gothic swan song

"... if the three heroines, Olympia, Guilietta, and Antonia, represent three typical women in a man's life -the child, the siren, and the artist - Offenbach may have found a further summary of his own career in their depiction.  Freud tells us that in dreams there frequently occurs a figure reversal; thus Olympia may be the mother symbol, Hoffmann the child. Giulietta represents the years of a man's sensual desires, an Antonia the symbol of death.  Vacilating between love and art while Dr. Miracle ominously clatters with his bottles, she chooses her art, sings, and dies.  The three women have thus become mother, mistress, and annihilator.  Offenbach, identifying himself with his hero, Hoffmann, also a musician, chooses his art and, like Antonia, dies in his swan song."

from: 'opera origins and side lights' by ruth berges / thomas yoseloff, publisher