University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Studies In The Influence Of The 'Commedia Dell'Arte' On English Drama: 1605-1800

(USC Thesis Other)

Studies In The Influence Of The 'Commedia Dell'Arte' On English Drama: 1605-1800

PDF

Download a page range

Download transcript

Copy asset link

Request this asset

Transcript (if available)

Content T h is d is s e r ta tio n h as b een 6 2— 6045
m ic r o film e d e x a c tly a s r e c e iv e d
CAUTERO , G era rd S a lv a to re , 1 9 2 5 -
STUDIES IN THE IN FLU EN C E O F THE COMMEDIA
D E L L 1 ARTE ON ENGLISH DRAMA: 1 6 5 0 -1 8 0 0 .
U n iv e r s ity of Southern C a lifo r n ia , P h .D ., 1962
L anguage and L ite r a tu r e , g e n e r a l
University Microfilms, Inc., Ann A.rbor, Micbiga/
STUDIES IN THE INFLUENCE OF THE COMMEDIA DELL*ARTE
ON ENGLISH DRAMA: 1650-1800
by
Gerard Salvatore Cautero
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(English)
June 1962
UNIVERSITY O F SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
GRADUATE SCH O O L
UNIVERSITY PARK
LOS A N G ELES 7, C A LIFOR N IA
This dissertation, written by
Gerard Salvatore Cautero
under the direction of h±9... .Dissertation Com
mittee, and approved by all its members, has
been presented to and accepted by the Dean of
the Graduate School, in partial fulfillment of
requirements for the degree of
D O C T O R O F P H I L O S O P H Y
DISSERTATION COMMITTEE
Chairman
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter Page
INTRODUCTION........................... 1
I. THE COMMEDIA DELL*ARTE AND ENGLISH FARCE:
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ..................... 5
II. THE COMMEDIA DELLTARTE AND ENGLISH FARCE:
AN INSPECTION OF REPRESENTATIVE WORKS .... 30
III. THE COMMEDIA DELL*ARTE AND ENGLISH
BALLAD-OPERA . ........................... 81
IV. THE COMMEDIA DELLTARTE AND ENGLISH COMEDY ... 113
V. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION.....................172
BIBLIOGRAPHY......................... 184
APPENDIX A: FIVE TYPICAL SCENARIOS FROM THE
COMMEDIA DELL*ARTE..............205
APPENDIX B: THE RELATIONSHIP OF RAVENSCROFT’S
THE ANATOMIST TO HAUTEROCHE’S
CRISPIN MEDECIN..................211
APPENDIX C: THE RELATIONSHIP OF MRS. BEHN’S THE
EMPEROR OF THE MOON TO FATOUVILLE’S
ARLEQUIN EMPEREUR DANS LA LUNE .... 224
Chapter Page
APPENDIX D: THE RELATIONSHIP OF MOLIERE AND
HAUTEROCHE TO THE COMMEDIA
DELL1 ARTE..............................238
APPENDIX E: THE RELATIONSHIP OF REGNARD TO THE
COMMEDIA DELL*ARTE....................246
APPENDIX F: THE RELATIONSHIP OF GOLDONI TO THE
COMMEDIA DELL*ARTE .......... 251
APPENDIX G: THE RELATIONSHIP OF MARIVAUX TO THE
COMMEDIA DELL*ARTE............. 256
iii
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this dissertation is to prove that the
commedia dell*arte strongly influenced English dramatic
forms during the latter half of the seventeenth and through
out the eighteenth century and thereby contributed signifi
cantly to the development of the English theater.
The commedia dell’arte sprang into sudden fame in
Italy in the sixteenth century. Italian troupes took it to
France in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Its
influence spread rapidly on the continent, and it permeated
the literature of every European nation to a degree which,
according to Allardyce Nicoll, Pierre Louis Duchartre, and
Joseph Spencer Kennard, is impossible to calculate. From
Italy and France the commedia crossed over to England and
was assimilated by English writers, especially the drama-
tists. The commedia reached England principally by two
paths: through visiting Italian and French commedia troupes,
and through English adaptations of French pieces written
for the commedia dell*arte. Much work has been done that
1
points out the relationship of the commedia dell*arte to
the English stage in the sixteenth century and in the first
half of the seventeenth century, but no intensive study of
this important relationship for the latter half of the
seventeenth century and for the eighteenth century has been
made.
This study will present a number of selected plays
written in the period between 1650 and 1800. These plays
were chosen from those dramatic forms which met two re
quirements: heavy reliance on the commedia dell*arte, and
popularity during that period. The forms which met these
requirements were farce, ballad opera, and comedy. The
chapters on farce and ballad opera concentrate on those
years when these forms were at the height of their popu
