Back to full list

Pelléas and Mélisande synopsis

Music by Claude Debussy
Libretto by Maurice Maeterlinck
First performance: 1902

Act One

Scene 1

A forest

Golaud has lost his way. He is startled by Mélisande. She too is lost: she has run away. Golaud persuades her to go with him.

Scene 2

A room in the castle

Geneviève reads to Arkel the letter in which Golaud tells Pelléas of his marriage to Mélisande. Golaud fears Arkel will not approve. Pelléas has also received a letter from a friend who is dying. Arkel advises Pelléas not to visit him: Pelléas’s father is close to death.

Scene 3

Outside the castle

Mélisande comments to Geneviève on the darkness surrounding the castle. With Pelléas they look at the lights of a departing ship.

Act Two

Scene 1

A well in the park

Pelléas has brought Mélisande to a well. She plays with her wedding ring and it falls into the water. The clock strikes twelve.

Scene 2

A room in the castle

Golaud has been injured by a fall from his horse, which bolted as the clock struck twelve. Golaud notices that the ring he gave her is missing and sends Mélisande out into the night to look for it.

Scene 3

A cave

Mélisande and Pelléas go to a cave by the sea to pretend to look for the ring. In the moonlight they see three beggars – victims of a famine.

Act Three

Scene 1

The castle

Pelléas hears Mélisande singing and comes to tell her that he is leaving. He plays with her hair. Golaud arrives and reprimands Pelléas and Mélisande for their games.

Scene 2

The castle vaults

Golaud shows Pelléas a stagnant pool in the vaults of the castle.

Scene 3

Outside the castle

Pelléas is relieved to have escaped from the vaults. Golaud asks him to avoid Mélisande who is now pregnant.

Scene 4

Before the castle

Golaud questions his son Yniold about Mélisande and Pelléas. Yniold is frightened. Golaud forces him to spy on Pelléas and Mélisande.

Act Four

Scenes 1 and 2

A passage in the castle

Pelléas tells Mélisande that his father has recovered and Pelléas says he will soon be leaving. Arkel rejoices that light may return to the castle. Golaud enters with blood on his face. He turns on Mélisande.

Scenes 3 and 4

A well in the park

Yniold loses his ball. A shepherd passes with his sheep and Yniold runs away. Pelléas waits for Mélisande. She arrives and they acknowledge their love for each other. They hear the castle gates closing. Mélisande sees Golaud. He kills Pelléas.

Act Five

A room in the castle

Mélisande is very ill, following the birth of a daughter. The doctor reassures Golaud that she can recover. Mélisande wakes and Golaud questions her. Arkel brings Mélisande her baby, but she is too weak. Mélisande dies. Arkel comforts Golaud.