The sparkling plays about the scoundrelly valet Figaro, used as the basis of operas by Mozart and Roissini A highly engaging comedy of intrigue, The Barber of Seville portrays the resourceful Figaro foiling a jealous old man's attempts to keep his beautiful ward from her lover. And The Marriage of Figaro—condemned by Louis XVI for its daring satire of nobility and privilege—depicts a master and servant set in opposition by their desire for the same woman. With characteristic lightness of touch, Beaumarchais—a French courtier, secret agent, libertine, and adventurer—created an audacious farce of disguise and mistaken identity that balances wit, frivolity and seriousness in equal measure. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

The Barber of Seville and The Marriage of Figaro (Penguin Classics)

Literature & Fiction

De Beaumarchais, Pierre

John, Wood

Dramas & Plays

Penguin Classics

Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (1732-1799) was an exceptional French writer of prose comedy during the eighteenth century. He is best known for his theatrical works of the three Figaro plays. Beaumarchais had an action-filled career as a watchmaker, musician, secret agent, businessman, diplomat and a financer of revolutions. His literary career was as turbulent as his personal life. After a series of lawsuits in Paris, the accounts of his trials made his reputation as a sarcastic, effective, and recognized writer. "The Marriage of Figaro" is the second in the Figaro Trilogy, preceded by "The Barber of Seville" and followed by "The Guilty Mother". It was originally a comic opera, or a mixture of spoken play with music. This play was considered a foreshadowing of the French Revolution in its offense of the rights of the aristocracy. It was first banned in Vienna due to its satire of the nobility, considered dangerous in the decade before the revolution. Thanks to the great success of its predecessor, it opened with enormous success, eventually becoming one of Mozart's most successful operatic works.

The Marriage of Figaro

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