"The Barber of Seville" is the first comic play by Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais and his first successful theatrical work.

The basic story is as follows: Count Almaviva from Madrid wishes to marry a beautiful young and wealthy noblewoman named Rosina. This young woman is kept in confinement by her jealous old guardian, Bartolo, who intends to make her his wife.

In order to achieve his goal, the Count seeks the assistance of his wily former servant, Figaro, who works in Seville as a barber. The characters face one obstacle after another, and the humor of the play ranges from coarse burlesque and farce to sophisticated situational comedy.

Despite the difficulties that arise, Figaro’s plan to have the Count appear disguised in Bartolo's house, so that Rosina will fall in love with him, succeeds.

Although it is a comedic farce filled with comic situations, romance, clever wordplay, identity confusion, disguises, misunderstandings, lost letters, hidden doors, the mobilization of ingenious resourcefulness, music, and songs, "The Barber of Seville" comments on the rigid social structure of its time, with the absurdity and arbitrariness of class division, the constraints placed on individuals by social roles, and social stratification.