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Carmen (novella)
Encyclopedia
"Carmen" is a novella
by Prosper Mérimée
, written and first published in 1845. It has been adapted into a number of dramatic works, including the famous opera
by Georges Bizet
.
, "Carmen" was inspired by a story she told him on his visit to Spain
in 1830. He said, "It was about that ruffian from Málaga
who had killed his mistress, who consecrated herself exclusively to the public. […] As I have been studying the Gypsies for some time, I have made my heroine a Gypsy."
An important source for the material on the Romani people (Gypsies) was George Borrow
's book The Zincali (1841). Another source may have been the narrative poem "The Gypsies" by Alexander Pushkin (Brown 1986).
Part I. While searching for the site of the Battle of Munda
in a lonely spot in Andalusia
, Mérimée meets a man who his guide hints is a dangerous robber. Instead of fleeing, Mérimée befriends the man by sharing cigars and food. They stay in the same primitive inn that night. The guide tells Mérimée that the man is the robber known as Don José Navarro and leaves to inform on him, but Mérimée warns Don José, who escapes.
Part II. Later, in Córdoba
, Mérimée meets Carmen, a beautiful Romani woman who is fascinated by his repeating watch
. He goes to her home so she can tell his fortune
, and she impresses him with her occult knowledge. They are interrupted by Don José, and although Carmen makes throat-cutting gestures, José escorts Mérimée out. Mérimée finds his watch is missing.
Some months later, again in Córdoba, a friend of Mérimée's tells him that Don José Navarro is to be garrotted
the next day. Mérimée visits the prisoner and hears the story of his life.
Part III. Our robber's real name is José Lizarrabengoa, and he is a Basque
hidalgo
from Navarre
. He killed a man in a fight resulting from a game of paume
(presumably some form of Basque pelota) and had to flee. In Seville
he joined a unit of dragoon
s, soldiers with police functions.
One day he met Carmen, then working in the cigar factory
he was guarding. As he alone in his unit ignored her, she teased him. A few hours later, he arrested her for cutting x's in a co-worker's face in a quarrel. She convinced him by speaking Basque
that she was half Basque, and he let her go, for which he was imprisoned for a month and demoted.
After his release, he encountered her again and she repaid him with a day of bliss, followed by another when he allowed her fellow smugglers
to pass his post. He looked for her at the house of one of her Romani friends, but she entered with his lieutenant. In the ensuing fight, José killed the lieutenant and had to join Carmen's outlaw band.
With the outlaws, he progressed from smuggling to robbery, and was sometimes with Carmen but suffered from jealousy as she used her attractions to further the band's enterprises; he also learned that she was married. After her husband joined the band, José provoked a knife fight with him and killed him. Carmen became José's wife.
However, she told him she loved him less than before, and she became attracted to a successful young picador
named Lucas. José, mad with jealousy, begged her to forsake other men and live with him; they could start an honest life in America. She said that she knew from omens that he was fated to kill her, but "Carmen will always be free," and as she now hated herself for having loved him, she would never give in to him. He stabbed her to death and then turned himself in. Don José ends his tale by saying that the Romani are to blame for the way they raised Carmen.
Part IV. If readers expect a continuation of the story, perhaps with a description of José's execution, they will be surprised. This part consists of scholarly remarks on the Romani: their appearance, their customs, their conjectured history, and their language
. According to Henri Martineau, editor of a collection of Mérimée's fiction, the etymologies at the end are "extremely suspect".
indicate, the opera is based on Part III of the story only and eliminates many elements, such as Carmen's husband. It greatly increases the role of other characters, such as the Dancaïre, who is only a minor character in the story; the Remendado, who one page after he is introduced is wounded by soldiers and then shot by Carmen's husband to keep him from slowing the gang down; and Lucas (renamed Escamillo and promoted to matador
), who is seen only in the bull ring in the story. The opera's female singing roles other than Carmen—Micaëla, Frasquita, and Mercédès—have no counterparts in the novella. Carmen knows her fate not from reading cards but from interpreting such omen
s as a hare
running between José's horse's legs. Other differences are too numerous to list.
