' Christine. It's very hard to be sure, but when Christine makes sure to scream and faint before anything actually happens, and land in such a fashion that it probably doesn't hurt, Agnes sourly notes that Christine is actually very intelligent in some very specialised ways. Additionally, when Agnes finally gets mad and snaps at her when Christine dismisses her suspicions that [[spoiler: Walter]] is the Ghost, she seems to drop the excitable pixie act for a moment.
172	** And of course Nanny Ogg. As noted above, she uses the whole cookbook situation to get Granny up and moving again. (Though it's not clear if it is clever improvisation or she actually set the whole thing up in advance...)
173	* OneSteveLimit: Averted, since the story has a major character named Henry Slugg and a minor one named Henry Lawsy. [[spoiler:As it turns out, [[SignificantNameOverlap this isn't a coincidence]] -- it's revealed at the end that Henry Lawsy is actually Henry Slugg's ''son'' (whom he never knew he had) and was named after him, although his mother had always told him his dad was Mr. Lawsy the eel juggler.]]
174	* TheOneWhoMadeItOut: Opera singer Enrico Basilica grew up in Rookery Yard, in the Shades, where "you could fight your way out, or you could sing your way out" ([[{{Metaphorgotten}} or you could get out by going through an alley into Shamlegger Street]], but no-one came to anything going ''that'' way).
175	* OnlySaneMan: Agnes seems to be the only one thinking sensibly about things at the opera house, which only helps her feel alienated at first.
176	** [[spoiler: Salzella]] believed himself to be this: "You don't know what it has been like, I assure you, being the only sane man in this madhouse!!" [[SubvertedTrope He's not]].
177	* OpenSecret: King Verence knows Nanny Ogg is brewing her aptly named scumble brand "Suicider", but won't (and ''can't'') get her to stop, so everyone operates on plausible deniability.
178	* PaintingTheMedium: Christine's dialogue always ends in either "!?" or "!!" because she's just that excited about everything. In all other dialogue, multiple exclamation marks are a sign of SanitySlippage.
179	* PetTheDog: Death [[ILetYouWin allows Granny Weatherwax to beat him at]] [[ChessWithDeath a hand of poker]] so that he won't have to reap a sick infant.
180	* PimpedOutDress: One specially made for the dowager duchess of Quirm, that fits Granny perfectly.
181	* RagingStiffie: Salzella and Bucket find it ... ''awkward'' ... to leave the table after sampling Nanny's Chocolate Delight with Special Secret Sauce, and when they do depart hurriedly, it's in a ''very'' hunched manner. Interestingly, it doesn't seem to have the same effect on Enrico Basilica, possibly because being face-deep in chocolate sauce has a deeper effect on him than the sauce's aphrodisiac effects normally have on people - though Granny speculates that it hasn't had any effect "on account of not touching the sides."
182	* ReadingTeaLeaves: The witches get involved when Nanny Ogg reads Mrs Nitt's tea leaves to tell her how Agnes is getting on, and sees a clear image of the Ghost's mask. Which is something of a surprise to her, as the witches don't believe reading tea leaves actually ''works''.
183	* RedHerring: [[spoiler:André]]'s suspicious behaviour rouses in the reader the suspicion that he might be the Ghost, [[spoiler:until it's revealed that he is a policeman]].
184	* TheReliableOne: Agnes Nitt. Who quietly hates being the sensible one who keeps her head in a crisis but gets no credit for sorting it out.
185	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Well, the reason opera sucks, anyway. [[spoiler:In a final touch of irony, he epitomizes ''several'' operatic tropes which have already been pointed out in universe as things he hates.]]
186	* ReincarnatedAsANonHumanoid: [[spoiler: The opera house's rat catcher is [[KarmicTransformation reincarnated as a rat]] upon his death. Because, as the Death of Rats tells him, '''[-REINCARNATION BELIEVES IN YOU-]'''.]]
187	* {{Retcon}}: This is the only Discworld book that runs on the rule that (ordinary) iron cannot be magicked (there are many examples of it being magicked in other books, and in ''Witches Abroad'' Nanny specifically notes that they can't magic a lock open because it's ''oct''iron).
188	** There is a mention in ''Wyrd Sisters'' as well; Nanny can't magic the torture implements that are made of iron. It's also often been indicated that witch magic is much better at affecting things that are or once were alive, such as wood, than metal.
189	* RunningGag: Nanny Ogg's conservatory.
190	* SecretPolice: The Cable Street Particulars are described as "secret police for secret crimes". However, they don't fit in with the usual definition (and indeed the definition they ''did'' once fit before Vimes was Commander). The one depicted is better described as an undercover detective.
191	* SelfMadeMan: Mr. Bucket is described as "a self-made man who is proud of his handiwork."
192	* ShoutOut:
193	** A line early on from someone working in a printing press mentions that they accidentally printed "famine" with seven letters, a reference to a misprint from ''Literature/GoodOmens'' in which the character [[HorsemenOfTheApocalypse Famine]] is described as signing his name with seven letters.
