by Guiseppi Verdi.

Rigoletto is a jester in the court of the Duke of Mantua. He is a hunchback and he’s rather unattractive, but he’s good at his job, which is to humiliate the courtiers for the amusement of the Duke.

The Duke is a ladies man who feels his life would be meaningless if he couldn’t chase every skirt he sees.  As the opera begins, we learn that The Duke has his eye on a young lady he sees every Sunday on her way to church, and he’s vowed to have his way with her. What nobody realizes is that the girl is the jester’s beloved daughter, Gilda, and that Gilda has seen the Duke every Sunday and is smitten with him.