And that's what happens: Courtiers trick the jester into helping them carry his daughter off to the palace. The jester's only human feeling is for his daughter, whom he hides at home for fear the king will take advantage of her. Ordinarily the jester is remorselessly cruel, goading the king into pursuing women. Hugo's story takes place in the court of a ceaselessly libidinous king the central character is the king's jester, a hunchback. Verdi found the story in a Victor Hugo play that had had its own problems with censors: The play was shut down the night after its opening in Paris, and wasn't seen there again for 50 years. Rigoletto, obviously, has fared better, but for Verdi it was still a trial. Eventually, according to Verdi authority Budden, the weary composer cited Stiffelio as an opera he would like to forget about. At its premiere, Stiffelio wasn't badly received at all, but for Verdi it had a bad taste. They weren't satisfied with what they came up with: Some of the new lines of text didn't really make sense, and some of the scenes came out much less theatrically effective. With opening night impending, Verdi and his librettist raced to take out references to Stiffelio's being a minister. They decreed that the minister couldn't be a minister, and that the final scene - with the Bible reading - could have no pulpit, pews or cross. Nevertheless, feeling the pressure, the censors took back their approval. Just as some churchly watchdogs of our own day have been, Lugani was satirized in the press.
But then a Reverend Lugani raised an uproar: As far as Roman Catholic doctrine was concerned, the notion that a minister could have a wife was unconscionable. The censors at first gave their permission, and Verdi went about his work.
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