"I find the representation of this character particularly beautiful, externally deformed and ridiculous and internally impassioned and full of love." Giuseppe Verdi - December 14, 1850. Rigoletto has long been viewed as one of Verdi's greatest operas and rightfully represents one of the outstanding examples of drama and characterization through music in all of the operatic literature. This book explores in-depth the development of the title role of Rigoletto. Verdi's first documented interest in Victor Hugo's banned play, Le roi s'amuse, his battles with the censors and the critical reaction of the first performance are clearly presented. Walters' approach is unique, in that the main body of his research focuses on musical examples that demonstrate Verdi's compositional technique and how he delineated the separate worlds of Rigoletto's character: the deformed, bitter, court jester and the impassioned, loving father. This book will be beneficial to anyone seeking an example of clear writing about music analysis and operatic characterization.