"The Marriage of Figaro's Countess Almaviva"

 In The Marriage of Figaro, Countess Almavia is the wife of Count Almaviva Governor of Andalusia. The Countess, looks to regain the Count's love and affection since he's veering towards Suzzanne with a rightful claim, droit du seigneur. Suzanne is the Countess's principal chambermaid and Figaro's fiancee; he is the Count's valet and steward of the castle. I chose the Countess because she seems to be a victim to her husband's pleasures of women; she sets a plan in motion in hopes to end the Counts intentions. Countess quotes, "No one else is put at risk, and the Count can hardly complain about love to his wife."(Sahlins, 55) 

"The Countess and Cherubino"
Charlemagne-Oscar Guet
1820
Art Resource, N.Y.

Countess class status is high ranking but not of a Queen. She is liked by her chambermaid and others around her, unlike her husband. She likes and respects Suzanne even though they are of a different class. The Countess is smart in respects to planning a plot that leans in her and Suzanne's favor. She is faithful as her husband expects her to be and is geared toward fairness but is determined to win her husband's affection back. Cherubino a young page in the household who was infatuated with the Countess, he was first selected to meet the Count and dress like Suzanne. The Countess purpose to teach her husband a lesson will affect others along the way and help Suzzane to be allowed to marry Figaro. 

"What pleases us about the Countess is to see her frankly struggling against a growing attraction which is distressing to her, as well as against her very legitimate grievances." (Beaumarchais) In one auspicious day, she sorely sacrifices her romantic inclination, and at the same time suppresses her wifey indignation in order to win back her unfaithful husband-surely, these efforts of hers need no analysis whatsoever to make us applaud her triumph; she is a model of virtue, an example to her own sex, the idol of ours." (Beaumarchais)

In Act 5, in a meeting  in the garden, the Count tries to seduce Suzanne but the Count doesn't know it's the Countess. Figaro grows angry nearby observing while thinking it's Suzanne. He comes close to intervene but the Count flees. The countess is near and Figaro meets with who he thinks is Suzzane. He realizes it's the Countess. 

Suzanne notices Figaro discovered the Countess and tells him why they did what they did to the Count. Suzanne slips away when she sees the Count. He returns to find his wife with Figaro and puts him under arrest. Figaro acts like he was going to have an affair with the Countess. He goes to retrieve his wife in the Pavillion to make her confess in front of everyone but finds others instead. 

"Marriage of Figaro"
October 8, 1819
Theatre Royal, Birmingham
 

Suzanne comes forward but hides her face to make him believe it is the Countess. Figaro and others fall to their knees for forgiveness. He says he will not and the Countess comes forth. He now sees he's been plotted against with a trick. He tells her he feels like a child and she tells him to learn from it. Here, in the satire the role is reversed, the Count feels like he's been tricked and feels like a child and not as smart as he thought he was.   

In the end, Figaro and Susanna get married. Figaro,"My wife and fortune apart-you are all welcome to what I have." (Sahlins, 105) What I take from this is, my wife and fortune are mine and you can have everything else. Figaro is the better man who won in the end. While the Countess taught her husband a lesson fidelity.   

The Marriage of Figaro – Dove sono (Dorothea Röschmann, The Royal Opera)(Video 4:45)

Citations

Beaumarchais. “The Preface to ‘The Marriage of Figaro.’” The Tulane Drama Review, vol. 2, no. 2, 1958, pp. 3–27, https://doi.org/10.2307/1124743. Accessed 10 May 2022.

Bernard, Sahlins, and Nicholas Rudall, The Marriage of Figaro. Pierre Augustin de Beaumarchais, 1994.

Charlemagne-Oscar Guet. The Countess and Cherubino; from Beaumarchais’ Marriage of Figaro (La Comtesse et Le Ché;Rubin). https://jstor.org/stable/community.15674096. Musée Bonnat. Accessed 10 May 2022.

Royal Opera House."The Marriage of Figaro – Dove sono (Dorothea Röschmann, The Royal Opera)." YouTube, 10 Sep, 2015. https://youtu.be/1WNvbEUZZXo. Accessed 10 May 2022

Theatre Royal (Birmingham, England) (theater company, British, act. 1774-1956), and unknown (printer, British). Marriage of Figaro, Theatre Royal, Birmingham [Playbill for Performance October 8, 1819]. https://jstor.org/stable/community.17247404. Trinity College, Watkinson Library (Hartford, Connecticut, USA). Accessed 10 May 2022.

Wikipedia contributors. "The Marriage of Figaro." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 6 May. 2022. Web. 10 May. 2022.