The Marriage of Barber

the Insane day or the Marriage of Barber is a comedy in five acts of Beaumarchais written in 1778, of which the first official representation took place the April 27th 1784 with the Théâtre of Odéon, after several years of censure. Masterpiece of the French and international theater, the part is considered, by its denunciation of the antiquated privileges of the nobility, like one of the harbingers of the French revolution.

Beaumarchais puts at it in scene the principal characters of the Barbier of Seville (1775), the barber Figaro, the count Almaviva and Rosine, now called the countess . Bartholo, another essential character of the Barber , plays a part much more secondary. Two years after its first representation, the part was adapted operated of them by Mozart under the title the Marriages of Figaro .

Characters

  • the Count Almaviva, large corrégidor of Andalusia
  • the Countess, her wife (Rosine in the Barber of Seville )
  • Barber, manservant of the count and caretaker, i.e. it manages the castle.
  • Suzanne, first chambermaid of the countess and promised in marriage of Barber
  • Marceline, housekeeper and duenna, natural mother of Barber
  • Antonio, gardener of the castle, uncle de Suzanne and father of Fanchette
  • Fanchette, approximately 12 years.
  • Chérubin, first page of the count, libertine, very enthusiast of the countess, her godmother.
  • Bartholo, doctor of Seville, father of Barber
  • Bazile, Master of harpsichord of the countess, friend of the Count
  • Gift Gusman Brid' oison, lieutenant of the seat
  • Double-Hand, clerk, secretary of Gift Gusman
  • Brid' Oison, a court usher,
  • Influenza-Sun, young pastoureau
  • a young shepherdess
  • Pédrille, stitcher of the count
  • dumb Characters: troop of servants, troop of country-women,…

Summary of the part

Barber, entered to the service of the count Almaviva (see with the top), must be been engaged to Suzanne, first chambermaid of the countess. But the count, who starts to be bored his woman, is in the search of affairs. Attracted by Suzanne, it plans to restore the Droit of cuissage of the lord, who allows him to taste with the charms of any young groom before the husband could benefit from it. Helped by the scrupulous not very Bazile, the made count with Suzanne of the increasingly clear advances, which involve this one with all to reveal in Figaro and the Countess.

The count must then face a coalition which will end up triumphing over him. Ridiculed at the time of a amorous meeting which was in fact a trap, it is thrown to knees in front of his wife and asks him forgiveness in front of all the village gathered, while Figaro marries finally Suzanne.

The intrigue is enriched by the intervention by several other characters, in particular Chérubin, young page madly in love with the Countess, but also Marceline, which come to require near the count that Figaro Marie with it (what will become impossible when one learns, with act III, that it is the natural mother of Barber!).

One of the strong moments of the part is the monolog of Barber (act V, scene 3), whose passage which evokes the count Almaviva summarizes with wonder the objections accumulated against the nobility a few years before the Révolution: Because you are a large Lord, you believe yourselves a great genius! … Nobility, fortune, a row, places: all that makes so proud! What you made for so many goods! You gave each other the sorrow to be born, and anything more…

Original edition (scans)

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