1778 Count Almaviva, Governor of Andalusia Countess Rosine, his wife Figaro, the Count's valet and majordomo ; engaged to Suzanne Suzanne, the Countess' maid; engaged to Figaro Marceline, the housekeeper; in love with Figaro, unknowingly Figaro's mother Antonio, gardener of the castle; uncle of Suzanne, father of Fanchette Fanchette, daughter of Antonio, girlfriend to many Cherubin, the Count's page, the Countess’ godson; in love with every woman Bartholo, a doctor from Seville; unknowingly Figaro's father Bazile, music master to the Countess Don Guzman Brid'Oison, a judge.* Doublemain, clerk to Don Guzman Brid'Oison Grippe-Soleil, a shepherd lad Pedrillo, the Count's huntsman An usher A shepherdess An alguazil A magistrate Servants, valets, peasants, and huntsmen ================== The ridiculous character of Don Guzman was a jab at Beaumarchais's famous enemy Goëzman. Beaumarchais gained public acclaim as he had directly challenged the judge among other legal disputes with a series of pamphlets titled Mémories Contre Goezman. Beaumarchais was hailed as a hero of the people with the public embarrassment he brought upon Judge Goezman. The aftermath of these events lead into a big courthouse scuffle which would strip Beaumarchais of his French Civil Rights. He did eventually regain them through pledging allegiance to Louis XV and Louis XVI by running secret missions for the French government acting as an agent. The role of Chérubin is traditionally played as a trouser role by a woman. Beaumarchais said that in the original company, there were no boys available who were both the right age and who could understand all the "subtleties" of the role, as most of the character's comic traits come from the view of an adult looking back on puberty with amusement. Fanchette is only around 12 years old. At the time, the age of consent throughout most of Europe was around that same age; hence, the revelation that she and the adult Count are sleeping together was not meant to be quite as shocking as it is often perceived these days. [edit] Act I The play begins in a room in the Count's palace—the new bedroom to be shared by Figaro and Suzanne after their wedding, which is set to occur later that day. Suzanne reveals to Figaro her suspicion that the Count gave them this particular room because it is so close to his own, and that the Count has been pressuring her to begin an affair with him. Figaro at once goes to work trying to find a solution to this problem. Then Dr. Bartholo and Marceline pass through, discussing a lawsuit they are to file against Figaro, who owes Marceline a good deal of money and has promised to marry her if he fails to repay the sum; his marriage to Suzanne will potentially void the contract. Bartholo relishes the news that Rosine is unhappy in her marriage, and they discuss the expectation that the Count will take Figaro's side in the lawsuit if Suzanne should submit to his advances. Marceline herself is in love with Figaro, and hopes to discourage Suzanne from this. After a brief confrontation between Marceline and Suzanne, a young boy named Chérubin comes to inform Suzanne that he's just been fired for being caught hiding in the bedroom of Fanchette. The conversation is interrupted by the entrance of the Count, and since Suzanne and Chérubin don't want to be caught alone in a bedroom together, Chérubin is forced to hide behind an armchair. When the Count enters, he propositions Suzanne (who continues to refuse to sleep with him). They are then interrupted by Bazile's entrance. Again not wanting to be caught alone in a bedroom together, the Count hides behind the armchair. Chérubin is forced to throw himself on top of the armchair so the Count won't find him and Suzanne covers him with a dress so Bazile can't see him. Bazile stands in the doorway and begins to tell Suzanne all the latest gossip. When he mentions a rumor that there is a relationship between the Countess and Chérubin, the Count becomes outraged and stands up, revealing himself. The Count justifies his firing Chérubin to Bazile and the horrified Suzanne (now worried that Bazile will believe that she and the Count are having sex). The Count re-enacts finding Chérubin behind the door in Fanchette's room by lifting the dress covering Chérubin, accidentally uncovering Chérubin's hiding spot for the second time. The Count is afraid that Chérubin will reveal the earlier conversation in which he was propositioning Suzanne, and so decides to send him away at once as a soldier. Figaro then enters with the Countess, who is still oblivious to her husband's plans. A troupe of wedding guests enters with him, intending to begin the wedding ceremony immediately. The Count is able to convince them to hold it back a few more hours, giving himself more time to enact his plans. [edit] Act II Set in the Countess's bedroom, Suzanne has just broken the news