Left alone, Figaro reflects on what his bride-to-be has told him. In a soliloquy, he speaks about the promotion he received from the Count for helping arrange the Count’s marriage. The Count now wants to have an affair with Suzanne, which is why he has made Figaro his deputy and asked Figaro to accompany him on his budding diplomatic career. Figaro suspects that the Count wants to keep Figaro close so that he will also be close to Suzanne. 

Instead, Figaro plans to “play one off against the other” (89). Figaro already has other problems. He owes a large sum of money to Marceline, a housekeeper. If Figaro cannot repay the money to Marceline, he has promised to marry her.

Marceline enters with Doctor Bartholo (the former guardian of the Countess, who still resents Figaro for taking her away from him). The doctor and Figaro exchange quips, then Figaro departs with a passing remark to Marceline about their apparent arrangement.

Bartholo, left alone with Marceline, asks why he was summoned to the Count’s chateau from his regular posting in Seville. The Countess, Marceline explains, has become “depressed” due to her husband’s various infidelities. The Countess learned about her husband’s affairs from her music master, Bazile. Marceline notes that Bazile has made frequent attempts to seduce her. Bartholo says she could stop Bazile from pestering her if she simply married him. Marceline invites Bartholo to marry her instead, which he dismisses. He ignores her implications that they once had a romance and a child, which she refers to as “little Emmanuel, fruit of a long-dead love that should have led to marriage” (91). Instead, Bartholo suggests that she should marry “handsome, likeable, lovable Figaro” (91). 

Marceline mentions her arrangement with Figaro: If Figaro cannot pay back the debt he owes her, then Figaro must marry Marceline. She believes that the Count’s desire to seduce Suzanne will help her ambition to marry Figaro. Bartholo is delighted by the prospect of getting revenge against Figaro, the Count, and others.

Suzanne enters unexpectedly, having overheard people talking about plans to marry “[her] Figaro.” Suzanne is carrying the Countess’s clothes but stops long enough to argue with Marceline about who will marry Figaro. The conversation becomes tense, with both women using overly polite terms to emphasize their dislike for one another. Marceline eventually curtsies and exits with Bartholo.

Suzanne reflects on the tense encounter with the “pompous old fusspot” (94), Marceline. She insists that she is not afraid of Marceline, who thinks she is better than the other servants because she has some education.

A page named Cherubin enters. He shares with Suzanne that he has heard that the Count plans to send Cherubin back to his family, even though—as Suzanne notes—he is “his Lordship’s favorite page” (95). Cherubin tells a story about the Count catching him in a compromising position with Suzanne’s cousin, Fanchette, though he insists that they were simply rehearsing for a role in the entertainment planned for the evening. The Count fired him. 

Suzanne is amused because she knows that Cherubin is actually in love with the Countess. The Countess is also Cherubin’s godmother. He tries to take from Suzanne a ribbon that belongs to the Countess, claiming that he is so infatuated with her that he feels a sudden love for every woman. He has even written a love song for the Countess and felt his heart flutter when he spent time with Marceline recently, which amuses Suzanne. Cherubin defends himself. Unlike Fanchette, he claims, Suzanne is “not sweet at all” (97). He takes the Countess’s ribbon from Suzanne. When he sees the Count entering, he hides.

Count Almaviva enters as Suzanne moves to hide Cherubin. The Count, assuming Suzanne has been talking to herself, has come to talk to Suzanne about his “feelings” for her. He implores her to listen to his plan, though she refuses. 

Ignoring her refusal, the Count explains that he has been appointed as ambassador to London by the king. He plans to take Figaro with him to London; Suzanne will be able to accompany the Count, as she will be Figaro’s wife, so that she and the Count will be free to continue their affair. Suzanne asks again to be left alone, referring to the time when the Count “stole [his] wife away from under the Doctor’s nose and married her for love and on her account abolished a certain horrible custom” (98). The Count laughs off her comments and asks Suzanne to meet him in the garden. 

Hearing Bazile nearby, the Count tries to hide. Suzanne stands in his way just long enough that Cherubin is able to slip into a new hiding place. Suzanne covers him with the Countess’s clothes.

Bazile enters, searching for the Count. Suzanne claims that she does not know where he is. Leering mockingly at Suzanne, Bazile knows about the Count’s plans to proposition her. He also implies that it is Cherubin rather than Figaro who is the “real obstacle” to the Count being able to seduce Suzanne, suggesting that Suzanne is in love with Cherubin, whom he knows to be in love with the Countess. 

When Bazile says this, the Count springs out from his hiding place. He demands that Bazile throw Cherubin out of the house at once. Suzanne, overcome with alarm, feels faint. Bazile insists that he was merely joking, but the Count repeats his demand that Cherubin be dismissed, explaining that he caught the youngster with Fanchette. Suzanne turns the situation around, asking what “business” the Count had when visiting Fanchette’s bedroom.

As the Count tries to explain the compromising situation in which he found Cherubin and Fanchette, he reaches for his wife’s clothing. In doing so, he reveals Cherubin’s hiding place. The Count chastises Cherubin for trying to seduce Suzanne and Suzanne for welcoming his seduction, even though—he points out—she is set to marry Figaro. The Count praises Figaro, a man whom he would never dare to insult because he esteems Figaro so highly. Cherubin insists that he did not hear anything while he was hiding. The Count insists that Suzanne will “not be marrying Figaro after this” (102). As Bazile warns that someone is approaching, the Count grabs Cherubin and insists that he stand where people can see him.

The Count, Suzanne, Bazile, and Cherubin are joined by the Countess, Fanchette, Figaro, and a number of other servants. Figaro is carrying a bridal bonnet, and all are dressed for the evening’s revels. 

Figaro flatters the Count by asking whether he will do the honor of handing the bonnet to Suzanne. The bonnet is decorated with roses and white ribbons, symbols of innocence. Figaro then offers to lead the servants in a rousing song that he has written that praises the Count for the decision to abolish that “certain unseemly custom” (103), the right of droit du seigneur.

Figaro speaks to Cherubin, asking why the youngster is so quiet. Suzanne explains that the Count has threatened to fire Cherubin, which is met with surprise by the new arrivals. Cherubin promises the Count that he is able to keep a secret, but the Count interrupts him to say that he will pardon Cherubin, but also that Cherubin will not be sent back to his family. Instead, he will be sent to join the Count’s military forces in Catalonia. 

Cherubin drops to one knee in front of the Countess but remains silent. With emotion in her voice, she bids her godson Cherubin to depart for the army. She admits that she is moved by the idea of a youngster embarking on “such a dangerous career” (106). 

The Count asks again about Marceline, who has supposedly walked to town with Bartholo, complaining loudly about Figaro. The Count hopes that she can help him prevent the wedding.

After the Count and Countess exit, Figaro makes sure that he is left behind with Bazile and Cherubin. Figaro suggests to Cherubin that he feign his departure and return later, when his plan to marry Suzanne will finally be put into action. Bazile will play an important role, but he complains about the difficulty of his part. Since Fanchette has seemingly not yet learned her part, Figaro tells Cherubin to treat her to one final lesson before the evening begins. Bazile warns Cherubin that Fanchette’s father is becoming suspicious of the time his daughter is spending with Cherubin. Figaro is pleasantly surprised by Bazile’s “venerable proverbs.”