Narration

Salieri’s narration frames the play.  It opens and closes with Salieri as a bitter old man lamenting the loss of his fame.  The play is structured like a deathbed confession.  Salieri often addresses the audience directly, sometimes as an aside.  This allows the audience to glimpse Salieri’s inner thoughts, so that the actor is not just narrating a story but also illuminating it.  The Venticelli also narrate what is happening elsewhere.

Salieri’s initial narrative is the prologue for the play, it lays the ground work and sets the question – did he kill Mozart?

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Journey of Transformation

The play is a dramatic journey following theatrical convention.  Salieri starts out certain that music is God’s reward.  This view is challenged and discoveries he makes causes his character to charge and become uncertain.

At certain points of the play the characters’ actions highlight key times in the journey eg Act 1 Part 5, Salieri collapses to the floor and vows revenge highlighting a point of change.

Certain references are used to foreshadow events later in the play to build up suspense and help things link together and progress.  For example:  In Act 1 Part 2 the mention of the Masons foreshadows the set up for the final act of Mozart’s destruction.  In Act 2 Part 4 the appearance of the figure in grey foreshadows death.

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Irony

Irony is used to highlight events, build up suspense and highlight contrasts.

In Act 1 Part 4 the Emperor’s idea of a competition between Salieri and Mozart is dismissed.  This is ironical as the audience knows the two are already in competition. 

In Act 2, Part 1 Salieri’s continuing success whilst Mozart fails is ironic as Saliari is waiting for God to punish him for his actions.

In Act 2, Part 4, talk of the Mason’s ‘brotherly love’ is ironic in view of Salieri’s unbrotherly treatment of Mozart and the ironic contrast of Salieri’s luxury home and Mozart’s poor house is used with great effect.

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Symbolism

Amadeus translates as ‘God’’s love’ which becomes very symbolic in the play, Salieri’s thoughts on it embody his feelings about Mozart.

Music is used symbolically in Amadeus.  Mozart’s music illustrates ‘God’s voice’.  The music is also used to show how tormented Salieri is – when he reads the manuscripts Constanze left him he hears the music and is “like a man caught in a tumbling and violent sea”.

As Salieri dies, Mozart’s funeral music is heard, the final irony.

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Dramatic License and Historical Context

Although the play is based on historical facts.  Shaffer uses imagination to build on them to illustrate a theme.

The final confrontation between Mozart and Salieri is an example of this dramatic licence.  There is no historical evidence that the 2 men met at this time but for the play the confrontation is necessary to increase Salieri’s torment and release the audience.

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