larity, and the chapter on comedy includes representative
and popular eighteenth century plays that were adaptations
of the new commedia dell*arte that appeared on the con
tinent in the eighteenth century. The examination of the
influence of the commedia dell*arte on English farce is
limited to the latter half of the seventeenth century when
farce was at the height of its popularity. Similarly, the
study of ballad opera is limited to the years 1728-1738
when ballad opera was the most popular form of drama In
England. In the chapter on comedy, those plays written
after 1750 are dealt with, because it is not until after
the middle of the century that English adaptations of con
tinental plays begin clearly to exhibit the influence of
the modified commedia dell*arte.
Further, within the periods established, only those
popular English theatrical productions are examined which
are the most representative of their type; and, to enable
the reader to see the diffusion of influence, from this
group of representative plays I have selected ones by dif
ferent authors, and ones which are based upon different
continental sources. All the plays which I have examined
in detail are adaptations by various English authors from
different Italian and French writers of the commedia
school. Moreover, from the list of popular, representative
English plays, I have dealt with only those which are
adaptations of Italian and French commedia dell*arte origi
nals that were highly successful on the continent and that
were written by men closely connected with the commedia
dell*arte. Treated in these longer analyses are plays
by Hauteroche, Fatouville, Moli&re, Regnard, Le Sage,
Marivaux, and Goldoni.
This study is divided into three major parts. Part
One--Farce--discusses the relationship between three repre
sentative English farces and the commedia dell*arte. Part
Two— Ballad-Opera--discusses only one ballad-opera because
the ballad-opera is basically a farce with songs added.
Part Three— Comedy--discusses three plays and shows their
relationship to the modified commedia dell1arte of the
eighteenth century.
CHAPTER I
THE COMMEDIA DELL*ARTE AND ENGLISH FARCE:
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
This chapter presents evidence showing that the
Italian commedia dell*arte has strongly influenced English
Restoration farce. The French influence on English farce
(primarily through Moliere) has been amply demonstrated,*
but the direct influence of the Italian, the indirect in
fluence of the French (whose indebtedness to the commedia
dell*arte has not been fully recognized), and the combina
tion of direct and indirect influences have not. In order
to demonstrate these influences, first it is necessary
to discuss the commedia dell*arte as it existed in the
For Moliere’s long connection with the commedia
dell*arte, see Louis Moland, Moliere et la Comedie
Italienne (Paris, 1867); Gustave Attinger, L*Esprit de
la commedia dell*arte dans le theatre francais (Paris,
1950); Luigi Riccoboni, Histoire du theitre italien
(Paris, 1730); and Henry Carrington Lancaster, A History
of French Dramatic Literature in the Seventeenth Century.
II (Baltimore, 1936).
5
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and the English farce
in its parallel existence. Then three representative
English farces— Trapolin. Suppos’d a Prince; The Duke and
No Duke; and The Emperor of the Moon— will be analyzed to
show their dependence on the commedia dell*arte.
Sir Aston Cokain's Trapolin. Suppos*d a Prince (1658),
which Nahum Tate reworked as The Duke and No Duke (1684),
exhibits direct Italian influence. Sir Aston witnessed
several performances of a commedia dell*arte troupe in
Italy and wrote an English version of the performance he
had seen. Edward Ravenscroft*s The Anatomist (1697) shows
indirect influence from the Italian: he copied a French
play by Hauteroche, taken in turn from Moliere, who had
himself duplicated the most significant aspects of the
commedia dell*arte. Mrs. Aphra Behn'e The Emperor of the
Moon (1688) combines direct and indirect influence of the
commedia: her immediate source is a French version of a
commedia dell*arte scenario. Like so many of their con
temporaries, these writers expanded Italian scenari, or
even in some instances translated French versions of
Italian plays and presented such translations as original
work.
In order to make a detailed analysis of these exempla
more meaningful, the historical development of the commedia
dell*arte will be traced and its artistic components de
