The Magic Flute is considered a masterpiece as by Subotnik's definition, it is widely accepted by everyone from every class, whether high aristocrat or a low class individual(1). Although one of the reasons lie in its usage of many different styles that is incorporated in the piece, the character development and its usage is considered the main factor in Subotnik's perception of it being a masterpiece as they help to reiterate the maxim "Social rank does not equal human worth" (3).

Here the characters Papageno, the Queen, and Tamino are each different and represent different aspects of society. Papageno is a character that represents the "natural" state of humans in general. He is lacking "culture"; the inability to form social relations or "social contracts" by his inability to see "differences" between himself and them; and his lack of "desires" which causes one to "use signs in order to communicate" (4). He in many instances is much more like an animal than an actual human, yet his value as a human being is still valuable even though it seems he has not social status.
Where Papageno is on the one extreme of true "naturalism", the queen is on the opposite as being "insincere" and following "authenticity". In her Aria, she is initially thought to be sincere and emotional about her daughter being kidnapped, but it is all a ploy to gain the attention of Tamino. Here the "sincerity, is undertaken for reasons of social advancement (12). The queen doesn't act sincere for the sake of sincerity but for an alternative motive to help gain Tamino's help. It is afterwards that she displays her "real" nature and the music changes accordingly. Trilling describes the concept of "authenticity" (14) when one focuses on keeping a facade of sincerity for the sole purpose of maintain a social status that one eventually is deprived of all forms of genuine sincerity(13). The Queen herself is reflective of this change as she herself cannot display any genuine sincerity anymore because of her strong focus on her social standing as a queen. In this case, her value as a human is not high, even though she has such a high social standing reiterating the fact that "social rank does not equal human worth".

Tamino on the other hand is somewhere inbetween both Papageno and the Queen. He is able to express genuine and real emotions unrelated to his social rank, unlike the Queen. He is also characterized with "an active faculty of reason"(19), in which is reflective of Papageno's nature, yet does not have the limitation of being uncultured like Papageno. In this case he is the best of both worlds with none of the flaws. He is a man of culture, of reason, and of true human emotions. He is the reflection of the ideals of the enlightenment.


In what ways does the piece not a reflection of aspects of the enlightenment period? Isn't it interesting to note that although "social rank does not equal human value" that the main characters Tamino is still a prince and the princess is still a princess?

Although the point of the play is that "social rank does not equal human value", can one not see that social rank does indeed play a role in the human value of a person? Would the queen naturally be a sincere person deep down if she wasn't focused on her social rank or is she just naturally a cruel person?