Figaro enters the garden. He is disguised in a red cloak and accompanied by Don Gusman, Bartholo, Antonio, and Bazile, whom he has told to meet him in this place. Figaro reveals that he has brought the men together to reveal the affair between the Count and Suzanne. He instructs the men to hide themselves around the garden. He will call for them when the time is right.

Everyone but Figaro finds a hiding place. Left alone, Figaro launches into a tirade about the unfaithfulness of women and against the aristocracy. He deplores his luck, having been “carried off by bandits” at a young age (192), but he has still managed to make something of himself. He describes how he wrote a play, only to be told by the authorities that his work “offended the Ottoman Empire” (193). When he wrote a treatise on the value of money, the authorities again clamped down on him, robbing him of a chance to make a name for himself. Even when he tried to adhere to the censorship regime, his newspaper was banned. After a short stint as a banker, he returned to his original trade of barber, whereupon he met the Count and believed that his fortunes had improved. After years of suffering through poverty, however, he has become just as disgusted by the rich. He insists that he would rather be poor than be surrounded by the ignorant and insolent nobility and their friends. Figaro is overcome with melancholy. He hears footsteps coming.

The Countess enters, dressed in Suzanne’s clothes. Suzanne (dressed as the Countess) and Marceline accompany her. Marceline finds a hiding place from which she will be able to observe events.

Figaro listens to Suzanne and the Countess discuss the cold. There is “not just dew to worry about” (196), he tells himself.

Suzanne strolls around the garden. Cherubin enters in his officer’s uniform and mistakes the Countess for Suzanne. Though she tells him to go away, he pesters her with affection. Just as he is about to kiss the Countess (whom he believes to be Suzanne), the Count enters. He places himself in the space between Cherubin and the Countess. Cherubin notices and runs into the pavilion where Marceline and Fanchette are hiding.

With Cherubin fleeing the scene, the disguised Figaro enters. The Count takes him for the page. As Figaro prepares to confront the Count, the Count hits him across the ear for being insubordinate. This amuses Suzanne. The Count then approaches the Countess and—believing her to be Suzanne—gives her a passionate kiss. He remarks about how differently she feels from his wife; the Countess responds that he once had this kind of passion for his wife. Three years of marriage, the Count says, have dimmed his passion for his wife, and he seeks “more variety.” The Count launches into an elaborate speech about how women owe everything, compared to men who owe nothing. This, he says, is why wives should be prepared to become the mistresses of other men. The Count produces a ring, which he gifts to the woman he believes to be Suzanne, a gift in addition to the money he promised her as a dowry. He wants her to wear the ring. He leads the Countess into the pavilion, finding a shadowy place where they can be alone. Then, he notices Figaro and runs away.

Figaro paces relentlessly in the dark, mulling over the prospect that Suzanne is being unfaithful. Suzanne, dressed as the Countess, confronts Figaro. He tells her that the Count and Suzanne (actually the Countess) have snuck away to be alone together. Suzanne acts as though she is actually the Countess. She suggests to Figaro that he and the Countess could have their own affair as a way to get revenge on their unfaithful partners. Figaro agrees, sparking Suzanne’s jealousy. She attacks Figaro, who realizes her true identity and breaks out in laughter. Figaro insists that he knew all along that she was really Suzanne due to her “angel voice.” This is enough for Suzanne; the pair reconciles, laughing at the Count putting so much effort into seducing “his own lawful wedded wife” (205).

The Count appears and sees Figaro kissing a woman dressed in the Countess’s clothes. He believes that Figaro is having an affair with his wife. He is furious, calling for “vengeance” as Suzanne runs into the pavilion where Fanchette, Marceline, and Cherubin are hidden.

The furious Count seizes Figaro by the arm, recognizing Figaro as the apparent seducer of his apparent wife.

The Count’s anger is interrupted by the arrival of the servant Pedrillo, who has returned with information about Cherubin. The former page did not report for military duty as ordered.

Figaro, the Count, and Pedrillo are joined by Bartholo, Bazile, Antonio, Grippe-Soleil, and Brid’oison, who have emerged because they heard Figaro’s “signal.” The Count orders the entrances guarded and Figaro seized, as Bazile tries to determine whether Figaro successfully tricked the Count. Figaro is dismissive and unconcerned. The way Figaro acts so “cool and collected” only makes the Count angrier (207). Believing his wife is trapped inside the pavilion, the Count calls for her to be brought out so that his vengeance can be as “public” as his dishonor.

The Count enters the pavilion as the other characters laugh at their plot.

The Count drags an unidentified person out of the pavilion. The person is revealed to be Cherubin, much to the Count’s surprise. The Count sends Antonio inside to fetch the Countess.

The Count points out to the gathered crowd that the Countess was likely “not alone” in her hiding place. Cherubin defends himself.

Antonio emerges with Fanchette, whom he believes to be the Countess. The Count is shocked again. This time, Bartholo offers to enter and bring out the woman the Count believes to be his wife.

Bartholo emerges from the pavilion with Marceline. The Count is “not interested” in her, only in his wife.

Suzanne appears, holding a fan in front of her face. She drops to her knees in front of the Count, as does Figaro. Then, everyone begins to kneel as the Count protests what is happening. The Count realizes that he has fallen for an elaborate trick.

The Countess appears. Everyone begins to laugh. The Count is humbled, feeling a sense of shame creep over him. The Countess forgives the Count for his judgmental behavior, and she hands over to Suzanne the gifts that the Count gave to her when he believed that she was Suzanne. 

Since everything seems to have worked out, the characters celebrate. The characters sing, each taking a verse at a time as they recap the farcical events of the day.