The play, The Barber of Seville by Beaumarchais, had a very interesting plot that immediately caught my attention. I am a fan of the romance genre, so after reading the first page, I got a sense of the play being a romance genre. That being so, I could already predict that there would be an obstacle in Count Almaviva’s path to courting Rosine. While reading the play, there were certain parts I could predict and parts that I found surprising. The parts that were surprising had the same theme of fate.

Right when the play starts, the setting is described where Count Almaviva is pacing below Rosine’s lattice. This instantly reminded me of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet because of the famous balcony scene. Although the beginning had hinted to me that this play would be of the romance genre, the Count’s monologue made it uncertain for me to officially label it with that. As the play moves on, Count Almaviva sings to Rosine telling her about himself and his infatuation of her, supporting my claim on the romantic genre. “My love for you is all I have to offer…” (p52) As the love between the Count and Rosine begins to bloom, with Bartholo as the thorn sticking to their side, the sense that this was a comedic opera began to fade and lose its standing. While I read the play, I did not find any part of it humorous. Maybe the way I read it had disintegrated the humor in the play. However, I do not believe that that would hold a strong influence on the play itself.

As love began to bloom between Count Almaviva and Rosine, and obstacles suddenly appearing to keep them apart, the reoccurring theme of fate appeared alongside the obstacles. This is because the obstacles test the fat between the Count and Rosine, bringing up the question of whether or not they will get married to each other. This is shown when Count Almaviva is trying to hand Rosine a letter in response to her letter in his disguise as a drunk soldier. “But why shouldn’t you show it to me?…”(p71) This is spoken by Bartholo, as he insists to see the letter he believed he saw the Count hand to Rosine, indicating his distrust towards Rosine. By insisting to see the letter, he not only distrusts Rosine, but is also trying to determine if Rosine is contacting a lover. If Rosine was to hand over the letter, she would immediately be caught and would have probably have to marry Bartholo immediately; that would be terrible! So, from that incident, the fate of Count Almaviva and Rosine were tested.