194	** Granny Weatherwax's observation, on arriving at Mrs. Palm's house, that Colette is wearing some very interesting earrings is an allusion to a prominent Pratchett fan, Colette Reap, who once attended a signing event wearing Anorankh earrings (an ankh wearing an anorak).
195	** "Walter Plinge" is a real-life pseudonym used by actors who don't want to be associated with early minor parts (similar to "A.N. Other") and the character's description clearly evokes Frank Spencer from ''Series/SomeMothersDoAveEm'' (Creator/MichaelCrawford, the first actor who played [[spoiler: the musical version's Phantom]], was once best known for that role).
196	*** His description also somewhat evokes a young Creator/AndrewLloydWebber, as does his [[spoiler: creation of the modern musical, particularly the Disc's version of {{Theatre/Cats}}]].
197	** The scheme for Agnes to sing for Christine, so that the higher ups at the opera can pretend that ''Christine's'' the one with the beautiful voice, is identical to ''Film/SinginInTheRain''.
198	** The troll name for Granny Weatherwax ("She Who Must Be Avoided") is a reference to the Creator/HRiderHaggard novel ''Literature/{{She}}'' and the eponymous character "She Who Must Be Obeyed".
199	** Death's [[AC:All I have is four ones.]] could be a reference to the Bugs Bunny cartoon ''WesternAnimation/BarbaryCoastBunny'', featuring Bugs lamenting in a game of poker that he only has 'a pair of ones... and another pair of ones.'
200	** Granny [[Film/{{Predator}} ain't got time to bleed]], or at least, not until later.
201	** Also, all the opera names. ''La Triviata'' for ''Theatre/LaTraviata'', ''The Ring of the Nibelungingung'' for ''[[Music/RichardWagner The Ring of the Nibelung]]'', ''Il Truccatore'' for ''Il Trovatore'' and so on.
202	** Later, [[spoiler:Walter]] invents the modern musical and Nanny sees some of his ideas, such as [[Theatre/{{Cats}} an opera about cats]], ''[[Theatre/LesMiserables Miserable Les]]'' and ''[[Film/SevenBridesForSevenBrothers Seven Dwarfs For Seven Other Dwarfs]]''.
203	** Greebo, looking very scary because his human form is starting to revert, leaps onto a waiting coach and tells the driver to "[[Franchise/{{Terminator}} Get orff]]".
204	** Mrs Lawsy would rather be at the music hall listening to Nellie Stamp sing "She Sits Among the Cabbages and Leeks". This is a reference to an urban legend that Marie Lloyd had a song which was originally "She Sits Among the Cabbages and Peas", but was changed to "Leeks" when MoralGuardians objected to the double meaning (but not, you will note, to actually remove that meaning in any way).
205	* SituationalSociability: The Opera Ghost behaves ''very'' different when he's acting as the Ghost rather than as his real identity, due to the mask and identity of the Ghost giving him a confidence he otherwise lacks. Some Headology by Granny Weatherax later in the book allows him to be the "Ghost" all the time.
206	* SuperScream: Frustrated and finally sick of the hypocrisy of the opera house, Agnes lets out a scream so high she breaks glass, splinters wood, distorts metal and just generally does a good deal of damage to the building. At which point, Nanny remarks that it's now all over - as in, "it's not over until the fat lady sings."
207	* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: As it turns out, Agnes helping catch the theatre ghost and the truth about how she's the true vocal talent instead of Christine coming out into the open [[DudeWheresMyReward is not going to mean that she's going to get rewarded for it.]] Life isn't fair, and they're going to do what's best for the bottom line.
208	* StatingTheSimpleSolution: Everyone in the opera wonders how the Ghost gets into Box Eight every night, despite the fact that the door is kept locked and they can't find any other way in. The witches come up with an explanation that they'd never considered: [[spoiler:he has the key]].
209	** They're also the first to consider there might be [[spoiler: two Ghosts]] in the first place. "You recognized him because he'd got a mask on?"
210	* StealthPun:
211	** When Agnes finishes one last scream, going from one side of the audible spectrum to the other, Nanny Ogg remarks "''Now'' it's over". [[DontExplainTheJoke Agnes is very large, and they're in an opera.]]
212	** After [[spoiler:Salzella's]] demise, Death comes to collect him. However, unlike his other appearances, he is bedecked much like the Phantom of the Opera in the masquerade scene of the book: dressed as the Red Death. It also includes a cartoonishly unnecessary paper mask of a skull. But one must suppose you have to put a [[Creator/EdgarAllanPoe Masque on a Red Death.]]
213	** Nanny Ogg's boy Nev is (despite her protestations to the contrary) a thief. Or con man. Or fiddler. And in the wide, wonderful world of Discworld opera, where does he hang out? [[Film/FiddlerOnTheRoof On the roof.]]
