The Grand Canal is the site of Sherzad’s earlier release from captivity, a remembered act that gives Marie-Josèphe reason to believe Louis XIV is keeping his word when the sailors carry Sherzad toward freedom again.

Role in Sherzad’s Release

As the sailors prepare to carry Sherzad away in a net, Marie-Josèphe recalls that they had freed her into the Grand Canal before. She sings to Sherzad to lie quietly, linking that earlier release to the present moment and interpreting the King’s orders as a promise being honored. The canal thus marks a point of transition from captivity toward the possibility of freedom.