Disguise (Motif)
More than anything else, the trickery created by Figaro and others in this play is centered around characters dressing up as someone else. The play includes a near-constant motif of characters assuming the identity of another. This is seen most dramatically at the climax of the play, when Susan and the countess wear each other's clothes in order to trick and humiliate the count. However, this motif surfaces throughout, such as in the moment when the countess and Susan dress Hannibal up as a woman and then he must escape through the window. Beaumarchais examines the ways in which, more often than we might suspect, our entire identities are mapped onto the clothes we wear.
The Prank (Motif)
Throughout the play, many of the characters try to play pranks on the count. In the beginning of the play, Figaro plots with the countess and Susan to see the count humiliated. Later, Figaro is excluded from the plot and the countess and Susan go through with it without him. The prank is a way for those who are beneath the count in status to gain some power over him, and show him the error of his ways.
The Dressing Room (Symbol)
When the count comes into the countess' bedroom, enraged to have heard a rumor that she is having an affair, he suspects that someone is hiding in her dressing room. Indeed, he is correct, as Hannibal is hiding in there, dressed as Susan for the prank that she and the countess are planning. In this moment, the dressing room is not only a dressing room, but a symbol for intimate access to the countess. The count is sure that whoever is hiding in the dressing room is someone that is also sexually involved with his wife. Thus, the space of a closet, where the countess' garments are kept, becomes symbolic of other men's sexual access to the countess.
Decorative Pin (Symbol)
When Susan and the countess write the note to the count, they seal it using a decorative pin from Susan's dress. He gives this to Agnes to return to her, and Figaro spots it, immediately interpreting it as a symbol of Susan's infidelity. Just the sight of the pin is enough to send Figaro into an irrational jealous rage.
The Lobster Mark (Symbol)
During Figaro's trial, he reveals that he was stolen from his parents as a child and his only identifier is a mark on his arm in the shape of a lobster. Indeed, this mark is a symbol for his familial identity, as Marcelina, who has up until now been trying to marry Figaro, recognizes it as belonging to her long-lost son. It is this mark that symbolizes Marcelina and Figaro's familial connection.
