A French courtier, secret agent, libertine and adventurer, Beaumarchais (1732-99) was also author of two sparkling plays about the scoundrelly valet Figaro - triumphant successes that were used as the basis of operas by Mozart and Rossini. A highly engagi
Eighteenth-century France produced only one truly international theater star, Beaumarchais, and only one name, Figaro, to combine with Don Quixote and D'Artagnan in the ranks of popular myth. But who was Figaro? He was quickly appropriated by Mozart and R
BARTHOLO - En ma place, Bazile, ne feriez-vous pas les derniers efforts pour la posséder? BAZILE - Ma foi non, Docteur. En toute espèce de biens, posséder est peu de chose; c'est jouir qui rend heureux : mon avis est qu'épouser une femme dont on n'est
