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Carmen—the inspiration for one of the world’s most popular operas—is a story about the dark forces that lurk beneath the façade of civilization, where passions are brutal and erotic love is seductive and sinister. When Don José meets a gypsy woman, he has no idea that his chance encounter with the “pretty witch” will have disastrous consequences. With her magic and her malevolent spirit, Carmen exerts a powerful charm on the unsuspecting Don José, who is drawn into a seedy underworld of bandits and smugglers—exploited and humiliated, until he is driven to the ultimate revenge. In Carmen, Prosper Mérimée introduced a literary archetype: the femme fatale, who uses her sexuality and mystery to ensnare and ultimately destroy the weak, unsuspecting man. It appears here with The Venus of Ille, a brilliant tale of the supernatural. Prosper Mérimée is a noted French novelist, playwright, and short story writer.