Beaumarchais in Seville: An Intermezzo [Hardcover]

Hugh Thomas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 24, 2007

In 1764-65 the irrepressible playwright Beaumarchais traveled to Madrid, where he immersed himself in the life and society of the day. Inspired by the places he had seen and the people he had met, Beaumarchais returned home to create The Barber of Seville and The Marriage of Figaro, plays that became the basis for the operas by Rossini and Mozart that continue to delight audiences today. This book is a lively and original account of Beaumarchais’s visit to Madrid (he never went to Seville) and a re-creation of the society that fired his imagination.
Drawing on Beaumarchais’s letters and commentaries, translated into English for the first time, Hugh Thomas investigates the full range of the playwright’s activities in Madrid. He focuses particular attention on short plays that Beaumarchais attended and by which he was probably influenced, and he probes the inspirations for such widely recognized characters as the barber-valet Figaro, the lordly Count Almaviva, and the beautiful but deceived Rosine. Not neglecting Beaumarchais’s many other pursuits (ranging from an endeavor to gain a contract for selling African slaves to an attempt to place his mistress as a spy in the bed of King Charles III), Lord Thomas provides a highly entertaining view of a vital moment in Madrid’s history and in the creative life of the energetic Beaumarchais.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais' plays The Barber of Seville and The Marriage of Figaro inspired Mozart and Rossini to score arguably the most well-known and beloved characters of the Golden Age. Thomas follows Beaumarchais to Madrid for a year to plumb the playwright's cultural and professional exploits and chart his megalomaniacal ambition. Along the way, Beaumarchais introduces us to situations and people that will eventually make their way to his stage. But however fascinating the fictional lineage of Figaro and Almaviva, the book's deeper gratification exists in a nuanced, critical, conscientiously researched portrait of the driven man who gave them birth. His noble inclinations soon take a backseat to his own compulsion for notoriety. His every action is defined by its opportunity to increase his personal wealth and stature, and he seems willing to exploit anything or anyone to that end. These pursuits reveal perhaps the most compelling facet of Beaumarchais' creative force; he possessed an unbridled ability to proclaim a position and perform its opposite. His scrupulous observation of his surroundings afforded him a rare and powerful understanding of the lives of the gentle classes, an understanding that informed the dramatic work that continues to thrill us today. Thomas Barthelmess
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"Hugh Thomas''s joyous, elegant and stylish Beaumarchais in Seville shows how much fun history can be."—Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.

(Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. )

"An enchanting and instructive book, full of historical and critical sensitivity. Thomas succeeds in one of the hardest tasks in literary criticism: linking creative output to the author’s own life story."—Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, Tufts University

(Felipe Fernandez-Armesto )

"Grimy streets, grim politics, greedy aristos, grasping parvenues, a grand guignol. Hugh Thomas''s disciplined imagination conjures vividly Beaumarchais'' world and mind."—Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, Tufts University

(Felipe Fernandez-Armesto )

"Beaumarchais'' Spanish adventure is related with wit and high spirits by the distinguished historian Hugh Thomas: Mozart would surely have loved to set the whole episode, as here described, to music."—Antonia Fraser, author of Marie Antoinette: The Journey

(Antonia Fraser )

"Hugh Thomas has written a brief, witty and enlightening account of the origins of those two key works: The Barber of Seville and The Marriage of Figaro. He brings to life Beaumarchais in the glittering epoch of profound frivolity before the French Revolution ruined all."—Paul Johnson

(Paul Johnson )

"A famous watchmaker''s progress? How to fix an unfaithful lover? A ravishing picture of mid-18th century Madrid? A foretaste of The Marriage of Figaro? All of these, and immensely enjoyable."—Brian Urquhart, Former Under Secretary General of the United Nations

(Brian Urquhart )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (January 24, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300121032
• ISBN-13: 978-0300121032
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,537,138 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars For diletanttes only, March 11, 2007

By 

Terrell Miller (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beaumarchais in Seville: An Intermezzo (Hardcover)

This is a detailed catelogue of what Beaumarchais did while in Seville and not much else. I had hoped to gain some insight as to how the Barber of Seville and The Marriage of Figaro might have been inspired by his experiences there but did not.

If you are interested in learning more about Beaumarchais' life just look in the 15 or so page introduction to the book of his Figaro trilogy plays.