Verdi often had trouble with the censors (the officials who decide whether the opera should be allowed to be performed). His opera "Rigoletto" was based on a story called "Le roi s’amuse" by Victor Hugo. The attempted murder of a king was not thought to be a suitable subject. Verdi had to change the king into a duke in his story and make some other changes before the opera could be performed. The story of his opera "Traviata", based on a novel by Alexandre Dumas fils, was also thought to be immoral. At the first performance the audience laughed because the heroine, who is supposed to be dying of tuberculosis, then called "consumption", was very fat. However, the opera soon became enormously popular.