214	** The romantic aria Agnes learns about how hard it is for a character to leave her lover turns out, when translated, to have lyrics that go "this damn door sticks/it sticks no matter what the hell I do". Which disappoints Agnes, but hey, that ''would'' make it hard to leave.
215	* TakeThat: A... ''probably'' friendly jibe at [[MostWritersAreWriters the publishing industry]] in the form of Mr Goatberger, who "dreamed the dream of all who publish books, which was to have so much gold in your pockets that you would need to employ two people just to hold your trousers up". He is confused and shocked at the suggestion that he should give Nanny a share of the profits from her book -- as far as he's concerned, authors should pay for the privilege of having their work published, even though he's the one who goes on to sell them.
216	-->I don't know, authors wanting to be paid, good grief...
217	* TheatrePhantom: ''Maskerade'' is the Literature/{{Discworld}}'s take on ''Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'', with the mysterious 'Opera Ghost' haunting the Ankh-Morpork Opera House. Ultimately [[spoiler:there turns out to be two different Opera Ghosts]].
218	* ThisIsMyNameOnForeign: Henry Slugg becomes Enrico Basilica.
219	* ThisIsReality: When it's revealed near the end that [[spoiler: Henry Slugg's old flame is in the audience (and he's the father of her son)]], Agnes complains loudly that that sort of thing does ''not'' happen in real life. The rather more GenreSavvy Nanny Ogg replies "Happens all the time in opera."
220	* ThroughHisStomach: Despite Nanny Ogg's proclamation that this is silly advice unless one is instructing someone how to stab a person, her "Joy of Snackes" works very well for this route; it's full of aphrodisiacs and {{Love Potion}}s.
221	* TrueBeautyIsOnTheInside: ''Painfully'' subverted. In the end, despite the fact that Christine is just [[BrainlessBeauty very pretty]], [[GiftedlyBad has no singing voice, or indeed any talent whatsoever]], [[SoBeautifulItsACurse everyone in the opera still fawns over her]] and chooses ''her'' over Agnes, who is [[MagicMusic incredibly talented]] and who has been singing Christine's songs the entire time (something that is made very clear by the end that everyone knows).
222	--> '''André''': It'd be terrible if anything happened to [Christine] ''(in the aftermath of her 'fainting' again)'', everyone says she shows such promise.
223	--> '''Agnes''': Yes, but... ''you'' know it was me doing the singing.
224	--> '''André''': Oh, yes... yes, of course... but... well... this is opera... you know...
225	--> '''Agnes''' ''(to [[spoiler: Walter]])'': But it was ''me'' you taught!
226	--> '''[[spoiler: Walter]]''': Then you were ''very'' good. I suspect she will never be quite that good, even with many months of my tuition. But, Perdita, have you ever heard of the words "star quality"?
227	--> '''Agnes''': Is it the same as ''talent''?
228	--> '''[[spoiler: Walter]]''': [[BrutalHonesty It is rarer.]]
229	** It gets lampshaded earlier in the book, when Agnes thinks to herself that nobody's ever fallen in love because of a wonderful pair of kidneys.
230	* {{Tuckerization}}: Colette, of the "fascinatin' earrings" is based on FandomVIP and convention organizer Colette Reap, who once wore a pair of Clairecraft [[http://www.anorankh.demon.co.uk/afp/anorankh.html Anorankh]] pins as earrings to a signing.
231	* UndercoverCopReveal: [[spoiler: Andre]].
232	* VillainousUnderdog: [[spoiler: Salzella]] is really just a guy, and he's going up against a pair of witches who were last seen sending the FairFolk packing. The only thing saving him when he's found out and confronted at the end is exactly ''because'' he's not a terrifying magical menace, Granny considers it wrong for her to fight him directly.
233	* WantonCrueltyToTheCommonComma: Played with incessantly. An earlier statement in ''Literature/ReaperMan'' that "five exclamation marks are the sure sign of a diseased mind" is expanded on here, to the point where a character's ongoing descent into madness is marked by the [[PaintingTheMedium number of exclamation marks after his statements]]. When he hits five, he's gone over the edge.
234	* WhamLine: Granny's [[spoiler:"Who's to say there's only one Ghost?"]]
235	** And shortly before that, André's [[TheReveal reveal]]:
236	---> '''André:''' I...hang around in dark places looking for trouble.\
237	'''Granny:''' Really? There's a nasty name for people like that.\
238	'''André:''' Yes. [[spoiler:It's "policeman"]].
239	* TheWorstSeatInTheHouse: Spoofed, when Nanny and Granny trade in tickets for the Stalls for ones up in the Gods due to the name. Though the truly worst seat is probably the one next to Nanny Ogg.
240	* XMakesAnythingCool: Apparently the X in [[AwesomeMcCoolName Perdita X. Dream]] stands for "Someone who has a cool and exciting middle initial".
241

Context Literature / Maskerade