Synopsis
Act I
The first Act is set in a Rhineland valley surrounded by vine-clad hills in medieval Germany. A majestic castle looms in the distance over the valley. It is autumn and the peasants are enjoying a rich harvest. Among the many happy festivities is the crowning of the Queen of the Vintage.
Giselle is a young peasant girl who lives with her mother, Berthe. Their cottage is opposite one that has recently been occupied by the handsome but mysterious Loys, a peasant farmer. Loys is really Albrecht of Silesia, who has disguised himself as a peasant in order to win Giselle’s affections. Giselle has fallen in love with Loys but the local forester Hilarion loves Giselle and has always planned to marry her. Hilarion is suspicious of Loys and thinks he is hiding some secret.
Challenging Loys to a fight, Hilarion notices that Loys immediately clasps his right hand to his left hip, as if he were about to draw a sword. The astute Hilarion notes that such an action would be the instinctive reaction of a nobleman. Hilarion tries to warn Giselle that there is something suspicious about Loys but she refuses to believe him.
Soon a royal hunting party appears in the village, led by Albrecht’s father, the Duke of Silesia, and Countess Bathilde, who is engaged to Albrecht. The village welcomes the noble visitors and Giselle presents flowers to the beautiful Bathilde. When it is revealed that Giselle is engaged to be married, Bathilde gives Giselle a necklace as a gift. While Bathilde and the Duke go to rest in Giselle’s cottage, Hilarion breaks into Loys’ cottage and discovers his sword, which bears the family crest of the Duke of Silesia. He now has proof of Loys’ true identity.
During the festivities that follow, when Giselle is crowned Queen of the Vintage, Hilarion challenges Loys and, summoning the royal party, reveals Loys’ true identity. Everyone is shocked and confused as they realize that Loys is really Count Albrecht. Bathilde is shocked to see her fiancé dressed as a peasant. She then tells everyone that she is herself engaged to be married to the duplicitous Albrecht.
When Giselle realizes that Albrecht has deceived her, she is overcome by grief and quickly loses her reason. Giselle recalls her moments of innocent happiness with Albrecht but then, in a frenzy of madness, she thrusts Albrecht’s sword toward her heart and dies in her mother’s arms. Albrecht runs off, filled with guilt and despair for what he has done. Hilarion and the village grieve for Giselle.
Act II
The scene opens in a moonlit forest glade near the grave where Giselle has been buried. Since she took her own life, Giselle has been laid to rest in unhallowed ground, unprotected from evil spirits. It is midnight and Hilarion is keeping vigil but when the forest becomes haunted by Wilis he flees in terror. The Wilis are the spirits of betrothed young women who have died from grief after being betrayed by faithless lovers. Malicious in nature, these ghostly, nocturnal creatures are ruled by their queen, Myrtha, and seek revenge by forcing any man who crosses their path between midnight and dawn to dance to his death. The Wilis are gathering this night to prepare for the initiation of Giselle into their ranks.
The Wilis momentarily leave the scene and the melancholic Albrecht arrives at Giselle’s grave to plead for forgiveness. To his amazement, the ghost of the dead Giselle appears before him and he follows her into the forest. Hilarion returns to Giselle’s grave, this time to be entrapped by the Wilis, who show him no mercy. After forcing him to dance until he is exhausted, Myrtha commands the Wilis to fling Hilarion into the nearby lake. When Albrecht returns, the Wilis surround him and try to doom him to the same fate as Hilarion. Giselle attempts to save Albrecht, warning him that he will be able to withstand the Wilis if he takes shelter by the cross on her grave, which he does.
To have her revenge, the Queen of the Wilis forces Albrecht and Giselle to dance on and on into the night, until they are extremely exhausted. Albrecht collapses. Knowing that the power of the Wilis is destroyed by daylight, Giselle manages to sustain Albrecht until the chimes of a distant church bell announce the arrival of dawn.
The Wilis vanish and Giselle must return to her grave. But as her love has transcended death, her spirit has now been freed from the power of the Wilis. As the curtain falls, Albrecht, forlorn and reflective, is left alone in his sorrow.