Here's Act 1 Scene 2 from Kat'a Kabanova, one of Leoš Janáček's mature Operas. Janáček wrote a lot of Operas with women as his preferred protagonists, and this one is amazing in its portrayal of a woman clearly oppressed by the world around her.
I love this part, where Kat'a tells her friend and maid Varvara of how free she felt as a child, beginning with "I wondered why people can't fly!". She feels caged, and spirals out of control as the oppressive atmosphere of the Kabanov family household drives her insane.
In this production at Glyndebourne Kat'a is played by American Soprano Nancy Gustafson, who seems to act the role entirely with her eyes in such a way that you really believe she's about to do something crazy!
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