scribed. Duchartre demonstrates that the commedia dell*
arte had its genesis in the ancient Roman theater, specifi
cally in the fabula Atellana. The fabula Ateliana was a
kind of Punch-and-Judy show utilizing masked stock charac
ters. The fabula may have been derived, in turn, from
earlier Greek farces. Duchartre also shows that the
commedia dell*arte was an outgrowth of the Italian farce
that flourished at the close of the fifteenth century and
2
during the first half of the sixteenth. Certainly, it is
possible to say that the ancient comedies of Plautus and
Terence, the farces of the Middle Ages, and literary comedy
in general, suggested the routine situations and the stock
characters of the commedia dell*arte.
Unfortunately, few records of the early growth of
consnedia dell*arte exist. The documents supplying what
2
Pierre Louis Duchartre, The Italian Comedy (New York,
1929), pp. 24-30.
O
See Allardyce Nicoll, The Development of the Theater
(New York, 1927), p. 105.
is known of the development of popular comedy, aside from
letters and diaries, are the records of traveling com
panies, the surviving outlines of plots (scenario.^ some
prologues, monologues, set speeches, and bits of dialogue.'’
Fortunately, records still exist of some of the companies
that toured northern Italy, Germany, France, Spain, and
England before 1600 and that continued to flourish through
out the seventeenth and into the eighteenth century.
Several of these companies became famous: the Gelosi. the
Confidenti, the Pniti, and the Accessi.^
In the sixteenth century the commedia dell*arte or, as
it was also called, the commedia dell*arte all* improvisio,
sprang into sudden fame in Italy, and later, in the seven
teenth century, Italian troupes took it to France. As
Allardyce Nicoll has' observed, ’ ’Its influence upon con
tinental theatres and upon continental drama for upward
4
The Italian comedians used the term soggetto or gior-
nata rather than scenario to designate the written outline
of a plot. See Allardyce Nicoll, Masks. Mimes and Miracles
(New York, 1931), p. 225.
^See Pandolfi’s excellent account in La Commedia
Dell*Arte (Firenze, 1959), Vol. V.
^For a history of these companies see Duchartre,
pp. 70-102.
of two hundred years is literally incalculable."^
The name commedia dell*arte all* improvisio suggests
the type of play in which improvisation is dominant; that
is, the actors, working with the barest outline of a plot
suprlied by an actor-manager, faced their audience and im
provised the dialogue. They were perfectly free to do and
say whatever they liked, within the limitations of the
plot, and to register their feelings according to the in
spiration of the moment. The actors developed a theme
without the aid of memorized lines. A word or a gesture of
an actor cued his fellows for repartee or gave them advance
notice of unanticipated improvisation. Every actor was an
extemporaneous poet. He invented situations and then sup
plied suitable discourses out of his own imagination. Each
actor identified himself with a part, performing it perhaps
to the end of his days— once a Pantalone, always a Panta-
lone. Each had his own repertorio or concetti, uscite, and
chuisetti, series of formal expressions or tags of dialogue
which he could use when conversing with others in set situ
ations or when entering or leaving the stage. Actors using
^The Development of the Theatre, p. 105.
10
this style of comedy developed an extremely high technical
skill and were partly responsible for the popularity of the
medium.®
To stress the supremacy of the actor-composer in
commedia dell*arte is not to deny the importance of certain
traditional, but easily identified, conventions of the
form. I. A. Schwartz’s important study, The Conanedia
Dell’Arte and Its Influence on French Comedy in the Seven
teenth Century, singles out conventions typical of the form.
o
They include improvisation; lazzi, pieces of slap-stick
business; the use of masks; and fixed character types.
The characters of the commedia dell’arte can be re
duced to seven fundamental types: the innamorata, the young
g
Nicoll, The Development of the Theatre, pp. 105-106.
g
Here are a few examples:
Arlequin pretends to catch flies in their flight, to
tear off their wings and eat them with apparent relish.
Scapino blows up his cheek with air or water to
intensify the effect of the slap he receives.
Arlequin, armed with blacksmith’s tools, pulls out
four of Pantalone’s soundest teeth.
Arlequin waits on Don Juan, seated at the table.
