Where are these men? In regard to the heroes of contemporary fairy tale operas based on the repertoire of the Wrocław Opera House

Abstract

The article presents the results of an analysis of the characters of contemporary fairy-tale operas on the example of the repertoire of the Wrocław Opera, aimed at proving that the repertoire takes into account the need for a personality pattern and ideal by creating a hero for our times with whom the (young) viewer can and should identify By the term “hero” I understand here the protagonist, the performer of the main role in the play. I characterize the “Hero of our times” based on the assumptions of Zygmunt Bauman’s theory of postmodern personal patterns. The review of the empirical material made it possible to select the main characters of the fairy-tale operas from the repertoire of the Wrocław Opera, and then to portray the male characters and classify them according to Bauman’s proposed personal patterns typical of a man of the 20th and 21st centuries – a man of postmodernity.