Editing La Tosca (section)

==Characters==
[[File:Maria Carolina of Austria by Angelika Kauffmann.jpg|thumb|125 px|alt=Painted three-quarters portrait of a seated woman wearing a high-waisted, floor-length white dress with gold embroidery on the neckline and waistband and a lace cap and pearls in her blond hair which is piled on top of her head. There is red drapery on her chair and hanging in the background.|[[Maria Carolina of Austria|Queen Maria Carolina]]]]
Three minor characters in ''La Tosca'' are real historical figures: [[Maria Carolina of Austria|Queen Maria Carolina]]; Prince Diego Naselli, the Governor of Rome; and the composer, [[Giovanni Paisiello]]. However, their treatment in the play is not always historically accurate. On the day the play takes place, Queen Maria Carolina was actually on her way to Austria and staying in [[Livorno]], not Rome. Paisiello was a Neapolitan court composer, but at the time of the play he was under suspicion for anti-Royalist sympathies, making him a highly unlikely candidate for Maria Carolina's gathering in Act 2.<ref>Schlickling (2004) pp. 124 and 130</ref> According to [[Deborah Burton]], another minor character, Princesse Orlonia, is probably based on Princess [[House of Torlonia|Torlonia]].<ref>See Deborah Burton's notes to the English translation of Sardou (1887) Act 2, p. 24</ref> Although their names and backgrounds contain historical allusions, the four main protagonists, Cesare Angelotti, Mario Cavaradossi, Floria Tosca, and Baron Scarpia are fictional. Their backgrounds are revealed in the conversations between Angelotti and Cavaradossi in Acts 1 and 3.<ref>The characterizations of the four protagonists are based on Sardou (1887) Acts 1 and 3 in the 2004 English translation by Deborah Burton. All quotes are from the Burton translation.</ref>
[[File:Camille Dumeny in La Tosca by Nadar.jpg|thumb|left|180 px|alt=Monochrome head and shoulders photographic portrait of a man with a mustache and short dark hair, face turned slightly to his left, wearing a jacket, high-collared shirt, and loose bow tie|Camille Dumény as Mario Cavaradossi, complete with his "revolutionary's mustache"]]
'''Cesare Angelotti''' had been a wealthy landowner in [[Naples]] and defender of the short-lived [[Republic of Naples|Neapolitan Republic]]. When it fell to the British forces and [[Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies|Ferdinand IV]] was returned as ruler, he fled to Rome where he became one of the [[Consul#Roman republican consuls|Consuls]] of the equally short lived [[Roman Republic (18th century)|Roman Republic]]. He is a wanted man, not only for his revolutionary activities but also for a youthful dalliance in London, where he had an eight-day liaison with [[Emma Hamilton]]. In those days she had been a prostitute going by the name of Emma Lyon, but by the time of the play she had become the wife of the British Envoy to Naples, [[William Hamilton (diplomat)|William Hamilton]], and was a favourite of Queen Maria Carolina. Determined to avoid a scandal, the Queen demanded that he be returned to Naples and hanged. He was languishing in Rome's Castel Sant'Angelo, when his sister Giulia, the Marquise Attavanti, helped him to escape. According to historian Susan Vandiver Nicassio, Angelotti was partly based on [[Liborio Angelucci]], who had briefly been a Consul of the Roman Republic, although the resemblance in terms of their life histories ends there.<ref name="Ten" /> Another influence on the choice of surname may have been Nicola Antonio Angeletti (1791–1870), a prominent Italian revolutionary and member of the [[Carbonari]].<ref>Nicassio (1999) pp. 35 and 102f</ref>

'''Mario Cavaradossi''' is descended from an old Roman family, but was born in France, where his father had lived most of his life. The family still had a palazzo on the [[Piazza di Spagna]] in Rome and once owned the country villa which Cavaradossi now rents. His father had strong ties with [[Diderot]] and [[d'Alembert]], and his mother was a grand-niece of the French philosopher [[Claude Adrien Helvétius|Helvétius]]. Cavaradossi studied art in Paris with [[Jacques-Louis David]] and lived in David's atelier during the French Revolution. When he visited Rome in 1800 to settle his father's estate, he met and fell in love with the celebrated opera singer Floria Tosca, and decided to prolong his stay. He soon gained a reputation as a free-thinker and Bonapartist. Even his mustache was suspect. Tosca's [[confessor]] told her it marked him as a revolutionary. To deflect these suspicions, he offered to do a painting in the church of [[Sant'Andrea al Quirinale]] for free. Nicassio has speculated that one of the influences on Sardou's choice of name was the extremely similar name Caravadossi, a noble Italian family from [[Nice]], the birthplace of [[Garibaldi]], and at several points in its history under Italian control. One of the Caravadossi descendants fought in the 19th century [[Risorgimento|Italian Wars of Independence]].<ref>Nicassio (1999) pp. 67–69</ref>

