Carmen | Georges Bizét

ACT: I 

In a modern industrial town in America, soldiers stand guard near a cigarette factory, watching people go by. Among them is a young newcomer, Micaëla, who approaches the soldiers to ask for Don José. His comrade, Moralès, tells her that José will be back at the next shift change. When the shift ends, led by their commanding officer Zuniga, Don José returns, and Moralès informs him that Micaëla had come by asking for him. 

As the factory bell rings, the men eagerly gather to watch the female workers exit, especially the alluring Carmen. She teases them, proclaiming that love is free and bound by no rules. Only one man, Don José, remains indifferent. Carmen, undeterred, throws a flower his way, which he quickly picks up and hides when Micaëla returns. She brings him a letter from his mother back in the countryside, and after she leaves, José reads it.

José is about to discard the flower when a commotion erupts inside the factory—Carmen is fighting with another woman. Zuniga sends José to break it up, and he brings Carmen outside. Defiant, Carmen refuses to respond to Zuniga’s questions, prompting him to order José to lock her up. When the two are left alone, Carmen seduces José with the promise of a secret meeting just outside town. Entranced, José decides to let her go. Instead of escorting her to the lockup, he helps her escape, leading to his own arrest.

ACT: II

Carmen and her friends, Frasquita and Mercédès, entertain a lively crowd in the back of a large truck. Zuniga arrives and informs Carmen that José has just been released. Soon, Escamillo, a popular rodeo star, drives down the highway with his entourage. The group stops, spilling onto the road to listen as Escamillo brags about his thrilling profession. He tries to charm Carmen, but she brushes him off, saying she’s already involved with someone. Most of the partiers leave with Escamillo, while Carmen, Frasquita, and Mercédès stay behind with the smugglers, Dancaïre and Remendado, who try to rope them into a new smuggling venture. Frasquita and Mercédès are eager to help, but Carmen declines, explaining she’s in love.

When Dancaïre and Remendado step away, José arrives, and he and Carmen are left alone at a deserted gas station. Carmen playfully taunts him by mentioning that she danced for Zuniga. She dances for José as well, but when he hears a distant signal, he insists he must return to duty. Frustrated, Carmen mocks his dedication. In an attempt to prove his love, José shows her the flower she tossed to him when they first met, admitting its scent kept him hopeful during his imprisonment. Carmen, however, remains unimpressed; if he truly loved her, he would abandon the army and live a free life with her in the mountains. José refuses, leading Carmen to coldly tell him to leave.

Just then, Zuniga shows up looking for Carmen. Enraged with jealousy, José fights him. The smugglers return, disarming Zuniga. Now, having attacked his superior, José has no choice but to join their group.

ACT: III

The truck, last seen speeding down the highway, now lies wrecked on a mountain pass, smoke rising from its twisted frame. Women climb out from the back, while the smugglers unload crates of weapons, preparing to move them across the border. Carmen and José argue heatedly; she confesses that her feelings for him are waning and urges him to return to his mother. Meanwhile, Frasquita and Mercédès read their fortunes with cards, seeing love and wealth ahead. But Carmen’s fate is darker: her cards foretell death—for both her and José.

Just then, Micaëla arrives, unnerved by the isolated mountainside and reluctant to face the woman who has driven José to crime. She hides when a gunshot echoes—José has fired at an intruder, who turns out to be Escamillo. Escamillo reveals he’s there to find Carmen, sparking a fight between him and José. The smugglers break up the struggle, and Escamillo leaves, inviting everyone, especially Carmen, to watch him in his next rodeo. After he departs, Micaëla steps forward and begs José to come back home. He reluctantly agrees upon learning that his mother is dying. Before leaving, however, he warns Carmen that their paths will cross again.

ACT: IV

The atmosphere in the grand rodeo arena is electric, with a bustling crowd full of excitement. Carmen arrives, linked arm-in-arm with Escamillo, flanked by his entourage. Frasquita and Mercédès quickly approach her, warning that José is nearby, watching her from a distance. Unfazed, Carmen waits at the entrance as the spectators begin to fill the stands. José soon appears and desperately pleads with her to forget their tumultuous past and start anew together. Carmen remains calm and resolute, telling him their relationship is over. She was born free, she says, and will live freely until her final breath. As the crowd erupts in cheers for Escamillo, José continues to press her, but when Carmen removes his ring, tosses it at his feet, and walks toward the arena, José, in a fit of rage, takes her life.