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The La Traviata Bracelet tells the story of Verdi's opera through symbolic beads and charms. This piece makes a perfect gift for opera lovers.
La Traviata tells the tragic story of a worldly courtesan who prefers freedom and pleasure to the possibility of love and an idealistic young man who inspires her to entertain the possibility that he is “the one”. Opening her heart against all her knowledge and judgment she experiences fleeting joy before she must leave him for the good of his family’s welfare.
Thrilling music and a heartrending story have made Verdi’s sad tale an enduring favorite. It is continuously reborn with new productions and new singers. The tale of the jaded woman who ends up being the only one who understands what love means eternally touches one and all.
Each bead and charm of the La Traviata Opera Bracelet represents a character or moment from the work. Some of the most important beads and charms are described below and you can see all of the symbolic descriptions on the spiral chart photo above or to the left. Also, a story chart explaining the symbolism of the beads and charms accompanies every bracelet. Click here to see the chart.
- I chose many beads in the purple color family to represent Violetta's name. A light violet colored glass pearl represents Violetta.
- A purple cat’s eye symbolizes Alfredo who is the only one who sees something different and special about Violetta. A white cat’s eye heart is the possibility of their love.
- The famous Brindisi (drinking song) is symbolized by a goblet and wine bottle charm, a small purple heart and purple flower bead indicate the contradictory toasts to love and pleasure. The Baron, often depicted as an older man is a grey pearl indicating his grey hair.
- A charm with a moon on one side and sun on the other represents the dawn after Violetta’s party. As night changes to day, Violetta contemplates whether she can change enough to accept true love. (Sempre libera).
- Black beads indicate Violetta’s fatal illness. At first the bead is tiny, then larger, then blossoming into a black flower when she is near death.
- A green millefiore bead symbolizes Alfredo and Violetta’s happy sojourn in the country; a large flowered heart bead is the blossoming of their love.
- A dark oval bead is Alfredo’s father’s demand that Violetta break with Alfredo for the sake of his sister’s happy marriage (entwined heart charm). A lavender crackle bead indicated the resulting end of Violetta and Alfredo’s happiness.
- Alfredo plays cards (card suit bead) to win money he owes to Violetta (gold discs/coins). When he throws the money at her the infuriated Baron challenges him to a duel (gunmetal colored double cone bead).
- Violetta, near death, re-reads a letter from Alfredo’s father, explaining that no one was killed in the duel (white square bead). Alfredo and Germont visit her but Afredo’s love (cat’s eye heart) cannot save the ailing Violetta. A flowered bead represents her forgiveness. A cameo charm symbolizes the portrait that she gives to him to remember her. A wing charm represents her death…
- The real life Violetta was only 23 years old…. Kleenex please…
