Surname 13
I.Include the topic & its historical context
The context is on the tuberculosis disease and discovery of tuberculosis bacillus in 1882 by
Robert Koch and its coincidence in literacy and operatic history.
II.Identify the central research problem/question the musicologist attempts to answer
To survey on how consumption is represented in medical literature and fiction, especially in
the Duma Fil`s la Dame aux Camellias. In addition, trace the extent by which Piave and
Verdi discourse the diseases and manages to represent it both verbally and musically in La
Traviata.
III.Outline the main claim/answer/solution
In the mid-nineteenth century, tuberculosis or consumption remained the leading cause of
death, which was considered a disease of the young, and those of lower socio-economic
classes crowed in the urban centers. Symptoms of the disease were among others, rapid pulse,
chest pains, color on the lips, `thinness` caused by easily wasting away and sweating at night.
IV.Outline the main supporting reasons
In the Dumas fil`s la Dame aux camellias. Armand Duval hears from prudence about the
symptoms of the disease mainly hectic fever, and during dinner, Armand experiences the
same specifications earlier described
V.Identify the categories of primary sources used as supporting evidence
In literary representation, in the Murger`s Scenes de la vie de Boheme, Francine (Mimi) is
urged because of the predicament of the illness to taste love before it is too late. The death of
the consumptive led to literary and musical representation.
Medical literature gives it a different description and comparisons such as; extinguishing of a
lamp, victim ` fall asleep,` or `thin thread` breaks.
Piave`s and Verdi representation of Violeta Valery in La Traviata follows the general theme
of Dumas fils play, with some deletions and condensations that was essential in transposing