of the Count's action to the Countess, who is now distraught. Figaro comes in and informs them that he has just set in motion a new plan to distract the Count from his intentions toward Suzanne by starting a false rumor that the Countess is having an affair and that her lover will appear at the wedding, which he hopes will motivate the Count to let the wedding happen. Suzanne and the Countess have doubts about the effectiveness of the plot, though, and they decide to tell the Count that Suzanne has agreed to his proposal, and then to embarrass him by sending out Chérubin dressed in Suzanne's gown to meet him. They stop Chérubin from leaving and begin to dress him, but just when Suzanne steps out of the room, the Count comes in. Chérubin hides, half dressed, in a closet, while the Count grows increasingly suspicious, especially after having just heard Figaro's rumor of the Countess's affair. He leaves to get a mallet to break down the closet door, giving Chérubin enough time to escape out the window and Suzanne time to enter the closet; when the Count opens the door, it appears that Suzanne was inside there all along. Just when it seems he calms down, the gardener Antonio runs in screaming that a half-dressed man just jumped from the Countess's window. The Count's fears are settled again once Figaro takes credit to being the jumper, claiming that he started the rumor of the Countess having an affair as a prank and that while he was waiting for Suzanne he became frightened of the Count's wrath, jumping out the window in terror. Just then Marceline, Bartholo and the judge Brid'Oison come to inform Figaro that his trial is starting. [edit] Act III Figaro and the Count exchange a few words, until Suzanne, at the insistence of the Countess, goes to the Count and tells him that she has decided that she will begin an affair with him, and asks he meet her after the wedding. The Countess has actually promised to appear at the assignation in Suzanne's place. The Count is glad to hear that Suzanne has seemingly decided to go along with his advances, but his mood sours again once he hears her talking to Figaro and saying it was only done so they might win the case. Court is then held, and after a few minor cases, Figaro's trial occurs. Much is made of the fact that Figaro has no middle or last name, and he explains that it is because he was kidnapped as a baby and doesn't know his real name. The Count rules in Marceline's favor, effectively forcing Figaro to marry her, when Marceline suddenly recognizes a birthmark (or scar or tattoo; the text is unclear) on Figaro's arm -- he is her son, and Dr. Bartholo is his father. Just then Suzanne runs in with enough money to repay Marceline, given to her by the Countess. At this, the Count storms off in outrage. Figaro is thrilled to have rediscovered his parents, but Suzanne's uncle, Antonio, insists that Suzanne cannot marry Figaro now, because he is illegitimate. [edit] Act IV Figaro and Suzanne talk before the wedding, and Figaro tells Suzanne that if the Count still thinks she is going to meet him in the garden later, she should just let him stand there waiting all night. Suzanne promises, but the Countess grows upset when she hears this news, thinking that Suzanne is in the Count's pocket and is wishing she had kept their rendez-vous a secret. As she leaves, Suzanne falls to her knees, and agrees to go through with the plan to trick the Count. Together they write a note to him entitled "A New Song on the Breeze" (a reference to the Countess's old habit of communicating with the Count through sheet music dropped from her window), which tells him that she will meet him under the chestnut trees. The Countess lends Suzanne a pin from her dress to seal the letter, but as she does so, the ribbon from Cherubin falls out of the top of her dress. At that moment, Fanchette enters with Cherubin disguised as a girl, a shepherdess, and girls from the town to give the Countess flowers. As thanks, the Countess kisses Cherubin on the forehead. Antonio and the Count enter - Antonio knows Cherubin is disguised because they dressed him at his daughter's (Fanchette's) house. The Countess admits to hiding Cherubin in her room earlier and the Count is about to punish him. Fanchette suddenly admits that she and the Count have been having an affair, and that, since he has promised he will give her anything she desires, he must not punish Cherubin but give him to her as a husband. Later, the wedding is interrupted by Bazile, who had wished to marry Marceline himself; but once he learns that Figaro is her son he is so horrified that he abandons his plans. Later, Figaro witnesses the Count opening the letter from Suzanne, but thinks nothing of it. After the ceremony, he notices Fanchette looking upset, and discovers that the cause is her having lost the pin that was used to seal the letter, which