“Vesti La Giubba”

 Act! While in delirium,
I no longer know what I say, and what I do!
And yet it's necessary... make an effort!
Bah! Are you a man? You are a clown!
Put on your costume and powder your face.
People pay, and they want to laugh.
And if Harlequin shall steal your Columbina,
laugh, clown, and everyone will cheer!
Turn your distress and tears into jest,
your pain and sobbing into a funny face – Ah!
Laugh, clown, at your broken love!
Laugh at the grief that poisons your heart! (Link)

There's this two act operatic play about a man who loved his wife but the wife had eyes for another.

Just as he's about to put on a comedic performance, she's telling him she'll leave forever, and he's beside himself with grief.

Snobby critics disliked the fact that it was two acts, but then a famous singer of the time (Caruso) sang the opera, and it became extremely popular.

You'd think, any operatic professional could sing it, and people do, but snobby critics keep harking back to 1907 and Caruso,

A song in the opera

Random-type women from another blog entry

"mi metti in imbarazzo davanti ai miei amici"

---

Belle was a woman who might have made a decent caring man out of Scrooge, if she'd made the effort.
But she insisted on being the center of Scrooge's little life, and left him despite his hardworking ambition to better himself.
So Scrooge grew old, bitter and alone, and was duly punished.
Fie on you who want better jobs over girlfriends.

(Humbug)

(?)Link