The Barber of Seville Literary Elements

Play (later converted into an opera)

French (although the opera version is most commonly performed in Italian)

Seville, Spain

Because this is a play, there is no narrator. Each character speaks in the first person, and presents his or her own point of view.

Because this play is a comedy, the tone is generally light and playful.

The primary protagonist is Count Almaviva, who has fallen in love with a young woman named Rosine, who is a secondary protagonist. Rosine's guardian, the Doctor, is the antagonist.

To retain control of Rosine (and, more importantly, the assets she has inherited), her guardian Doctor Bartholo plans to manipulate her into marrying him as soon as she is of legal age. This is not a marriage she wants; she prefers the "student" Lindor who is actually Count Almaviva in disguise.

The climax of the play occurs when Doctor Bartholo leaves looking for a judge to draw up a marriage contract between himself and Rosine.

By disguising himself as the student Lindor, the Count hopes to find out whether his intended wife loves him for his own sake, and not only for his money. This guarantees that he will eventually hear some malicious gossip being spread about him.

Figaro keeps addressing Almaviva as "my lord", and treats him respectfully even though he is in disguise. Eventually this gets Rosine's attention.

The fact that Rosine has a guardian is a reference to a class related inheritance custom. Orphans from wealthy families were not sent to orphanages, but were assigned to guardians who were generally friends or extended family members. These guardians were responsible for raising and educating the orphans, and for managing their inherited wealth. It was not unusual for a guardian to misappropriate, embezzle, or otherwise misuse his ward's money.

Music imagery is everywhere in this play. Rosine initiates contact with "Lindoro" by dropping a sheet of music out a window.

Almaviva believes he must disguise himself as a much poorer man to ensure Rosine loves him for his own sake, but because he is in disguise he cannot defend himself from the slander that turns Rosine against him.

The words of the songs "Lindor" and Rosine sing to each other parallel their growing feelings for one another.

Personification does not appear significantly in this play, however the song "Vive le vin" or "long live the wine" suggests that wine, an inanimate object, could be at least symbolically alive and a purveyor of happiness to others.

The most commonly used dramatic device in this play is music. Two lovers communicate to one another in song, conduct a courtship during a music lesson by using music to lull Bartholo to sleep, and is the means by which Rosine initially contacts "Lindor".