Musical Offerings ⦁ 2025 ⦁ Volume 16 ⦁ Number 1 9 matter as Prince Frederick, the Prince of Wales, attended and supported Arianna in Nasso and the king endorsed Handel’s opera.42 The royal wedding between Princess Anne and William IV was beneficial for Great Britain and her people. William IV was Prince of Orange, a Dutch title; and as part of the royal family through marriage, he became known for permanently ridding the country of Catholicism.43 In addition, the Dutch were an important ally against the French; and the union of the two monarchs meant the strengthening of the bond between the two countries.44 It was understood that the events surrounding the wedding and the two Ariadne operas were somehow associated with one another. In his Memoirs of the Reign of King George III, Lord Hervey makes no separation when discussing the marriage of the Prince to the Princess and the rivaling operas, implying that there should be no distinction.45 This alone is reason enough to inquire into the relationship of the newlyweds to what was appearing on the opera stage that very season. Although both operas are based on the same myth, they retell separate parts of the story with the only shared character being Theseus.46 Handel recounts when Theseus faces the Minotaur to save the Athenians and the Cretans in Arianna in Creta, and Porpora narrates the tale of when Theseus abandons his love Ariadne on Naxos in Arianna in Nasso.47 Although the two retellings of the myth highlight different sections of its timeline, the similarities between their plots and the marriage of William IV and Anne are said to be “several and obvious.”48 The parallels between the Ariadne operas and the political happenings in England during that time are not difficult to uncover. First, the detail that both Crete and England are islands and naval superpowers of their time is a likeness that is at least worth acknowledging. Fortunately, a similar setting is not the only commonality between real life and what played out on stage. Next, the character of Theseus models the person of William IV (and his predecessor William III, for that matter) in that he delivered his people from the Minotaur and unified the country. Examples of what the monster could have signified are Catholicism or 42 Aspden, 746. 43 Aspden, 757. 44 Glover, 225–226. 45 Aspden, 737–740. 46 Aspden, 747. 47 Aspden, 746. 48 Aspden, 756.
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