This opera tells the story of how servants Figaro and Susanna succeed in getting married, foiling the efforts of their philandering employer, Count Almaviva, to seduce Susanna and teaching him a lesson in fidelity. Susanna sings this loving aria initially in an effort to tease her new husband, Figaro, by making him think she is singing to the Count. However, Susanna is so taken by the beauty of the night, reflected in the blossoming glade in which she stands, that by the end of the aria she sings honestly and dotingly of her true love: Figaro.

This opera follows the lives and loves of several young empoverished 'bohemians' living in Paris in the 1830s. Musetta sings this aria in a bar upon seeing her ex, Marcello. Lavishly and teasingly, she describes the way in which men look at her and desire her in an effort to regain Marcello's attention. By the end of the aria, Marcello is hers again and they soon depart the bar together.