The Deserted Island Study Guide
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The Deserted Island Table of Contents
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Discussion Questions
The Deserted Island
1. Which character’s personality do you relate to the most? How does their personality play a role in the plot of the story?
2. This opera was written 200 years ago. How relatable is the plot to today’s modern audiences?
3. The plot does not explain why Gernando, Costanza, and Sylvia were traveling in the first place on the fateful trip that would later separate them. Why would such a young couple decide to take the baby sister with them? If you had to write the prologue to this show, what would it be?
4. Sylvia had never in her memory seen a man until she met Enrico. Sylvia had been told nearly her whole life that men were wicked and evil by her sister. Was she too quick to trust Enrico? Why or why not?
5. Unlike Riders to the Sea, L’isola Disabitata does not have a chorus of singers, it is just the four characters that carry the whole opera. How did it feel having just four singers, instead of a stage filled with the chorus?
