Feb 24, 2025

The Bohemian Life

The opera La Bohème is primarily based on a collection of short stories – Scènes de la vie de Bohème – written by French novelist and poet Henri Murger in the mid-19th century. The collection paints a vibrant picture of the lives of struggling young artists in Paris, focusing on their challenges and camaraderie amid poverty.

The characters in La Bohème are ordinary people experiencing everyday events, no kings and countesses here. And indeed, some of those events actually did occur in the lives of Henri Murger and Giacomo Puccini, the composer.

This semi-autobiographical novel about life in the Latin Quarter of Paris, relates the experiences of Murger when he was in his 20s. For example, the character of Rodolfe in Scènes is an unabashedly honest self-portrait of the writer.

Giacomo Puccini also included some of his own memories of his student days in Milan when he shared a room with Pietro Mascagni, a baker’s son who went on to compose Cavalleria Rusticana. It is said that they pooled their meagre funds to buy the score of Parsifal, cooked beans in the only pot available – their washbasin – and marked a city map with areas to be avoided, in order to not run into creditors. Like Colline in the opera, Puccini is said to have even pawned his coat at one point, although not to help a dying friend.

This initial glimpse into the lives of these characters, their relationships, and their struggles with both art and finances hints at the deeper themes of passion, ambition, and the sacrifices that come with a life dedicated to creativity.

In his preface, Murger wrote “Bohemia is a stage in artistic life.” Eventually, like Murger, most of his characters make their escape into the next stage of life – respectability. At the end of the novel, Colline inherits money and marries a rich woman; Schaunard becomes a successful writer of popular songs; Marcello secures an exhibit of his work, sells a painting to an ex-lover of Musetta and moves to better accommodations; Rodolfo’s writing career is launched when he publishes his first book; and even the fiery Musetta settles down.

Click to read – Scènes de la vie de Bohème