Act 2

Inside the Ducal Palace, later that night.

The Duke returns to Rigoletto’s house and finds that Gilda has been taken. He imagines her calling upon him for help, and pities her misfortune. The courtiers return and explain what they have done. The Duke demands to see Gilda. Driven by love, he will tell her who he really is. Rigoletto enters in search of his daughter. He listens to the taunts of the courtiers and realises that she must be with the Duke. He tries to reach her, but is held back by the courtiers, and denounces them bitterly. Weeping, he begs for pity, and Gilda rushes to him. He tries to pretend that the abduction was a joke, but then realises that she has been dishonoured. She tells him of the handsome stranger se saw at church, and how she was seized and brought to the palace. On seeing Monterone led to prison, Rigoletto swears to avenge wrong done to his daughter.

Act 3

Sparafucile’s Inn.
Rigoletto brings Gilda to the inn to prove to her that the Duke, whom she still loves, is unfaithful to her. The Duke appears, dressed as a soldier, and sings ironically of the fickleness of women. Maddalena, Sparafucile’s sister, joins him and flirts with him, while Sparafucile goes in search of Rigoletto to tell him that his enemy has arrived. Gilda overhears the advances of the Duke to Maddalena and is heartbroken. Rigoletto persuades Gilda to disguise herself as a man and ride to Verona, where he will join her. He pays Sparafucile half his fee, and promises to return at midnight to pay the rest when the Duke has been killed, and his body delivered to him in a sack.

A storm rises, and the Duke decides to stay at the inn. Gilda returns in men’s clothing, and overhears Maddalena trying to persuade Sparafucile not to kill the Duke, but to murder Rigoletto instead. Sparafucile tells her he will not betray a client, but if a man should come to the inn before midnight, he will kill him instead of the Duke. Gilda determines to save her faithless lover’s life, and as the storm reaches its height, she knocks at the door of the inn.

The storm dies down. Rigoletto returns and midnight strikes. He takes the sack with the body, and is about to throw it into the river when he hears the Duke singing. Horrorstricken, he tears open the sack and finds his daughter barely alive and asking for forgiveness. He begs her not to leave him, but she dies in his arms. Rigoletto learns that Monterone’s curse has been fulfilled.