Samson and Delilah Study Guide

Samson and Delilah Study Guide

Study Questions for Camille Saint-Saëns' Samson and Delilah

These study questions are to help you support your knowledge of Samson and Delilah based on the video that you’ve just seen and to help you get to know the opera better. If you want, you might Google one of the questions or topics in order to broaden your knowledge of the opera. You will also find examples of the opera on You Tube: do a search for Saint-Saëns or Samson and Delilah. These examples are from productions of the opera all over the world and will show you how various opera companies deal with the sets, costumes and style of the opera.

1. The story of Samson and Delilah comes from what book?
2. Does the character Samson remind you of any other characters in mythology, and if so, who?
3. What is Samson’s fatal flaw?
4. The story is really about the struggle between two different peoples or tribes. What are their names?
5. What language is the opera in and where did the composer come from?
6. What is an oratorio and how is it different from an opera?
7. True or false: Samson and Delilah is a small, intimate opera that could easily be performed in your school’s theatre or auditorium.
8. The character of Delilah is like another character in opera. Can you name her?
9. How does the melody in Delilah’s ‘seduction’ aria move: ‘up’ or ‘down’? And why is that significant?
10. True or false: it took Camille Saint-Saëns twelve years to write this opera.