Baltimore Opera Company

Study Guide

La Sonnambula
The Sleepwalker

Somnambulism: A Link between Dreams and Madness?

Heartbroken by the deception of his fiancée, Elvino is about to wed another. All of a sudden, the villagers (and the audience) gasp, for high atop the mill building, a young woman walks along the eaves. They quickly understand that she is walking in her sleep. Could this be the “fantasma,” the phantom spirit who has been seen walking around during the night? Not at all “un oggetto d'orror (an object of horror),” it is Amina, the lover whom Elvino was about to spurn. When she arrives safely on the ground, the villagers rejoice: “È salva! (She is saved!)” Moments later, she awakes, unaware of the precarious voyage she has just made.

Amina, of course, is the heroine of Vincenzo Bellini's opera La Sonnambula ( The Sleepwalker ). In the early nineteenth century, somnambulism was a popular theme in contemporary stage works and fiction; interest in it derived from studies of sleep disorders in the burgeoning field of psychology. One particularly interesting American example of such research was published in 1834, just four years after the premiere of Bellini's work. It chronicled the account of one Jane C. Rider, “The Springfield Somnambulist.”* Before presenting the details of case, author L.W. Belden defined this strange condition for his readers. Somnambulism, he wrote, “is a state of imperfect sleep, in which the mind, sensible to some extent, of the presence of external things, still believes in the reality of the visions by which it is occupied, and acts under the influence of this belief.” Sleep, he described, was a state of repose for the bodily organs of sense and voluntary motion; while the functions of life (the work of organs such as the lungs and heart) continued, intellectual operations temporarily ceased. Somnambular patients, however, experienced “incomplete sleep.” The mind of the sleepwalker, Dr. Belden maintained, “was fixed on its own impressions which at that point are real.” Upon waking, these delusions of reality were dispelled. Noteworthy is Belden's (and other early nineteenth century scientists) belief that sleepwalking was a direct link between dreaming and madness for in both states the will “excites the organs of motion so that a person acts.”

The account of Jane Rider, so close to myriad tales of somnambulism of which Felice Romani's libretto is simply one, demonstrates why such a condition would have been appealing. The belief that sleepwalking was connected to insanity placed a somnambulistic episode in the same realm as the equally-popular “mad scene.” Indeed Bellini's characterizations of mad heroines– Imogene in La Pirata (1827) and Elvira in I Puritani (1835)– frame the mature period of the composer's career. The most famous “mad scene,” however, appears not in a work by Bellini but by his contemporary Gaetano Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor (1835). Of course, an abundance of such characters trod the nineteenth century stage; operas with themes of madness include Verdi's Macbeth , Donizetti's Anna Bolena and Linda di Chamounix , Meyerbeer's Dinorah , and Boito's Mefistofele . Although madness was generally ascribed to women, the occasional male was permitted a foray into theatrical insanity: Jacopo Foscari and Boris Godunov are just two examples.

Still recognized as a psychological disorder, somnambulism today is treated quite differently. Jane Rider eventually was confined to a mental hospital, wrote Belden, “where she could enjoy the seclusion which seemed essential to her cure” (seclusion was probably welcome as her head was shaved and covered with medicinal patches). Although there is no specific treatment for the condition, today's practitioners suggest safety precautions so that sleepwalkers are not prone to injury during their wanderings. Only in rare cases are tranquilizers prescribed. Scientific studies have demonstrated that the most common sleepwalkers are children between the ages of 4 and 12 and that the condition generally subsides as they get older. In adults, studies show, stress is a major cause for somnambulism. It is unclear from Belden's description of Jane Rider's case whether she was a victim of stress, but Romani's libretto gives us several clues about Amina.

Although Count Rodolfo is warned in Act I, Scene 1 about the white-clad “umbra (shade)” who roams the village at night (suggesting that Amina has been sleepwalking for some time), the first instance the audience gets to witness this activity occurs when Amina enters the nobleman's room at the inn through the window. Even though she speaks, calling to Elvino, Rodolfo recognizes immediately that she is not awake– “È sonnambula (She is a sleepwalker).” What in Amina's life could have prompted this episode?

That afternoon, Rodolfo's warm farewell to Amina angered a jealous Elvino, and the two lovers quarreled. In fact, as she walks around Rodolfo's room in her sleep, she imagines that she is still defending her fidelity. “Amo te solo (I love only you),” she swears to an absent Elvino. Reliving their argument, she then imagines that she is at the altar where they will say their vows. Once they have made peace, she falls asleep– unfortunately, in the Count's room. Her discovery there results in another stressful episode: Elvino's rejection of her in light of what he believes is a thoughtless indiscretion.

As Elvino leads Amina's rival, Lisa, to the altar, the spurned girl appears on the rooftop. Here she exhibits another possible manifestation of somnambulism: sleepwalking during the day. Although such episodes are less frequent than those at night, somnambulism can occur any time the sufferer sleeps. Amina's guardian Teresa has just begged the villagers to be quiet; after the trauma of discovery in Rodolfo's room, Amina is finally resting. Her exhaustion based on the ugly turn of events in her life had obviously made her a victim of what doctors today term “sleep debt.” Her walk along the rooftop is a normal act of daring-do for the somnambulist; for research stresses the dangers of the condition, which often results in victims performing life-threatening stunts they would never do when awake.

Although most sleepwalkers are oblivious to their adventures and recall nothing when they awake, Elvino's placement of the ring on Amina's finger helps to bring her back to reality and to the love she had temporarily lost, all because of a misunderstanding. In the end, Amina's flirt with what nineteenth century audiences saw as madness ends happily. As today's audiences know, other heroines are less fortunate, for many operatic love stories ended in death. Although the link between somnambulism and madness is no longer scientifically accepted, the notion of Amina acting out of stress is certainly a concept with which a twenty first century audience can relate intimately.

Denise Gallo

*The fascinating book is entitled An Account of Jane C. Rider, The Springfield Somnabulist , by Lemuel W. Belden, M.D. (Springfield, MA: G. and C. Merriam, 1834).

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