Cherub in the Marriage of Figaro

 Satire is a brilliant writing mechanism that allows one to speak on important matters without being overly serious. It gets the message across in a rather light-hearted matter in hopes of social change. Often times satire is the "easier to swallow" pill, instead of guilting people, satire allows people to have a quick laugh, yet plant whatever seed the author is hoping to convey. A play Pierre Augustin de Beaumarchais called The Marriage of Figaro (or Le Nozze di Figaro in Italian, the play's original language), is a great example of using satire in hopes of evoking social change. It follows various characters that center around Figaro's marriage to Suzzane, or rather it follows various characters most determined on stopping the marriage. 

Cherubin singing the poem he wrote for the Countess in
Fredrick Wake-Walkers adaption

Cherubin is one of the most frequent characters in the play, and mischief seems to follow him into every scene. He's portrayed in a rather childish yet cheeky manner. Cherubin demeanor and characterization is an interesting aspect of the play. He sticks out in that, his endeavors are somewhat in contrast with the rest of the characters, "the character of Cherubin...does not really belong anywhere in teh main plot, though he is the authors most inspired creation and a frequent object of our concern and delight" (Rex 2). Whereas he has a schoolboy crush on the countess, the countess is struggling with marital issues with her unfaithful husband. Cherubin bemoans being caught with the gardener's daughter, while Figaro and his fiance, Suzanne's marriage is in jeopardy. His presence in the play adds a rather naive but hilarious aspect. 

Cherubin reciting his poem for the Countess 

Fun Fact: Cherubin is often played by a woman dressed as a boy. Erin Putte wrote a whole thesis discussing Cherubin's feminine characteristics and why Beaumarchais wrote him as such.   

While his endeavors might seem like they're added for mere comical purpose, more often than not Cherubin affects the plans of the characters in the play, in doing so moving the plot along. Walter E. Rex, in his analysis of the play, notes, "he [Cherubin] seems to be endlessly turning up in new and unpredictable places... No one else is a game player to the literal degree in the play" (3). His delay in joining the military, as ordered by the count for fraternizing with the gardener's daughter leads to quite an interesting sequence of events. 

For example, in Act 2, Cherubin is supposed to have been minding his affairs before he is to leave, and yet he is in the Countesses dressing room reciting the poem he has written for her. Figaro had devised a plan to distract the Count from preventing his marriage, and the Countess and Suzanne were going about dressing Cherubin as the Countess as part of the plan, as lo and behold, the Count arrives at the door. The Count demands they open the door, the Countess, Suzanne, and especially Cherubin, fearing the Count's reaction at still being in the Court as well as being in the Countesses dressing room, as Cherubin had quite the reputation with the ladies, lead to the Countess doing her best to distract him as Cherubin jumps out the window. Right past the gardener.

 The Count eventually enters the room and demands what is happening, enter Figaro who finds his plans nearly ruined, especially if the count finds out Cherubin was still here. To make matters worse, the gardener comes crashing in, speaking of a man thrown out the Countess's window.  Having to change his plans, Figaro claims that it was him that jumped from the window. 

And while Cherubin was in the clear for that moment, the rest of the characters had to do some fancy footwork trying to stay under the Count's radar in order to devise their plans. He is quite the character with never a dull moment. His seemingly harmless antics manage to throw the other character's plans haphazardly and in doing furthering the plot in hysterical ways.  

But in the end, Beaumarchais allows each character to resolves their issues and have a reasonably happy ending. Suzanne and Figaro's wedding goes forth, the Count and Countess manage to (somewhat) reconcile their issues, and our dear Cherubino gets a pardon from the Count. Figaro, happy and content declares, "My wife and fortune apart- you are all welcomed to what I have" (Act 5). It is only right that a satirical play would end with such an ironic line, as though the play the very things anyone wanted were either Figaro's fortune (Marceline demanding he pay her or marry him, turned out she was his mother, how Odepious) or his wife (the Count's obsession with Suzanne). Beaumarchais' play is a brilliant work of art, that serves to please both aesthetic and social-reform demands. 

Works Cited

Beaumarchais, Pierre. The Marriage of Figaro. 1799. translated by Bernard Sahlins, edited by Nicholas Rudall and Bernard Sahlins, Ivan R. Dee, Inc, 1994, p. 105. Accessed 9 Dec. 2020.

Cunningham, Lawrence S. Culture and Values. Cengage Learning, 2015.

Puttee, Erin. Undressing Cherubino: Reassessing Gender and Sexuality in Mozart’s Le Nozze Di Figaro.

Rex, Walter E. “Figaro's Games.” PMLA, vol. 89, no. 3, 1974, pp. 524–529. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/461588. Accessed 11 Dec. 2020.

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