The Marriage of Figaro Synopsis

ACT I

The former Barber of Seville, Figaro, measures the room he will use after his marriage to Susanna. Susanna tells him that their master, the Count Almaviva, has given them the room so he can be close to her. Figaro vows to outwit his master.

Dr. Bartolo, the Countess's guardian and suitor, arrives with the housekeeper Marcellina. Bartolo is eager for revenge against Figaro - who caused him to lose his ward to Almaviva. Knowing that Figaro once gave Marcellina his promise of marriage as collateral on a loan, Bartolo persuades her to press charges.

Susanna returns and trades insults with Marcellina. The skirt-chasing page Cherubino enters, begging Susanna's protection from the Count who caught him flirting with the gardener's daughter Barbarina. Cherubino hides as the Count enters to woo Susanna. When Don Basilio appears, the Count hides. Basilio tells Susanna that Cherubino is enamored with the Countess and the Count steps out of hiding.

Figaro appears with a group of peasants to salute the Count for abolishing the droit du seigneur , an old custom of giving a nobleman the first night with any bride among his retainers.

ACT II

In her boudoir, the Countess laments the waning of her husband's love, plotting to chasten him - she is encouraged by Susanna and Figaro. They devise a plot. Cherubino, disguised as Susanna, will meet with the Count. When Figaro leaves, the page comes to serenade the Countess with a song. While dressing   the boy in girls' clothes, Susanna goes out for a ribbon. The Count knocks, furious to find the door locked. Before admitting the Count, the Countess locks Cherubino in a closet. The jealous Count hears a noise; the Countess insists it is only Susanna. Taking his wife with him, he goes to find tools to force the closet lock. Susanna returns with the ribbon and helps Cherubino from the closet and out a window. Susanna hides in the closet.

The gardener, Antonio, appears with crushed flowers. Figaro claims he had jumped from the window and fakes a sprained ankle. The Count finds a paper in the flowers. The women identify it as Cherubino's. Marcellina, Bartolo and Basilio burst in with a court summons for Figaro. The Count happily postpones the wedding.

ACT III

At the Countess's prompting, Susanna promises the Count a rendezvous. The Count overhears Susanna and Figaro conspiring and grows suspicious - he vows revenge. Now alone, the Countess hopes to revive her husband's love for her.

Marcellina demands that Figaro pay her or marry her. A hidden birthmark, however, proves that Figaro is really the long-lost son of Marcellina and Bartolo.

The conspiracy against the Count continues as the Countess dictates a note to Susanna that invites her husband into the garden for a meeting. Disguised as a peasant, Cherubino brings flowers to the Countess.

As the wedding ceremony takes place, Susanna slips the Count a note sealed with a pin. The Count drops the pin, which is retrieved by Figaro.

ACT IV

The pin is meant to accompany the Count's reply, but the messenger Barbarina cannot find it in the garden. She explains her predicament to Figaro, who is unaware of the ladies' latest plot. He thinks Susanna has betrayed him. He gives Barbarina another pin, and plans to ambush his bride with the Count.

Susanna appears, rhapsodizing on her love for Figaro - without naming him. Figaro assumes the Serenade is for the Count.

Later, Susanna and the Countess secretly exchange dresses. In the darkness, both Cherubino and the Count woo the Countess, thinking her to be Susanna. Figaro recognizes the joke and gets even by wooing Susanna in her Countess disguise.

When the Count returns, he sees Figaro flirting with his wife. He calls everyone to witness his judgment. He is silenced when the real Countess appears and reveals the ruse. The Countess grants the Count's pleas for forgiveness and everyone celebrates.