Summary of Carmen
In the classic novella “Carmen”, the narrator recounts how he encounters a beautiful gitana (Romani woman) in Córdoba, as well as a man named Don José Navarro. The story follows Don José’s obsessive love for Carmen and how she draws him into a life of smuggling and crime around Seville. As Carmen grows tired of him and tells him she no longer loves him, Don José becomes consumed by jealousy and ultimately kills her.
Reasons to read Carmen
“Carmen” is a famous Romantic tragedy about passion, jealousy, and destructive love. It explores how Carmen’s manipulations and Don José’s jealousy culminate in tragedy and murder. Modern readers should keep in mind that this is a 19th-century work and that its portrayal of Romani people (“Gypsies”) and of women in general reflects the stereotypes and attitudes of its era. “Carmen” remains an important work of Romantic literature and reflects the fascination many Europeans of the time had with Spain and Andalusia (see also the success of Irving’s “Tales of the Alhambra”, Potocki’s “The Manuscript Found in Saragossa”, and Alarcón’s “The Three-Cornered Hat”). Mérimée’s novella later inspired the opera Carmen by Georges Bizet, which made the story internationally renowned. Other notable works by the French Romantic writer Prosper Mérimée include “Mateo Falcone”, “Tamango”, “La Vénus d’Ille”, and “Colomba”.
Setting: Cordoba, Sevilla (Andalusia, Spain)
Original title: Carmen
Year of publication: 1845
Nr of pages: 53