the Count had told her to give back to Suzanne. Figaro nearly faints at the news, believing Suzanne's secret communication means that she has been unfaithful and, restraining tears, he announces to Marceline that he is going to seek vengeance on both the Count and Suzanne. [edit] Act V In the palace gardens beneath a grove of chestnut trees, Figaro has called together a group of men and instructs them to call together every person they can find: he intends to have them all walk in on the Count and Suzanne in flagrante delicto, humiliating the pair and also ensuring ease of obtaining a divorce. After a tirade against the aristocracy and the unhappy state of his life, Figaro hides nearby. The Countess and Suzanne then enter, each dressed in the other's clothes. They are aware that Figaro is watching, and Suzanne is upset that her husband would doubt her so much as to think she would ever really mean to cheat on him. Soon afterward the Count comes, and the disguised Countess goes off with him. Figaro is outraged, and goes to the woman he thinks is the Countess to complain; he nevertheless realizes that he is talking to his own wife Suzanne, who scolds him for his lack of confidence in her. Figaro agrees that he was being stupid, and they are quickly reconciled. Just then the Count comes out and sees what he thinks is his own wife kissing Figaro, and races to stop the scene. At this point, all the people who had been instructed to come on Figaro's orders arrive, and the real Countess reveals herself. The Count falls to his knees and begs her for forgiveness, which she grants. After all other loose ends are tied up, the cast breaks into song before the curtain falls. [edit] Figaro's Speech One of the defining moments of the play is Figaro's rather lengthy fifth-act, in which he directly challenges the Count: monologue. Excerpts: No, my lord Count, you won’t have her... you won’t have her. Just because you’re a great nobleman, you think you’re a great genius! Nobility, riches, a title, high positions, that all makes a man so proud! What have you done for such fortune? You went to the trouble of being born, and nothing else. Otherwise, a rather ordinary man; while I, good grief! lost in the obscure crowd, I had to use more skill and planning just to survive than has been put into governing all of Spain for the last hundred years. I throw myself full-force into the theater; would that I’d put a stone around my neck! I dash off a comedy about life in a harem. As a Spanish author, I believe I can jeer at Mohammed without qualms; at that instant an envoy from... I don’t know where complains that my lines are offensive to the Sublime Porte, Persia, part of the peninsula of India, all of Egypt, the kingdoms of Barca, Tripoli, Tunisia, Algiers and Morocco: and there's my comedy roasted to please Muslim princes, none of whom, I believe, can read, and who bruise our scapulas while calling us “Christian dogs”!—Unable to debase my spirit, they avenge themselves by abusing it.—My cheeks hollowed; my time seemed to be up. I could see the dreaded bill collector arriving in the distance with a quill stuck in his wig. I’d tell him... stupid things in print have no importance except where people hold them back; without the right to criticize, there’s no such thing as flattering praise; and it’s only little men that are afraid of little writings. [edit] Controversy Beaumarchais was no stranger to revolution both through his support to the American rebels, to whom he had organized shipments of munitions and other supplies during the American Revolution, and again later as the French Revolution was taking place. For the French rebels he had attempted to acquire weaponry, but was unable to follow through. By the stroke of his pen, his words were just as revolutionary as noticed when Napoleon Bonaparte hailed The Marriage of Figaro “a revolution in action.” Through this story, and the rebellious nature of Figaro, the theatergoers of France were able to peer within themselves and see a Figaro, and with such a mindset they began to take the proper steps into priming the minds of the people for revolutionary actions. The events surrounding the production help set the tone for the path the country was about to head. Bread prices were on the rise as the grain production took a huge blow after years of bad harvests, which directly led into malnutrition and widespread hunger. Outlying areas were difficult to reach with the already scarce foods because of poorly maintained roads. The aristocracy took little concern to the problems of the lower classes, fueling the rising resentment of the peasants and towns people of the noble class. The aristocrats and previous kings, including King Louis XIV, were not stress-free by any means; previous engagements in war and with supplying the American Revolution meant the French economy was crippled, which was