While the play and opera versions of The Barber of Seville both have the same characters, same plot and take place in the same city, there are many slight differences. Of all the characters, Rosina and Figaro had the greatest differences in the two forms of the work. They both seemed much more involved in the opera version.

I felt that Rosine in the play was less present than she was in the opera. In the play, both Bartolo and the Count want to marry her but you don’t see her thinking about ther options and making chices about her own life as much as in the opera. In the opera, you can see her making the choices about what she wants. She is much more rebellious than in the play. I found her much more interesting and relatable in the opera than in the play.

Figaro was also much more important in the opera than the play. In the play you can see his role in the relationship between the Count and Rosine but you don’t see him as a major character as much in that version as you do in the opera.