Carmen

Book summary

An archaeologist travelling in Andalusia meets a wanted bandit, Don José, and then a Romani woman who tells fortunes in Córdoba. Several months later he finds Don José in prison, on the eve of his execution, and hears his confession. Once a corporal with a promotion in sight, José tells how he met Carmen, how he deserted and how she drew him into a life of smuggling. The novella explores jealousy, the freedom that Carmen yields to no one, and the learned traveller’s view of the Roma of Spain. Mérimée sets this story inside a scholarly inquiry that makes it all the colder.