The Story Of The Flying Dutchman
The Flying Dutchman is a ship captain who is caught in a terrible storm while trying to round the Cape of Good Hope. He vows to achieve his goal even if he has to sail until Judgment Day.
The devil hears his vow and accepts it; the Dutchman is sentenced to remain at sea forever. His only hope for redemption is to find a woman who loves him enough to swear lifelong fidelity to Dutch no matter what. Even more amazing is that he can only stop sailing every seven years and go ashore to find true love.
The story of the Dutchman is told three times in Wagner’s opera: in the music, in the prologue, poetically, in the famous poem “Senta,” and dramatically throughout the dramatic work.
After the storm, we see a ship struggling to make port in a sheltered bay. The captain is a Norwegian named Daland, who lives near the ship with his daughter Senta.
Another ship appears; this one is a black sailing ship with black masts and red sails. Their leader is the legendary Dutchman. His last seven years in office have ended, and the ship has come into port, allowing the Dutchman to disembark and seek love. The two leaders meet, and Daland tells the Dutchman about his daughter, Senta.
Thinking she might be the woman he’s looking for, the Dutchman offers Daland all of his wealth in exchange for proof of her identity. Daland agrees, and the two ships sail off to Daland’s homeland.
Then we meet Senta herself. At Daland’s home, she spins wool with her friends and sings them the song “The Flying Dutchman.” The story ends with him gazing at a painting by a Dutch artist and saying it’s the one who will save him. Senta has a suitor named Eric, a hunter. But she becomes obsessed with the legendary Dutchman, which makes Eric jealous of the so-called legend.
When Daland’s ship reaches shore, the other women come out to welcome the sailors, and Daland returns home with a man that Senta has never met. He is Dutch, and she immediately notices his resemblance to the painting on the wall. Daland does not bother them.
When Dutch declares his love for her, Santa agrees to marry him. She vows to be forever faithful to him, and Dutch believes he has finally overcome the spell.
We see two more ships in the harbor: the gloomy, shabby Dutchman and the gleaming, white-sailed Daland. On the shore, local men and women from the Daland crew call out to the black ship, and the crew slowly emerges. They are a mysterious people who share their leader’s destiny: to sail the sea forever.
On the beach, Eric approaches Senta. He asks her to reminisce about old times and asks her to reconsider her love for Dutch. When she refuses, he accuses her of deceiving him. Dutch is secretly listening. Thinking he has lost Senta’s love, he returns to his boat and prepares to sail. Senta decides to save him and follows him while the others try to stop her.
As her boat leaves, Senta breaks free and climbs to the top of the cliff. He once again declares that he will be loyal to the Dutch until death and proves it by jumping into the sea. The spell has been broken. Dutch’s ship disintegrates and sinks. Senta and the Dutch see a vision of the water, and music reveals the end of the story: Senta’s sacrifice brings peace to the Dutch.