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ACT 1 The Duke, a wealthy womanizer, and his friends are partying and having fun. One of the boys tells them that he has discovered that Rigoletto, the Duke’s confidant, secretly has a young girlfriend and is hiding her at home. They decide to go to Rigoletto’s house the next day to teach him a lesson.
Then Monterone bursts in and accuses the Duke of abusing his daughter. Rigoletto laughs at him and accuses him of treason, whereupon Monterone puts a curse on both men. Rigoletto is thoroughly distraught. Monterone is forcibly taken away by the Duke’s bodyguards.
On the way home, Rigoletto meets an assassin, Sparafucile, who offers to kill his enemy for a small fee. Once home, Rigoletto changes from a cynical joker into a loving father. He loves his daughter, Gilda, whom he keeps hidden from the outside world. When Rigoletto has left, the Duke comes by. He pretends to be a poor student and declares his love for Gilda. She falls head over heels for him. After he has left, his friends come to kidnap Rigoletto’s supposed girlfriend. They do so, but in reality they kidnap Gilda.
ACT TWO The Duke is desperate because his new love has disappeared, but when his friends tell him that they have locked Rigoletto’s girlfriend in his private chambers, he realizes that it must be Gilda. The next morning Rigoletto visits the Duke. He is looking for his daughter. The friends make fun of him, but gradually they realize what they have done. Suddenly Gilda appears. It is clear to everyone that she has slept with the Duke. She admits it and says that she loves him. Her father immediately decides to leave the city with his daughter. He hates the Duke and wants him dead, but Gilda begs him to let the Duke live.
ACT THREE Rigoletto and Gilda go to Sparafucile’s bar, where the Duke is visiting. They spy on him and see how the Duke flirts with Maddalena, Sparafucile’s sister, and promises to marry her. Gilda, still in love, is shocked and wants to leave. Rigoletto tells her to go ahead, disguised as a man, but that he himself must stay. He goes to Sparafucile and hires him to kill the Duke. When Maddalena finds out, she tries to convince her brother to let the Duke live, and instead kill the first guest who comes into their bar and pretend that he has carried out his order. Gilda, who has returned, hears this through an open window. She also hears that it is her father who has ordered the Duke to be killed and that Maddalena is in love with the Duke. Gilda decides to give her life to save the Duke and, still disguised as a man, goes to the front door. There Sparafucile is ready and stabs her.
When Rigoletto arrives at Sparafucille, the assassin says that the job is done and gives him a bag with the body of, as it turns out, Gilda.
Gilda, who is not yet dead, asks her father for forgiveness and dies in his arms. The curse of Monterone has come true.
