From Banned Play to Opera Libretto

^{Portrait of Beaumarchais (1755) – Wikimedia Commons}

In the transition from play to opera, there were several significant changes to the content of The Marriage of Figaro for many different reasons, including time and content. When Da Ponte and Mozart wrote the libretto, it needed to be drastically shortened, but more importantly it needed to be far less controversial. Beaumarchais’ play Le mariage de Figaro had been banned in France by King Louis XVI in 1783, and Emperor Joseph II allowed the publication but banned the performance of the play in Vienna, most likely because of its outright mockery and criticism of aristocracy. The opera was accepted after Da Ponte promised the Emperor he had “omitted and shortened anything that could offend the sensibility and decency of … His Sovereign Majesty” (Carter 1987).

Among these changes were minor changes to dialogue, characterization, and the themes of some monologues in their adaptation to arias. There were several major, noticeable changes as well. Beaumarchais’ court scenes in Act III, in which the characters are actively navigating the Count’s judicial power, are omitted. And Figaro’s monologue in Act 5, where he directly condemns the aristocracy, is turned into his aria “Aprite un po,” a sexist piece about women’s supposed fickleness.

^{First edition of Beaumarchais’s Le Mariage de Figaro, page 1 – Librarie le Feu Follet}

The first omission of an anti-aristocracy theme occurs in Act 1, Scene 1. In both the play and the libretto, the first scene introduces the main characters, setting, and atmosphere. It is a dialogue between Figaro and Susanna, arguably the two most important characters in the story, that also introduces the initial power struggle between them as servants and their “lords,” the Count and Countess.

Both the play and libretto include a comical back and forth between Figaro and Susanna where they are arguing about the new location of their room:

^{Engraving of Act 1, Scene 1 – Susanna admiring her hat in the mirror, and Figaro measuring the room. From Orphea Taschenbuch für 1827 (MDZ)}

Beaumarchais play (translated):
FIGARO: If her Ladyship doesn’t feel well in the night, she’ll ring from that side and, tipperty-flip, you’re there in two ticks. If his Lordship wants something, all he has to do is ring on this side and, hoppity-skip, I’m there in two shakes.

SUZANNE: Exactly! But when he rings in the morning and sends you off on some long wild-goose chase, tipperty-flip, he’ll be here in two ticks, and then, hoppity-skip, in two shakes….

Da Ponte libretto (translated):
FIGARO: If Madame should call you in the evening – ding, ding – you can be there in two steps. If the occasion arises that the master calls me – don, don – I can be at his service in three jumps. 

SUSANNA: (ironically) If in the morning the dear Count commands you three miles away, the devil appears at my door, and then in three jumps…

This quote references directly the droit du seigneur, the feudal right of a lord to spend the first night with the bride of his serf  in order to “deflower” her. It may have not been an actual legal right, but was still practiced anyway as an informal form of tyranny (Andrews 2001). This supposed right has been referenced in various different theatrical settings, but never with a connotation of opposition like that of Figaro. In the quote above, Suzanne explicitly calls this right “disgusting,” a direct anti-aristocratic opinion leading to the political controversies held about this play. The opera includes the Count’s infidelity, but only mentions droit du seigneur through allusions and is never explicitly shamed.

^{Engraving from Act 3 – The Count attempts to seduce Suzanna. From Orphea Taschenbuch für 1827 (MDZ)}