How does the ending of Bizet's Carmen differ from a traditional story in which virtue is rewarded?

Unlike the traditional moralistic works expected by the Paris Opéra-Comique, where virtue was consistently rewarded, Georges Bizet’s Carmen broke with convention by focusing on the lives of the underclass, including smugglers, deserters, and factory workers.12

The opera’s conclusion defies traditional moral expectations by centering on a tragic, violent end rather than a virtuous resolution. In the final act, the protagonist, Don José, murders Carmen after she refuses to return to him, defiantly asserting that she was born free and will die free. By choosing to depict characters who were considered "unheroic" and "scoundrels" rather than moral archetypes, Bizet challenged the social mores of his time, which initially led audiences to reject the work as vulgar and immoral. Instead of a story where goodness triumphs, the opera presents a raw, realistic portrayal of human passion and fatalism that paved the way for the verismo movement.1342