The comedy The Mad Day, or The Marriage of Figaro is a vivid satire
of society during the Ancien Régime and of aristocratic
privileges; it was first performed on April 27, 1784 and presaged
the beginning of the French Revolution, which it doubtlessly helped
bring about. After the fall of the monarchy in 1792, the comedy was
again performed on several Parisian stages, albeit the concluding
songs were modified by Beaumarchais. The final stanza of the
stuttering judge Don Gusman Brid’oison, which in 1784 had
concluded Tout fini-it par des chansons, was adapted to the
difficulties of the period: Pour tromper sa maladie, / Il [the
people] chantoit tout l’opera : / Dame ! il n’sait plus qu’ce
p’tit air-là : / Ca ira, ça ira... However, after the fall of
Robespierre and the Thermidorian Reaction, these words roiled young
Muscadins just as the previous ones had caused the Sansculottes to
react. Since the performances were disrupted by such turbulent
audiences, Beaumarchais entrusted La Rochelle, the actor who
performed the role of Brid’Oison, with an alternative ending that
could be recited en cas de bruit (in case of noise). This variant,
which remained unpublished until recently, was a praise of freedom
of speech and of the sang froid de la raison (the cold blood of
reason) against the stratagème (wiles) of ideological cabals.
Rights
e-codices - Virtual Manuscript Library of Switzerland
