The similarities and differences of the character of Carmen between Georges Bizet's opera and Prosper Mérimée's novel

In this study, the Carmen works of Georges Bizet and Prosper Mérimée were examined; and the characteristic structures of people in the novel and opera are discussed. In the first part of the study, the life and works of Bizet, Mérimée, Halévy, and Meilhac are emphasized. In the second part, the romantic period, in which the works were written, was discussed together with its effects on music and literature, and verismo, the important art movement of the period, was explained. In the third chapter, the creation and content of Mérimée's novel Carmen are explained, while Bizet's Carmen opera; The process of its creation, its subject, Turkish libretto, character studies are emphasized. The similarities and differences of the opera with the novel Carmen, from which it took its subject, are examined, and the change that the literary work has undergone while being transferred to the stage is discussed. The purpose of this study is to create a resource that will enable the creative staff, soloists or students who will work on Carmen opera both on stage and behind the scenes to have informations about how the work emerged, which art movements it was influenced by, and what can be expected in the musical and theatrical interpretation of the work.