Don Pasquale Educator Materials

True love wins when the penny-pinching Pasquale tries to force his nephew to marry for money—and gets a lesson he’ll never forget.

Read Complete Synopsis

• Act I

  Don Pasquale has decided to cut off his live-in nephew in order to make him marry a wife of his choosing. Although his nephew Ernesto wants to marry his lover Norina, a young widow, the union is not blessed. Don Pasquale decides to marry himself in order to kick him out, and with the help of Malatesta, he is going to marry Malatesta's youngest sister, Sofronia. But Malatesta is tricking Don Pasquale into marrying Norina in disguise in order to teach him a lesson and get Ernesto and Norina be together in the end. Norina has agreed to pretend to be his young sweet convent sister and to treat Don Pasquale horribly, but only with the doctor's reassurance that Ernesto will know of the scheme and will not leave the house yet. 

• Act II

  Ernesto has already left the house. Don Pasquale dresses up to meet his new shy bride, Sofronia. She strikes him with her docile nature and unmatched beauty. A false notary sanctions the marriage union, but they realize they need another witness. Ernesto bursts through the door but is quickly told about the scheme. As soon as they are married, Sofronia turns into a willful shrew and demands the world from Don Pasquale. She is impudent, aggressive, tyrannical. Don Pasquale is shocked and scared for his assets and her requests to renew the housekeeping. The rest of the characters rejoice in the success of their scheme so far. 

• Act III
  Don Pasquale's servants are gossiping the expanding changes and the new bride, and Don Pasquale is looking at a long list of bills and expenses he has to pay. Now, she is attending the theatre alone, but he decides to put his foot down as the man, but she slaps him in the face and purposely leaves a note revealing a secret rendezvous she is having that night with an unknown lover. He knows this will be the perfect time to catch her in the act and have grounds to divorce her. He calls Malatesta and asks for help. That night, Don Pasquale and Malatesta see Sofronia and attempt to catch her but find nothing. Don Pasquale then accepts Malatesta's suggestion that Ernest should marry Norina. On hearing this, Sofronia gets angry at sharing the house with another woman and threatens to leave, and Don Pasquale is so overjoyed and hopeful about the divorce, that he tells Ernest to marry Norina and bribes him with an annual sum. His nephew accepts, and Sofronia reveals herself as Norina, and much to Don Pasquale's surprise. He has no choice but to bless the union of the two lovers.