reflected as the country sailed further and further into debt. All these factors combined with the “Figaro mindset” to take the French to a bloody revolution. ================================ Piesele Figaro Pisele lui Beaumarchais din seria Figaro cuprind Le Barbier de Séville (Bărbierul din Sevilla), Le Mariage de Figaro (Nunta lui Figaro), ?i La Mere coupable. Figaro ?i Contele Almaviva, cele două personaje ale lui Beaumarchais, cel mai probabil create în călătoriile lui în Spania, au fost (împreună cu Rosine, ?i mai târziu Contesa Almaviva) singurele prezente în toate cele trei păr?i. Ele reflectă schimbărea atitudinilor sociale înainte, după, ?i în timpul revolu?iei franceze. Figaro ?i Almaviva au apărut pentru prima dată în Le Sacristan, pe care a scris-o prin 1765 ?i a redenumit-o " un interludiu, imitând stilul spaniol "[2]. Faima lui a început, totu?i, cu prima piesă dramatică (drame bourgeois), Eugénie, care a avut premiera la Comédie Française în 1767. Aceasta a fost urmată de o altă dramă, Les Deux amis ou Le Négociant de Lyon (Cei doi prieteni sau Negustorul din Lyon), cu premiera pe 13 ianuarie 1770, tot la Comedia Franceză [3]. Privind dintr-un alt unghi, piesele Figaro sunt semi-autobiografice [2]. Don Guzman Brid'oison (Le Mariage) ?i Bégearss (La Mere) au fost caricaturile celor doi adversari reali ai lui Beaumarchais, Goëzman ?i Bergasse. Pajul Chérubin (Le Mariage) seamănă cu tânărul Beaumarchais, care medita la sinucidere când a aflat că iubita lui urma să se căsătorească cu altul. Suzanne, eroina din Le Mariage ?i La Mere, a avut ca sursă de inspira?ie cea de-a treia so?ie a lui Beaumarchais, Marie-Thérese de Willer-Mawlaz. Între timp, câteva dintre monologurile contelui reflectă remu?cările dramaturgului pentru numeroasele lui experien?e sexuale. Le Barbier a debutat în 1775. Continuarea Le Mariage a trecut ini?ial de cenzori în 1781, dar reprezenta?ia a fost imediat interzisă de Ludovic al XVI-lea, după ce a citit-o personal. Regele nu a fost mul?umit de felul cum piesa satiriza aristocra?ia. În următorii trei ani, Beaumarchais a revizuit-o de mai multe ori, pentru a putea să treacă de cenzor. Regele a ridicat interdic?ia în 1784. Piesa a debutat în acel an ?i a fost extrem de populară ?i în rândul aristocra?ilor. Opera lui Mozart a avut premiera cu doi ani mai târziu. Ultima piesă a lui Beaumarchais, La mere... a avut premiera în 1792 la Paris. Pentru a-i aduce un omagiu marelui dramaturg francez Moliere, care a scris titlul original al piesei, Beaumarchais a redenumit La Mere coupable în L'autre Tartuffe. Toate cele trei piese Figaro s-au bucurat de un mare succes, ?i sunt jucate ?i astăzi în teatre ?i săli de operă. ================= publicata in anul 1784; capodopera a creatiei dramatice a autorului, alaturi de Barbierul din Sevilla. in Nunta lui Figaro este continuata actiunea din Barbierul din Sevilla, piesa in care Figaro 1-a ajutat pe stapanul sau, contele Al-maviva, sa o cucereasca si sa o ia in casatorie pe Rosina. in Nunta lui Figaro aflam cum, dupa numai trei ani de casatorie, contele s-a cam plictisit de sotia sa, Rosina, si doreste sa-1 impiedice pe valetul sau, Figaro, sa o ia de sotie pe Suzana, camerista Rosinei. La intalnirea pe care contele i-o da, pe ascuns, Suzanei, vine sotia sa, Rosina, imbracata cu hainele cameristei. Contele isi cere iertare si accepta tasatoria celor doi. Figaro, care complotase impreuna cu cele doua femei, obtine astfel o victorie completa, reusind sa se casatoreasca cu Suzana. in Nunta lui Figaro Beaumarchais denunta, cu o profunda revolta, justitia corupta, libertatile pe care si le iau cei puternici, nobilimea parazitara. Prin cuvintele lui Figaro, Beaumarchais isi exprima toata ura impotriva acestei clase spoliatoare (Figaro, referindu-se la contele Almaviva: Pentru ca esti mare senior, te crezi cine stie ce destept? Noblete, avere, rang, posturi, toate astea te Jac sa fii atat de infumurat. Dar as vrea sa stiu cum le-ai dobandit, prin ce insusiri sau stradanii? Ti-ai dat osteneala sa vii pe lume, si altceva nimic, incolo esti un om ca toii ceilalt,i. Pe cand eu, lua-m-ar dracu, pierdut in multimea anonima, ca sa traiesc numai, mi-a trebuit sa desfasor mai multa stiinta si mai multa iscusinta decat a fost nevoie intr-o suta de ani pentru guvernarea intregii Spanii!"). Confruntarea dintre Figaro, personaj principal al piesei, si contele Almaviva este de fapt confruntarea dintre doua clase sociale. Contele intelege sa puna justitia in slujba capriciilor si a goanei sale dupa voluptati, jus-tificandu-si abuzurile prin pozitia sa sociala privilegiata. Figaro are meritul de a fi razbit in viata dand dovada de multa iscusinta si de onestitate. De aceea se spune deseori ca prin valetul Figaro vorbeste o intreaga stare a treia": el reprezinta spiritul de revolta al oamenilor privati de dreptate si tratati cu indolenta de catre clasa privilegiata.