'''Floria Tosca''' is an orphan from [[Verona]], where she had been found as a child, roaming the hillsides and herding sheep. The [[Order of Saint Benedict|Benedictine monks]] took her in and educated her. The convent organist gave her singing lessons, and by the time she was sixteen, her church performances had made her a local celebrity.  The composer [[Domenico Cimarosa]] went to hear her and wanted her to go on stage. The monks opposed this, but after she was presented to the Pope, he too declared that she should become an opera singer. Four years later she made her debut in the title role of Paisiello's ''[[Nina (opera)|Nina]]'' and went on to sing at [[La Scala]], [[La Fenice]], and the [[Teatro San Carlo]] to great acclaim. When Cavaradossi met her she was singing at the [[Teatro Argentina]] in Rome. As soon as her engagement at the theatre was over, she and Cavaradossi planned to leave for Venice, where she had a contract to sing at La Fenice. Sardou took a long time to decide on her name and may have finally been influenced by Saint Tosca, who is particularly revered in Verona.<ref>Burton (1993) pp. 67–86</ref> The 8th-century church dedicated to her there is one of the oldest in the [[Veneto]] region.

'''Baron Vitellio Scarpia''' is from [[Sicily]], where he was known for his ruthless law enforcement. When Naples took control of Rome in 1799, he was appointed the city's Regent of Police, and quickly gained a reputation for the cruelty and licentiousness that lay beneath his seemingly courteous exterior. Angelotti characterises him as a religious hypocrite and an "impure [[satyr]]" from whom no woman is safe. Before Scarpia set his sights on Floria Tosca, he had tried to force himself on Angelotti's sister, who fled from him in terror. According to Nicassio, Sardou may have chosen his name for its similarity to "Sciarpa", the nickname of Gherardo Curci, a bandit who led [[Irregular military|irregular troops]] fighting on behalf of the monarchy in Naples and was made a baron by Ferdinand IV in 1800.<ref>Nicassio (1999) pp. 118–119. See also Burton (1993) pp. 67–86</ref>

===Original cast===
[[File:Bernhardt as Tosca by Nadar.jpg|thumb|180 px|alt=Full length monochrome photograph of a woman seated on a low stool in front of a painting and facing slightly to her right. She wears a high-waisted flowered dress with a solid colour sash and a broad-brimmed hat decorated with flowers and holds a long walking stick.|Sarah Bernhardt as Floria Tosca in her costume for Act 1]]
[[File:Pierre Berton by Nadar.jpg|thumb|180 px|alt=Three-quarters monochrome photograph of a man facing to his right, dressed in a white wig, ruffled shirt, high-waisted trousers with sword hanging from the belt, jacket, and gloves. He rests his right hand on a walking stick, and holds a large Napoleon-style hat under his left arm.|Pierre Berton as Baron Scarpia]]
{| class="wikitable"
!Character
!Original cast<br/>24 November 1887<ref>Original cast members taken from Sardou (1887)</ref>
|-
|Floria Tosca, ''a celebrated opera singer''
|[[Sarah Bernhardt]]
|-
|Mario Cavaradossi, ''an artist and Tosca's lover''
|Camille Dumény
|-
|Baron Vitellio Scarpia, ''Rome's Regent of Police''
|[[Pierre Berton (playwright)|Pierre Berton]]
|-
|Cesare Angelotti, ''former [[Consul#Roman republican consuls|Consul]] of the [[Roman Republic (18th century)|Roman Republic]] and a fugitive''
|Rosny
|-
|Marquis Attavanti, ''Neapolitan courtier and Angelotti's brother-in-law''
|Émile Francès
|-
|Eusèbe, ''[[sacristan]] of [[Sant'Andrea al Quirinale]]''
|Pierre Lacroix
|-
|Vicomte de Trévilhac, ''a French aristocrat in exile''
|Violet
|-
|Capréola, ''an aristocrat''
|Joliet
|-
|Trevulce, ''gentleman companion to the Marquise Giulia Attavanti''
|Deschamps
|-
|Spoletta, ''Captain of the riflemen''
|Prosper Étienne Bouyer
|-
|Schiarrone, ''a policeman''
|Piron
|-
|[[Giovanni Paisiello|Paisiello]], ''the court composer''
|[[Félicia Mallet]]
|-
|Gennarino, ''Cavaradossi's manservant''
|Suzanne Seylor (''[[en travesti]]'')
|-
|[[Maria Carolina of Austria|Reine Marie Caroline]], ''Queen of Naples''
|Bauché
|-
|Princesse Orlonia, ''a lady at Marie Caroline's court''
|Marie Auge
|-
|Luciana, ''Tosca's maid''
|Durand
|-
|Ceccho, ''the caretaker at Cavaradossi's country villa''
|Gaspard
|-
|Diego Naselli, ''Prince of Aragon and Governor of Rome''
|Delisle
|-
|Huissier (usher)
|Dumont
|-
|Colometti, ''Scarpia's servant''
|Jégu
|-
|Sergeant
|Besson
|-
|Procureur fiscal (public prosecutor)
|Cartereau
|-
|}