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Cultural Connections
Are the characters based on real people? No.
The characters are certainly drawn from Puccini’s memories of Bohemian life as a student. Some argue that the four main characters directly represent Puccini and his three closest friends from that period. In fact, it’s impossible to tie the characters to specific individuals. Puccini highlights the most endearing qualities of his friends and fellow artists, resulting in types who feel at once intimate and universal.
Is the weather in La bohème historically accurate? No.
Puccini set the opera in winter—starting on Christmas Eve with the streets of Paris blanketed by snow. Paris, however, has an oceanic climate with mild temperatures year round. Historically Paris receives 14 days of light snow per year.
So where did this vicious weather come from? Puccini, who had never visited Paris in the winter, probably set the chilly backdrop to heighten the plight of the downtrodden Bohemian artists.
 Who wrote the original story? Henry Murger.
Murger (1822-61) was one of the first and most famous writers on the subject of Bohemian life. His short stories, Scenes de la vie de Bohème, include more characters, adventures, and romance than the opera, but the general plot and themes are the same.
What is the Latin Quarter? A neighborhood in Paris.
Located on the Left Bank of the Seine River in the 5th and 6th arrondissements, this quarter of Paris is renowned for its scholarly tradition. The Sorbonne/University of Paris is located in this quarter. Despite the expensive rents that pushed many artists to the outer fringes of the city (notably the communities of Montmartre and Montparnasse), the university still drew a large pool of artistic talent and character to the Latin Quarter.
Did Puccini really set La bohème in the Latin Quarter? Maybe.
The libretto offers clues that his setting could be based on his recollections of Lucca, Italy, where he had spent his student days:
- The crowd greets each other in Act III saying, “Where are you going?” “To San Michele”—San Michele is a square in Lucca.
- The café scene in Act II, with vendors hawking their wares, is typical of Lucca.
 Some of the phrases sung in the opera are in the Lucca dialect, including the milkmaids’ cry of “Hopplà!” at the beginning of Act III.
Does the painting “The Crossing of the Red Sea” have significance? Yes.
This is a reference to one of Murger’s original short stories, wherein Marcello annually repaints and renames this work for submission to the Louvre, and each year it is duly rejected. Ironically, when he finally sells the painting to a private collector, it is renamed “At the Port of Marseilles” without his knowledge, and it receives rave reviews. La bohème uses the painting as connection to Murger. In the first act, we see the painting as a work-in-progress by Marcello. The pairing of liberation and hardship in this biblical scene fits with the nature of the Bohemians introduced here. Then, the painting reappears in Act III on the wall of the Tavern, this time with the new title.
Was there a real Café Momus? Yes.
The Café Momus, appearing in Act II, was a real café in Paris that became a regular meeting place for artists. Henry Murger, Gustave Courbet and Alexander Privat d'Anglemont all frequented the café, helping to establish its reputation. Momus is the ancient Greek god of mockery, satire, censure, writers, and poets. Naturally, Murger used the café as a meeting place for his Bohemian characters in his short stories, and Puccini followed suit. Although the original café is long gone, it is immortalized as one of the most famous restaurants in operatic history.
What did Mimì die of? A “fatal disease” (“fatale mal,” Act III).
Tuberculosis (TB), historically called consumption, commonly appeared in literature in the 1700s and 1800s, reflecting its widespread prevalence in society. When Violetta dies in Verdi’s La traviata, her suffering serves as a romantic redemption of her earlier life as a courtesan. By the time Mimì dies in La bohème, it’s not her fault, but poverty’s. Mimì is innocent, but she and her artist friends cannot afford medicine.
Tuberculosis was devastating, causing coughing, bleeding, and “wasting” of the body, and it was highly infectious. The final scene of La bohème probably could not have occurred in real life without Mimì passing her disease to her friends. While today we think of TB as a disease of the past, it still kills 2 million people annually.
What was the Scapigliatura? We thought you’d never ask.
Puccini and his librettists were all members of the Scapigliatura, the avant-garde Italian Bohemian movement responsible for the transition from classical traditions to verismo (“realism”). Scapigliatura, sometimes translated as “bohemianism,” is literally “dishevelment.” The scapigliati emphasized both bizarre and realistic traits in their art, and included Edgar Allan Poe among their inspirers.
—Dan Seltzer, Education Intern
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