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
by Prosper Mérimée
Prosper Mérimée
Prosper Mérimée was a French dramatist, historian, archaeologist, and short story writer. He is perhaps best known for his novella Carmen, which became the basis of Bizet's opera Carmen.-Life:...
, written and first published in 1845. It has been adapted into a number of dramatic works, including the famous opera
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
by Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet formally Alexandre César Léopold Bizet, was a French composer, mainly of operas. In a career cut short by his early death, he achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen, became one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertory.During a...
.
Sources
According to a letter Mérimée wrote to the Countess of MontijoMaría Manuela Kirkpatrick
María Manuela Enriqueta Kirkpatrick de Closeburn y de Grivegnée, Countess of Montijo was the mother of Eugénie, the Empress of the French.-Biography:...
, "Carmen" was inspired by a story she told him on his visit to Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
in 1830. He said, "It was about that ruffian from Málaga
Málaga
Málaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...
who had killed his mistress, who consecrated herself exclusively to the public. […] As I have been studying the Gypsies for some time, I have made my heroine a Gypsy."
An important source for the material on the Romani people (Gypsies) was George Borrow
George Borrow
George Henry Borrow was an English author who wrote novels and travelogues based on his own experiences around Europe. Over the course of his wanderings, he developed a close affinity with the Romani people of Europe. They figure prominently in his work...
's book The Zincali (1841). Another source may have been the narrative poem "The Gypsies" by Alexander Pushkin (Brown 1986).
Plot summary
The novella comprises four parts. Only the first three appeared in the original publication in the October 1, 1845 issue of the Revue des Deux Mondes (Robinson 1992); the fourth first appeared in the book publication in 1846. Mérimée tells the story as if it had really happened to him on his trip to Spain in 1830.Part I. While searching for the site of the Battle of Munda
Battle of Munda
The Battle of Munda took place on March 17, 45 BC in the plains of Munda, modern southern Spain. This was the last battle of Julius Caesar's civil war against the republican armies of the Optimate leaders...
in a lonely spot in Andalusia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
, Mérimée meets a man who his guide hints is a dangerous robber. Instead of fleeing, Mérimée befriends the man by sharing cigars and food. They stay in the same primitive inn that night. The guide tells Mérimée that the man is the robber known as Don José Navarro and leaves to inform on him, but Mérimée warns Don José, who escapes.
Part II. Later, in Córdoba
Córdoba, Spain
-History:The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC. In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy...
, Mérimée meets Carmen, a beautiful Romani woman who is fascinated by his repeating watch
Watch
A watch is a small timepiece, typically worn either on the wrist or attached on a chain and carried in a pocket, with wristwatches being the most common type of watch used today. They evolved in the 17th century from spring powered clocks, which appeared in the 15th century. The first watches were...
. He goes to her home so she can tell his fortune
Fortune-telling
Fortune-telling is the practice of predicting information about a person's life. The scope of fortune-telling is in principle identical with the practice of divination...
, and she impresses him with her occult knowledge. They are interrupted by Don José, and although Carmen makes throat-cutting gestures, José escorts Mérimée out. Mérimée finds his watch is missing.
Some months later, again in Córdoba, a friend of Mérimée's tells him that Don José Navarro is to be garrotted
Garrote
A garrote or garrote vil is a handheld weapon, most often referring to a ligature of chain, rope, scarf, wire or fishing line used to strangle someone....
the next day. Mérimée visits the prisoner and hears the story of his life.
Part III. Our robber's real name is José Lizarrabengoa, and he is a Basque
Basque people
The Basques as an ethnic group, primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country , a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.The Basques are known in the...
hidalgo
Hidalgo (Spanish nobility)
A hidalgo or fidalgo is a member of the Spanish and Portuguese nobility. In popular usage it has come to mean the non-titled nobility. Hidalgos were exempt from paying taxes, but did not necessarily own real property...
from Navarre
Navarre
Navarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France...
. He killed a man in a fight resulting from a game of paume
Jeu de paume
Jeu de paume is a ball-and-court game that originated in France. It was an indoor precursor of tennis played without racquets, though these were eventually introduced. It is a former Olympic sport, and has the oldest ongoing annual world championship in sport, first established over 250 years ago...
