Plays by Pierre Beaumarchais (Study Guide) - The Marriage of Figaro, the Barber of Seville, the Guilty Mother (Paperback)

This is nonfiction commentary. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: The Marriage of Figaro, the Barber of Seville, the Guilty Mother. Source: Wikipedia. Free updates online. Not illustrated. Excerpt: The Marriage of Figaro (French:, (The Wild Day, or The Marriage of Figaro)) is a comedy in five acts, written in 1778 by Pierre Beaumarchais. This play is the second in the Figaro Trilogy, preceded by The Barber of Seville and followed by The Guilty Mother. The play was first performed officially at the Odeon on 27 April 1784, after having been censored for many years. The play was at first banned in Vienna because of its satire of the aristocracy. Beaumarchais said in his preface to the play that it was Louis Francois Joseph, Prince of Conti who requested that this sequel to The Barber of Seville be written. It is considered an early indication of the French Revolution in its denouncement of the privileges of the nobility. In it, Beaumarchais uses the main characters from The Barber of Seville: the barber Figaro, Count Almaviva, and Rosine, who in this play is now the Countess. Bartholo, the other principal character of The Barber of Seville, has a secondary role. Thanks to the great popularity of its predecessor, The Barber of Seville, The Marriage of Figaro opened to enormous success; it reportedly grossed 100,000 francs in the first twenty showings and the theatre was so packed that three people were crushed to death by the opening-night crowd. The play formed the basis for an opera by Mozart, also called The Marriage of Figaro. Set three years after the events of The Barber of Seville: Figaro has entered into Count Almaviva's service (he is both the Count's valet and the concierge of his castle), and is engaged to Suzanne, who is the Countess's head chambermaid. The Count, who is bored with his wife, searches out...More: http: //booksllc.net/?id=2336061