Before placing the plates before his master, he wipes them
on the seat of his breeches, or produces a cap full of
cherries from the same place. He cracks stones with his
teeth and pretends to spit them to the ground ([New York,
1933], pp. 10-11).
li
lover, the old father, the servant, the braggart soldier,
the doctor, and the clown. The drama was adjusted to fit
these character types. The number of actors in a regular
touring company was small, usually not over a dozen: three
women and seven or eight men. The women played the
innamorate, mothers, maid-servants, nurses, bawds, and
courtesans. The first lady, la prima donna (usually called
Isabella, Flaminia, Lidia, Celia, Flavia, or Silvia),
played the principal innamorata. The second and third
women played the secondary innamorate and other female
parts. The maidservants had such names as Franceschina,
Colombina, Rosetta, Fioretta, and Pimpinella. The man
played the old fathers, servants, soldiers, doctors, necro
mancers, and young lovers. The lovers were often called
Orazio, Flavio, Ottavio, Flaminio, Fabio, or Lelio. Panta-
lone and Graziano were frequent names for the vecchi, the
old men. Pantalone was a common name for a Venetian mer
chant, usually a wealthy magnifico. The name Graziano was
usually given to a doctor of law or of medicine who had
gone to the University of Bologna. The second servant,
called Arlecchino or Brighella, was originally from
Bergamo, and the commedia dell*arte swarmed with clownish
12
Bergamasks. Pulcinella (the English Punch) was a Neapoli
tan. There were many humorous names for the zanni, the
servants, such as Pedrolino (saucy), Burattino (puppet),
Trappola (pitfall), and the Grillo (cricket). The Captain,
often called Spavento (fear), was either an Italian or a
Spanish braggart.
Typical dramatis personae may be seen in the fifty
giomate, or scenari as they would be called today, pub
lished by the famous comic actor Flaminio Scala in 1611.^®
The first giornata, for example, entitled Li Duo vecchi
gemelli (The Two Old Twins), has .thirteen masks or roles,
possibly divided among eleven players: two young men
(Flavio and Oratio), a manservant (Pedroline), a maid
servant (Franceschina), a bawd (Pasquella), a young widow
(Isabella), a doctor (Gratiano), the doctor’s daughter
(Flaminia), a captain (Spavento), a second servant
(Arlecchino), two elderly Venetian merchants, i.e., the
twins (Pantalone and Tofano), and an Armenian merchant
(Hibrahim). Each giornata was divided into three acts.
^ Teatro delle favole rappresentative, overo la
recreatione comica, boscareccia, e tragica: divisa in cin-
quanta giomate (Venice, 1611). Pandolfi (Vol. II,
pp. 166-244) reprints many of these scenari.
13
There was no written dialogue but there were detailed
directions for movements and stage business, Including
numerous Indications of specific lazzi: for example, "he
makes lazzi of love," or ”he makes lazzi of fear,” or "he
makes lazzi of jealousy" (Pandolfi, pp. 213-223). Although
the Italian comedians relied mainly upon improvised dia
logue, they did not depend entirely upon improvisation.
Many were deeply studious, and the better ones memorized a
large stock of phrases, sentences, conceits, monologues,
and even dialogues, which could be drawn upon at will.
Probably most of this written material has been lost, but
some remains: songs, dialogues of servants, and speeches of
11
the old man, the captain, the doctor, and the lovers.
Another convention of the commedia dell*arte was the
use of masks. The Italian play has often been called the
comedy of masks. The principal characters wore light masks
made of thin leather that were pliable and quite close-
fitting. Their origin is problematical. Some scholars
believe that, because of the great size of the Greek and
11
The best collections 1 have been able to find are
Pandolfi's La Commedia Dell*Arte (Florence. 1957-59),
5 vols., and Everiste Gherardi * s Le Theatre italien
(Amsterdam, 1701), 6 vols.
14
, ■ '
Roman theaters, the faces of the actors could hardly he
seen; therefore masks were designed to project the "active
essences" of the characters. The pre-dramatic functions of
masks as revealed by ancient vases and statuary, mosaics,
and travelers' chronicles can only be hypothesized. The
12
use of masks was probably closely linked to ritual.
Primitive man may have wanted to assume a divine counte
nance or persona, to astonish or terrify his fellows, or to
identify himself with some natural force and thus gain