(presumably some form of Basque pelota) and had to flee. In Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
he joined a unit of dragoon
Dragoon
The word dragoon originally meant mounted infantry, who were trained in horse riding as well as infantry fighting skills. However, usage altered over time and during the 18th century, dragoons evolved into conventional light cavalry units and personnel...
s, soldiers with police functions.
Royal Tobacco Factory
The Royal Tobacco Factory is an 18th-century stone building in Seville, southern Spain. Since the 1950s it has been the seat of the rectorate of the University of Seville. Prior to that, it was, as its name indicates, a tobacco factory: the most prominent such institution in Europe, and a lineal...
he was guarding. As he alone in his unit ignored her, she teased him. A few hours later, he arrested her for cutting x's in a co-worker's face in a quarrel. She convinced him by speaking Basque
Basque language
Basque is the ancestral language of the Basque people, who inhabit the Basque Country, a region spanning an area in northeastern Spain and southwestern France. It is spoken by 25.7% of Basques in all territories...
that she was half Basque, and he let her go, for which he was imprisoned for a month and demoted.
After his release, he encountered her again and she repaid him with a day of bliss, followed by another when he allowed her fellow smugglers
Smuggling
Smuggling is the clandestine transportation of goods or persons, such as out of a building, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.There are various motivations to smuggle...
to pass his post. He looked for her at the house of one of her Romani friends, but she entered with his lieutenant. In the ensuing fight, José killed the lieutenant and had to join Carmen's outlaw band.
With the outlaws, he progressed from smuggling to robbery, and was sometimes with Carmen but suffered from jealousy as she used her attractions to further the band's enterprises; he also learned that she was married. After her husband joined the band, José provoked a knife fight with him and killed him. Carmen became José's wife.
However, she told him she loved him less than before, and she became attracted to a successful young picador
Picador
A picador is one of the pair of horsemen in a Spanish bullfight that jab the bull with a lance. They perform in the tercio de varas which is the first of the three stages in a Spanish bullfight.The picador has three main functions:...
named Lucas. José, mad with jealousy, begged her to forsake other men and live with him; they could start an honest life in America. She said that she knew from omens that he was fated to kill her, but "Carmen will always be free," and as she now hated herself for having loved him, she would never give in to him. He stabbed her to death and then turned himself in. Don José ends his tale by saying that the Romani are to blame for the way they raised Carmen.
Part IV. If readers expect a continuation of the story, perhaps with a description of José's execution, they will be surprised. This part consists of scholarly remarks on the Romani: their appearance, their customs, their conjectured history, and their language
Romani language
Romani or Romany, Gypsy or Gipsy is any of several languages of the Romani people. They are Indic, sometimes classified in the "Central" or "Northwestern" zone, and sometimes treated as a branch of their own....
. According to Henri Martineau, editor of a collection of Mérimée's fiction, the etymologies at the end are "extremely suspect".
Differences from the opera
As the above summary and that of Bizet's operaCarmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
indicate, the opera is based on Part III of the story only and eliminates many elements, such as Carmen's husband. It greatly increases the role of other characters, such as the Dancaïre, who is only a minor character in the story; the Remendado, who one page after he is introduced is wounded by soldiers and then shot by Carmen's husband to keep him from slowing the gang down; and Lucas (renamed Escamillo and promoted to matador
Matador
A torero or toureiro is a bullfighter and the main performer in bullfighting, practised in Spain, Colombia, Portugal, Mexico, France and various other countries influenced by Spanish culture. In Spanish, the word torero describes any of the performers who actively participate in the bullfight...
), who is seen only in the bull ring in the story. The opera's female singing roles other than Carmen—Micaëla, Frasquita, and Mercédès—have no counterparts in the novella. Carmen knows her fate not from reading cards but from interpreting such omen
Omen
An omen is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change...
s as a hare
Hare
Hares and jackrabbits are leporids belonging to the genus Lepus. Hares less than one year old are called leverets. Four species commonly known as types of hare are classified outside of Lepus: the hispid hare , and three species known as red rock hares .Hares are very fast-moving...
running between José's horse's legs. Other differences are too numerous to list.
External links
Carmen, audio version