Figaro: A Man in Love

The Marriage of Figaro
Pierre Augustin de Beaumarchais'

The character that I will be analyzing today from the well known opera Marriage of Figaro by Pierre Augustin de Beaumarchais' is the main character himself Figaro. The play's protagonist is Figaro; he is a young man who is engaged to be married to Susan, a lady he adores. He has a tumultuous past, since he has no knowledge of his family or parents and is prone to getting into mischief, yet he always manages to win in the end. Figaro is the count's majordomo and valet, and the two have a long history together. Figaro appears to have a knack for devising elaborate and confusing schemes that generally include the count being duped. Figaro is also a respectable and good-hearted man, but has his share of uncontrollable emotions. When he suspects Susan of having an affair with the Count, he gets depressed and enraged, launching a lengthy rant against the nobility and governing classes. He remarks in his soliloquy that the count is ordinary but elevated because of his title, whereas Figaro is everything from ordinary in character but lives in obscurity due to his lack of position or status.

In act 5 Figaro conducts a long soliloquy about inequity and the aristocracy when left alone. "But, despite my desire to be Something in this world, my detestation of the brazen Effrontery, profound Ignorance, and insupportable Insolence of these fashionable Friends of Nobility was so innate that I found I could better endure all the Miseries of Poverty than the Disgrace and Disgust of such Society," he writes. He breaks out in tears. At the conclusion of the play, everything is resolved. It turns out that the intricate pranks that the characters perform on each other are more successful than any direct dialogue. The count is humiliated when he learns that his wife is aware of his affair with Susan, and Figaro and Susan marry happily. The play demonstrates how, rather than didacticism or direct confrontation, sleight of hand, trickery, and comedy may expose deeper and more striking truths. 

                      Here is a short 2:26 second video that I highly recommend for many to watch:  

"The Marriage of Figaro in about a minute" 

The term satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts in which vices, follies, abuses, and weaknesses are mocked, generally with the goal of shaming or exposing perceived defects in people, businesses, government, or society as a whole into betterment. Although satire is normally intended to be amusing, its primary goal is frequently to provide constructive social critique by employing wit to bring attention to both specific and broader societal concerns. The satire in the opera brought alive many of the ways people of social status, gender and role during this particular era.  

Work Cited:

Holcroft, T., & Beaumarchais, P. A. C. de. (1785). The follies of a day ; or, the marriage of Figaro.: A comedy, as it is now performing! at the Theatre-Royal, Covent-garden. from the French of M. de beaumarchais. Amazon. Retrieved December 14, 2021, from https://www.amazon.com/Marriage-Figaro-Pierre-Beaumarchais-ebook/dp/B005XSCBBK.

The marriage of figaro in about a minute - youtube. (n.d.). Retrieved December 14, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWX5oGv2Jxo.