In 1643, the first great opera arrived for the Venetian audience. Claudio Monteverdi unveiled his last masterpiece: L’incoronazione di Poppea or The Coronation of Poppea. This work is a musical retelling of Emperor Nero lusting after his mistress Poppea, who is eyeing the Imperial throne. It is a story of debauchery as these two characters lie, cheat, and murder toward their resounding triumph.

In Act 1, the manifestation of Love declares: “I tell the virtues what to do, I govern the fortunes of men.” In the finale, his boast is vindicated with the newly crowned Poppea. Both the Emperor and the new Empress sing of their love in the most achingly beautiful duet of all opera history (Pur ti Miro.)

Let me hold you and enfold you,
for no longer our sweet pleasure is clouded.
O my treasure, beloved treasure!
I am yours, all my hope, all I wish, and desire.

It is a story where the virtuous are killed (The philosopher Seneca) or exiled (Nero's previous wife Octavia). Cruel ambitions win. What morality is there to be had in this opera?

However, the Venetian audience would have known that Nero would kick Poppea —who was pregnant—to death in a few years (as the story goes). Morality lives through dramatic irony. Their love duet is soured with the knowledge of audience's foresight. This got me thinking:

Are there any other endings like this—an ending that seems like a victory for the characters, but where the audience, understanding the history, realizes it's short-lived at best? Is there a name for it?

After some time, I thought about Apocolypto, Mel Gibson's 2006 blockbuster.

Going from a 17th-century opera to Mel Gibson's 2006 blockbuster? Whiplash. Surprisingly, they're similar: both are tales of societies where virtue is lacking. Morality has decayed, as seen throughout the history of empires. Anyway, my brief summary is that the main character, Jaguar Paw—a tribesman—is captured by the Mayans to be sacrificed. Lots of gore. Lots of violence. I legitimately don't remember much of the movie, and I'm not even sure if I enjoyed it! Our main character frees himself, saves his wife and newborn son, but the final shot is of the arriving European ships.

I wish this could be a longer blog post, but I really can't think of many other examples. But I would like to give it a name? Perhaps we can call it a fridge ending like in TV Tropes. I would like to call it a Poppean ending. It sounds better.