This is a passionate exploration of opera and the nature of death. Using a dazzling array of tools, Zizek and Dolar explore the compulsions that overpower characters in Mozart and Wagner, and examine our own desires for opera and death.

Introduction: For the Love of the Opera 1. Philosophy in the Opera Mladen Dolar 1.1 The Birth of Opera from the Spirit of Absolutism 1.2 Acheronta movebo 1.3 The Logic of Mercy 1.4 Opera buffa 1.5 Syntax 1.6 Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail 1.7 Figaro 1.8 Don Giovanni 1.9 The Opera in Philosophy: Mozart and Kierkegaard 1.10 La femme-machine 1.11 Machine in Love 1.12 A Philosopher in the Opera 1.13 Machine and Enjoyment 1.14 The Rationalistic Myth of the Enlightenment 1.15 He is a Man - Even More, He is a Prince 1.16 Three Continuations 2. I Do Not Order My Dreams Slavoj Zizek 2.1 Death Drive and the Wagnerian Sublime - The Forced Choice - The Disavowal Deeper than the day could read The 'What-Ifs' - Tristan's Journey to the Bottom of the Night - Transgression? No, thanks! - Wagner's Sexualized Politics - The Moebius Band 2.2 The Everlasting Irony of the Community Wagner with Kierkegaard - Kundry's Laughter . - . and her Kiss - The Feminine versus Woman 2.3 Interlude: The Feminine Excess 2.4 Run, Isolde, Run The Cyberspace Tristan - The Morning After - It quacks, hoots, pants, and gasps - The Separated Flames - No More Running Notes Bibliography

"...provides many new and remarkable conclusions from a contemporary, Eastern European point of viewthat will interest opera specialists and cultural historians." -- A.M. Hanson, Ihoice"...an engaging and frequently illuminating commentary on the impulses, desires and fantasies that enrich both our own lives and those of the colorful characters that populate our favorite operas." -- Barry Millington, BBCMusic Magazine Direct