e close of
the Scene Beaumarchais appears, breathing vengeance on Clavigo if he
finds him without justification for his conduct. In the second Act,
which consists of only one Scene, Beaumarchais carries out his purpose
and compels Clavigo under threat of a duel to write with his own hand
an abject acknowledgment of his baseness. In consistency with his
fickle nature, however, Clavigo prays Beaumarchais to report to Marie
his unfeigned remorse and his desire to renew their former relations.
Beaumarchais agrees to convey the message, and departs under the
impression that he has saved the honour of his sister. In the third
Act Clavigo and Marie are reconciled, their marriage is arranged, and
Beaumarchais destroys the incriminating document. The fourth Act
consists of two Scenes. In the first, Carlos convinces Clavigo of his
folly in compromising his career by a foolish union, and persuades him
to break his pledge, undertaking at the same time to get Beaumarchais
out of the way. The second Scene represents the dismay of the Guilbert
household on the discovery of Clavigo's renewed treachery,
Beaumarchais vowing vengeance on the double-dyed traitor, and Marie in
a dying state attended by a hastily-summoned physician. In the fifth
Act the play breaks with the narrative of Beaumarchais, which does not
supply material for the necessary tragic conclusion, and is based on
an old German ballad, with an evident recollection of the scene of
Hamlet and Laertes at the grave of Ophelia. While stealing from his
house under cover of night, as had been arranged with Carlos, Clavigo
passes the Guilberts' door, where he sees three mourners standing with
torches in their hands. On inquiry he learns that Marie Beaumarchais
is dead; and presently the body is brought forth attended by Guilbert,
Don Buenco, and Beaumarchais. Then ensues a passionate scene in which
Beaumarchais slays Clavigo, and the Act closes with expressions of
tenderness and compunction on the part of all the chief persons
concerned.

In a letter to a friend[168] Goethe explained that in writing
_Clavigo_ he had blended the character and action of Beaumarchais with
characters and actions drawn from his own experience; and this
description strictly corresponds with the play as we have it. Though
in the first four Acts, as we have seen, the incidents are directly
taken from Beaumarchais and many passages in them are simply
translations, the characters of the leading personages-