CARMEN. BtVS Intertext/Allusion.
A narrative in which a soldier from northern Spain falls in love with a Gypsy woman in Seville: as she tires of him he becomes maddened with jealous rage, and eventually kills her. The Carmen story originated with the novella ‘Carmen’ by Prosper Mérimée, published 1845, revised 1847; but the story is best known from the operatic adaptation by Georges Bizet, first performed 1875. Bizet’s opera has become so well known that numerous adaptations of the story have appeared over the last century – some 80 film adaptations alone as well as many plays, ballets, paintings, and so on. Buffy’s reference to Carmen on ice in "Helpless" thus comes is no surprise.