The summary of the performance

PART I

The Duke and his courtiers amuse themselves by playing with women. The escalation of their needs leads to the fact, that some of them have to sacrifice their own wives for the Duke's entertainment. Now it is the turn of Countess Ceprano. The leader of this play and the most zealous panderer is the Duke's jester - Rigoletto. To entertain the Duke and his company he dresses up as a harlot, which helps him show his contempt for women. Instigating the Duke to get rid of his scruples, he scoffs at Count Ceprano, which leads to a blazing row. The Count and the courtiers who hate the jester swear revenge on him. The opportunity arises with the news carried by Marullo. He has found out that the dirty old man has a mistress whom he hides from the world. The courtiers decide to kidnap her and to deliver her to the Duke. The fun is interrupted by the arrival of Monterone  whose daughter has been seduced and abandoned by the Duke.  Rigoletto taunts Monterone mercilessly. Monterone, in an intense, pompous speech, curses everyone, especially the fiendish jester. 

Rigoletto is on his way back home at night. The curse of the old man has made a great impression on him. En route he meets a globetrotter and a killer for hire, Sparafucile, who offers to take the life of Rigoletto's rival with the help of Sparafucile's corrupt sister. When Rigoletto pretends not to understand what he is talking about, the thug reveals that he knows about the girl hidden in Rigoletto's house. He reports that he has seen a lad making advances to her. Rigoletto, frightened at the news, provisionally agrees to  negotiate the murder.

At home, Gilda waits for Rigoletto. She is his daughter, not his lover, as Marullo suspected. Hidden from the world, she wears a man's outfit so that nobody will covet her virtue. Confined to her father's house, Gilda asks her father to tell her something about himself but he hides the truth about his life from her. So she asks him to tell her something about her mother. When Rigoletto talks about his wife, who died young, he reveals a tender, loving heart, which cannot get over the death. He has raised his daughter on his own, that is why he fears for her so much and wants to protect her from all evil. He orders the nun Giovanna, who watches over the girl, not to let any man, under any circumstances, to his beloved child.

However, it is already too late. Giovanna has betrayed him and the Duke, disguised as a poor student, gets to Gilda's haven. The girl, innocent and unprepared for the confrontation with the hypocrisy of the world, is overwhelmed by the seducer and his sweet lies.

The lucky lover witnesses the kidnapping of Gilda by some masked men. He is afraid to rise to her defence. Rigoletto, deceived by Marullo and Count Ceprano, lets the kidnappers enter his own house, thinking, in the dark, that they are standing in front of the Count's house. When he realizes the truth he remembers about Monterone's curse and understands that the time has come to repay for his crimes.

PART II

The Duke practises fencing, brooding on the loss of the lover. He swears to find the kidnappers and revenge himself on them. The courtiers come and announce that it was they who kidnapped Rigoletto's lover and that they have brought her to the Duke's palace. The Duke, overjoyed by the surprise, does not mention knowing the girl or that she is Rigoletto's daughter. Excited, he rushes to finally take the object of his desire. Rigoletto appears. Putting on a show of foolishness, he tries to get to know something about the kidnapping. When he learns that the girl is at the Duke's he stops pretending, reveals the whole truth and begs the courtiers to give him his daughter back. When Gilda runs out of the Duke's chamber, he chases the courtiers away and, in spite of being overcome with despair, he tries to comfort his disgraced daughter. The insurgent Monterone is being led to prison by a guard. Rigoletto ensures him that he will find somebody who will avenge the all the wrong done to them. Gilda, despite all the suffering she has been through, asks her father to give up revenge and spare the Duke.

Rigoletto understands that the girl still loves her persecutor. He decides to show her what the Duke is really like. They both observe his arrival at Sparafucile's house.  The guest is being attended by the murderer's sister, Magdalena, charmed by his looks and vigour. Yet, nothing is able to shake the affection of the faithful Gilda. When she realizes that her father and Sparafucile are planning to kill the Duke, she decides to save his life. Magdalena, in love with the Duke, decides to do the same. She talks her brother into killing the first person who comes to their house and giving the corpse, stitched in a sack, to the jester. During a violent storm, Gilda falls victim to this plot, deliberately going to her death instead of her beloved.

Having collected the sack with the corpse, Rigoletto triumphs over the defeated Duke. Suddenly he hears the Duke's joyful voice, coming from Sparafucile's house. He recognizes the corpse and understand how cruelly he has been deceived. In his imagination he says goodbye to his beloved daughter, who appears to him as a little girl, led, as usual, by her Angel.