This dramatic trilogy follows the adventures of a cunning barber whose schemes and wit manipulate both the aristocracy and common folk. Set against a historical backdrop, the stories are brimming with humor, romance, and social satire. These works are renowned not only as stage plays but primarily as the foundation for famous operatic adaptations.
Trois parties: Avant d'aborder le texte - Le texte - Comment lire l'oeuvre. La collection propose l'ďition annotě, commentě et illustrě du texte intǧral de l'oeuvre; une biographie de l'auteur; les contextes et la gens̈e de l'oeuvre; un appareil pďagogique et des outils de lecture.
Le texte intégral est accompagné d'une introduction présentant l'auteur, l'oeuvre (schéma narratif, sources littéraires, critiques) ainsi qu'un parcours thématique sur la vie au temps de Beaumarchais et les comédies permettant à l'élève d'approfondir sa réflexion.
A French courtier, secret agent, libertine and adventurer, Beaumarchais (1732-99) was also author of two sparkling plays about the scoundrelly valet Figaro triumphant successes that were used as the basis of operas by Mozart and Rossini. 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 created an audacious farce of disguise and mistaken identity that balances wit, frivolity and seriousness in equal measure