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A celebrity named Elena joins an online dating service in search of some fun while stringing along another man. The tabloids snap some photos of her and it enrages her current lover, who seeks revenge through public humiliation. The aria takes on a dark and sinister quality and hints at mental health issues brought about my public humiliation of female celebrities such as suicide, depression, slut-shaming and more in a collapsing economy during the rise of a fascist regime. In the Decameron story, Elena is sent atop a tower where she must recite seven incantations in the blistering heat. She suffers from sunburns and bug bites, and her scorned lover hides the ladder so she can’t come down, all while berating her for her actions. In this adaptation the tower is metaphorical, symbolizing the pedestal on which we put women in the spotlight and our expectations of them being perfect examples for our society’s girls and womxn.
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