Carmen (novella)
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 of the same name by Georges Bizet.[1]
Author
French
Revue des deux Mondes (periodical, first three parts), Michel Lévy (book, full version)
1845 (periodical),
1846 (book)
France
843.7
PQ2362.C3 E5
Carmen at Wikisource
Sources[edit]
According to a letter Mérimée wrote to the Countess of Montijo,[a] 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."[b]
An important source for the material on the Romani people (Gypsies, Gitanos) was George Borrow's book The Zincali (1841). Another source may have been the narrative poem The Gypsies (1824) by Alexander Pushkin, which Mérimée would later translate into French prose.[2]
Differences from Bizet's opera[edit]
The opera is based on Part III of the story and omits many elements, such as Carmen's husband. It greatly increases the role of other characters, such as the Dancaïre,[d] who is only a minor character in the story; the Remendado,[e] 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.
Other adaptations of the novella include the following:
(in French)
