Character Analysis
Sehr Sexy, Ja!
Lili is proof positive that everything gets old after a while… even being a hottie.
As she tells us so many times in her big song, Lili Von Shtupp is just plain tired with life. She's been an attractive singer for so long and has conquered so many hearts that it's all just boring to her now. Even when Hedley Lamarr brings her a bouquet of flowers, the only response she can muster is,
"Oh, how ordinary."
In her big showstopper of a song, Lili makes no bones about the power that she has over men, singing,
"Here I stand, the goddess of desire/ Set men on fire/ I have this power […]."
And by the time she reaches her chorus, all she can say is,
"Tired of playing the game/ Ain't it a crying shame?/ I'm so tired"
But Lili meets her match when she runs into Bart. She thinks that she's just going to seduce him and break his heart like she's done with so many others. But Bart is so awesome that Lili actually falls in love with him and shows us that she's vulnerable after all. When Bart says he needs to leave, Lili grabs him and yells,
"No, no, you mustn't go! I need you! I've never met nobody like you! I can't live without you!"
By this time, we realize that Lili isn't as jaded and passionless as she says she is. We also realize through her that Bart might be the most charming dude on Earth.
Oh, and we'd remiss not to mention the fact that Lili is a direct parody of Marlene Dietrich and her singing seductress roles of the 1930s.