Raquelle

Perspectives
Love Regained
by Rory Runnells
The Marriage of Figaro is about a lot
of things, but love, and its expression
as sexual desire in many of its
permutations and combinations,
is at its heart.
On the estate of the embattled Count and
Countess Almaviva, almost all the characters
are in love or lamenting lost love – as does
the Countess for the Count; are tortured
by burgeoning sexual desire – as are the
younger ones, the page Cherubino, and
the gardener’s daughter Barbarina; or
rediscovering an old passion turned to
love – as are the oldest ones, Dr. Bartolo
and Marcellina.
The Count’s sexual desires upset his own
world though he doesn’t see it. Figaro,
at the centre of the action, as he was in
The Barber of Seville, is the lightning rod
and the clever manipulator of the plot.
However, he is now in love with his
bride-to-be, Susanna, and the dark side
of love: jealousy, will rear its ugly head
in him and others.
Figaro and Susanna are confident in their
love, but the nasty custom – the infamous
“droit du seigneur” – challenges it severely
before peace can return. This supposedly
medieval custom allowed the lord of the
estate to sleep with the bride of a vassal on
the wedding night. There is no convincing
evidence of this custom ever existing.
At most, there was a money payment to the
lord, who originally did have the right to
select a vassal’s bride. In any case, the Count
doesn’t need that custom, which in the
opera he claims has been banished, to try
to get it on with any female, especially
Susanna, who outwits him at every turn.
Crazy passion whirls around, but it is the
reconciliation of the Countess and Count
which ends the mad day of desire gone
wild. In one of the most moving scenes
in opera, the Countess grants the Count
the pardon for which he begs for his
thoughtlessly cruel out-of-line behaviour
towards her (not to mention everyone else).
The Countess is the most sympathetic
character in this work. It’s easy to feel her
bewilderment at seemingly losing the
Count’s ardent love which was quite evident
in The Barber of Seville, while remaining,
possibly against her better judgment,
passionate about him. If you have known
love, you can understand that.
The multiple couplings that end Figaro
signify that love can be regained and
discovered, in both young and old. Love
conquers all? For the moment, anyway,
and Mozart’s exquisite, joyous music in the
finale makes one hope that it can forever.
Rory Runnells is Artistic Director of the Manitoba
Association of Playwrights, Drama Editor for
Prairie Fire magazine, and writes book reviews
for the Winnipeg Free Press.
Special Thanks to our Season and The Marriage of Figaro Production and Performance Sponsors:
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