We will start on opera today. The first opera we will study is La Traviata. The opera was written by Verdi and was based on a novel by Dumas called La Dame Aux Camelias. Alfredo, the main character, fell in love with a famous Paris courtesan named Violetta. Their whirlwind romance was not welcomed by Alfredo's father. The romance ended, and Violetta became terribly ill, which led to the tragic death of Violetta. Both Verdi and Dumas lived in the same era, and they shared similar backgrounds. Dumas wrote the novel based on his own affair with a notorious courtesan. Verdi lived with an opera singer who had a history like Violetta. Both Verdi and Dumas had relationships with women who lived fast and died young. Although the story does not seem scandalous in our times, it was a socially controversial and daring topic back then. These men experienced the dark, troublesome side of their era and expressed it in art.