Carmen

by Georges Bizet  1875

PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS 

DON JOSE	Corporal
ZUNIGA	Captain
MORALES	Corporal
MICAELA	Peasant girl
ESCAMILLO	Matador
CARMEN	Gypsy
FRASQUITA	Gypsy
MERCEDES	Gypsy

Carmen, a tempestuous wayward and beautiful gypsy girl desired by all the men, left her people to works in a Seville cigarette factory.  Arrested after a fight with one of her colleagues, she is assigned to the custody of Don Jose, a corporal in the local barracks, Carmen works her charms on the soldier and persuades him to free her .Thoroughly bewitched by Carmen, he allows her to escape and is himself placed under arrest

Micaela, Don Jose's sweetheart has just arrived from their country village to look for him.

Meanwhile, at the tavern of Lillas Pastia, a haunt of gypsies and smugglers, the glamorous toreador ,Escamillo arrives with his entourage  and sets his sights on Carmen, although tempted by him, she decides to wait for Jose.

When Jose arrives at the tavern, Zuniga his superior officer and other soldiers watch as Carmen and her friends dance

Don Jose becomes involved in a fight with his superior officer. 

Don Jose declares his passionate love for Carmen a love that leads him to quit the troops and join her smugglers companions and gypsies in the mountains.

Carmen reads her fortune in the cards, and foresees death, she is already tiring of Don Jose who while disenchanted with the new life is totally under Carmen's spell and consumed with jealousy towards Escamillo. 

When Micaela appears pleading with Jose to return home with her, because his mother is dying, Carmen urges him to go.

Ignoring the gypsy's change of heart and spurning Micaela, the unhappy Jose driven close to insanity, follows Carmen to Seville and accosts her outside the bull ring, begging her to start a new life with him, she now loves Escamillo and pushes him away, at the very moment the crowd erupts in excitement over Escamillo's triumph, Jose, crazed with grief and jealousy, stab Carmen to death.   Escamillo emerges triumphant from the arena to find Carmen dead with Don Jose nearby, sobbing his confession.

Synopsis

Act I - A town square in Seville

Moralès and his soldiers pass their time reading and playing dice. Micaëla appears, looking for her fiancé, Corporal Don José. She is told that José will arrive with the changing of the guard. Micaëla departs. Lieutenant Zuniga and Don José arrive for the changing of the guard. The midday bell rings, and the women who have been working in the factory come outside for their break. Among them is Carmen, who entrances all - except Don José. Carmen throws a flower at him and returns to the factory .

Micaëla returns with a letter from Don José's mother. Suddenly, sounds of a fight are heard in the factory. Women burst loudly into the square, and Carmen is accused of wounding her co-worker with a knife. José is ordered to arrest Carmen. Once they are alone, Carmen convinces José to help her escape. Don José unties Carmen and she flees. José is arrested.

 Act II - Lillas Pastia's tavern   

At the end of a dance, Lieutenant Zuniga tells Carmen that José has been released after a month in prison. The famous bullfighter Escamillo arrives. He is immediately attracted to Carmen, but she refuses his advances. The smugglers Remendado , ask Carmen, to help on a smuggling mission Carmen refuses, saying again that she is waiting for Don José

Don José arrives and Carmen dances for him. When Don José tells Carmen he must return to the barracks, she mocks him and accuses him of not loving her; if he did, he would leave the army and join her in the mountains. Don José tells her he loves her but that he must go. Zuniga bursts in. The two men brawl. Zuniga and Don José are restrained, but now that Don José has attacked his superior officer, he has no choice but to leave the army and join the smugglers.

 Act III - A mountain hideaway

The smugglers are on their way to the border with their stolen goods. There is tension between Carmen and Don José.

They have an argument and Carmen joins the women, who are using cards to tell their fortunes. For Carmen, the cards foresee only death.  Don José is left behind to guard stolen goods at the camp. Micaëla enters searching for Don José, but she hides when Don José fires his gun at an intruder. It is Escamillo, searching for Carmen. Don José is furious, and they fight. They are interrupted by Carmen and the other smugglers. Escamillo departs, inviting everyone-especially Carmen-to his next bullfight in Seville.  Micaëla  reveals that Don José's mother is dying. She begs him to return home. Carmen urges him to go. Don José decides he must leave, but he warns Carmen that they will meet again.

 Act IV - Outside the bullring in Seville

Carmen escorts Escamillo as an excited crowd cheers the bullfighters. Frasquita and Mercédès warn Carmen that Don José has been seen in the crowd. Don José finds Carmen alone and pleads with her to forget the past and start a new life with him. Carmen tells Don José that everything between them is over. When Don José tries to prevent Carmen from joining her new lover, she loses her temper. She angrily throws down a ring that Don José had given her, enraged, Don José stabs Carmen as the crowd cheers Escamillo's victory.