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Figaro: The Life of Beaumarchais

John Rivers

Beaumarchais – Watchmaker, music teacher, politician, opportunist, publisher, secret agent for Louis XVI, yet fomenter of revolution in both France and America – and yet again imprisoned for being an enemy of the Revolution. . . Friend of Voltaire, libertarian, arms dealer, and dramatist whose famous Figaro trio of satirical plays reflects the dissolution of Medieval society and torturous emergence of a new democratic era. This biography by John Rivers was originally published in 1922. (Summary by Lynette Caulkins)

Genre(s): Biography & Autobiography

Language: English

Keyword(s): biography (335), french revolution (60), american revolution (28), Voltaire (13), figaro (4), beaumarchais (3), dramatist (2), barber of seville (1), playwrite (1), revolutionaries (1)

Section	Chapter	Reader	Time
Play 00	Preface	Lynette Caulkins	00:04:38
Play 01	Ch. I - In Which the Handsome Watchmaker Comes to Court	Pamela Nagami	00:12:36
Play 02	Ch. II - Mme. Francquet and the First Marriage of Beaumarchais	Zunzil	00:13:06
Play 03	Ch. III - The Duel	Kerry Adams	00:22:55
Play 04	Ch. IV - Some Early Adventures of Beaumarchais	William Bruce McFadden	00:15:39
Play 05	Ch. V - An Adventure in Spain	Rita Boutros	00:40:10
Play 06	Ch. VI - In Old Madrid	Rita Boutros	00:31:40
Play 07	Ch. VII - The Story of the Beautiful Creole	Rita Boutros	00:44:43
Play 08	Ch. VIII - Beaumarchais in His Early Plays	Rita Boutros	00:18:52
Play 09	Ch. IX - Mme. Lévêque and the Second Marriage of Beaumarchais	Zunzil	00:09:54
Play 10	Ch. X - Beaumarchais at Law	czandra	00:07:12
Play 11	Ch. XI - Beaumarchais, the Mad Duke, and the Demi-Mondaine	czandra	00:29:10
Play 12	Ch. XII - Beaumarchais in Prison	Tatiana Chichilla	00:10:17
Play 13	Ch. XIII - How "Louis XV Overthrew the Old Parlement and Fifteen Louis the New"	Sarah Rothwell	00:37:50
Play 14	Ch. XIV - How "Louis XV Overthrew the Old Parlement and Fifteen Louis the New" Continued	Sarah Rothwell	00:29:21
Play 15	Ch. XV - Concerning Mlle. Willermaula and the Third Marriage of Beaumarchais	Zunzil	00:08:53
Play 16	Ch. XVI - On Secret Service	Availle	00:15:58
Play 17	Ch. XVII - Beaumarchais and the Brigands of the Leichtenholtz	Sarah Rothwell	00:16:35
Play 18	XVIII - A Mysterious Affair	Sonia James R. Hedrick	00:22:27
Play 19	XIX - "The Barber of Seville"	James R. Hedrick	00:53:47
Play 20	XX - Beaumarchais and the Chevalier d'Éon	Isaac Wachsman	00:21:38
Play 21	XXI - The Rehabilitation of Beaumarchais	Isaac Wachsman	00:06:47
Play 22	XXII - Beaumarchais in Conflict with the Players	Isaac Wachsman	00:14:15
Play 23	XXIII - Beaumarchais Closes His Account	Isaac Wachsman	00:12:19
Play 24	XXIV - In Which Beaumarchais Discovers America	mkirkpat	00:26:48
Play 25	XXV - Beaumarchais and Voltaire	William Bruce McFadden	00:14:12
Play 26	XXVI - About "The Marriage of Figaro"	Sarah Rothwell	00:21:00
Play 27	XXVII - "The Marriage of Figaro" - Part 1	James R. Hedrick	00:23:00
Play 28	XXVII - "The Marriage of Figaro" - Part 2	James R. Hedrick	00:44:28
Play 29	XXVIII - Beaumarchais and Mirabeau	czandra	00:08:28
Play 30	XXIX - The Tribulations of a Knight-Errant	Sarah Rothwell	00:22:17
Play 31	XXX - Tarare, and the Last Incarnation of Figaro	William Bruce McFadden	00:14:59
Play 32	XXXI - Beaumarchais and the Deluge	mkirkpat	00:31:19
Play 33	XXXII - The Exile's Return, Last Years and Death	Tatiana Chichilla	00:11:15

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Figaro: The Life of Beaumarchais