Carmen – Prosper Mérimée

"Free she was born, and free she shall die!"

Don José, a young soldier, is seduced by Carmen, a fiery and fiercely independent gypsy woman. He deserts the army, joins her band of smugglers, and becomes a bandit to keep her love. But Carmen refuses to be possessed, and when she falls for a bullfighter, José's jealousy drives him to a desperate act of violence.

Mérimée's novella inspired the famous opera. It is a gritty, unsentimental story about the clash between order and freedom, exploring the darker side of passion and the fatal allure of the 'femme fatale'.