"identity." For men--at any rate, those who have neither
much culture nor imagination--are less interested in
novelty than in things familiar to them, those things in
their experience with which they can identify themselves.
People in general prefer the well-known actor, in the type
of role he has played a thousand times, to a new face and
personality to which they must grow accustomed. The mask,
then, is one of the best and simplest means of giving an
illusion of permanency to a favorite character. And in
this spirit, the traditional masks of the Italian comedy
were conceived and standardized. The most uninspired lout,
12
For an interesting discussion of the origin of
masks, see Sir James G. Frazer, The New Golden Bough, abr.
Theodore H. Gaster (New York, 1959), pp. 431 ff.
15
once he donned the black mask of Harlequin (Arlecchino),
would ironedlately lose his banality and become Harlequin
himself. The masks were not mere disguises of the face but
13
the full expression of a character itself.
The limitations of facial expression in the Italian
players compelled the exploitation of another instrument
possessed by all people and endowed with an infinite number
of theatrical possibilities, namely, the body. These
actors developed a series of characteristic gestures and
bodily poses that constituted a language in themselves.
The great tragedian Garrick was once a spectator at a per
formance starring Arlequin Bertinazzi (called Carlino).
When Arlequin with his back turned to his audience burst
into tears, Garrick exclaimed: "See how much expression
Carlino*s back has."^ To go along with these unique
bodily gestures the Italians developed a surprising variety
of mechanical stage equipment which could cause statues to
sneeze, tables to rise to the ceiling, and Arlequin to be
lowered to the stage on a paste-board eagle.
13
See Duchartre, pp. 41-50, and Joseph Spencer
Kennard, Masks and Marionettes (New York, 1935), pp. 66-76.
14
Quoted in Schwartz, p. 15.
16
In 1548, the first commedia dell*arte troupe appeared
In Lyons, France, at the Invitation of Henry II, who wished
to provide pleasure for his Italian bride, Catherine de
Medici. The actors were enthusiastically received by both
Catherine and the large Florentine population of the city.
As a result, troupe after troupe of Italian companies
visited France, and frequently remained for long periods of
time. K. M. Lea makes specific reference to the many
places throughout Europe visited by the popular troupes of
the commedia dell*arte.^ By 1660, the Italian Comedy was
firmly established in Paris, where it continued until the
nineteenth century, competing with the Comedie Francaise,
the Foire, and the predecessor of the Opera Comique. In
1742, the Italian Comedy absorbed the last-named company
and took possession of its repertoire, acclaiming Carlo
Goldoni as its director and poet. When Italian comedy was
suppressed in the Hotel de Bourgogne it went to the Sala
Favart (1763). In 1792, because of the Revolution, it lost
its royal subsidy and finally expired in 1801. The sur
viving Italian comedians of the Sala Favart united with
15
See Italian Popular Comedy (Oxford, 1934), I,
255-339.
17
a French company to form the Opera Comique of Paris. The
commedia dell*arte obviously produced lasting effects on
the French theater. As I shall demonstrate, the scenari of
the commedia furnished the plots, scenes, and character
types from which Moliere created the plays Tartuffe and
Le Malade imaginaire, among others, and the characters
Dandin, Trissotin, Sganarelle, and Scapin.
While the commedia dell*arte became a French institu
tion enjoying a royal subsidy, its influence was trans
mitted to the English stage in more indirect ways. Travel
to the Continent was extremely popular, where the better
educated Englishmen, among whom were playwrights, were ex
posed to the Italian troupes. Subsequently, English plays
reflected the influence in many ways: lazzi. Italian sur
names, costumes, tags, and situations appeared frequently.
Commedia dell*arte troupes visited London at least
four or five times between 1660 and 1700. Tiberio Fiorelli
and his confreres made an extended visit in the summer
1 fi
of 1672 and possibly two in 1675. They apparently made
^Rosenfield tells us that in 1672 both French and
Italian actors were in London:
"The Italian troupe was that of Tiberio Fiorelli.
Evelyn saw them at Court on 29 May. On September 4 the
King gave a medal and chains to Scaramouch, Harlequin and
18
a considerable Impression, for there Is ample evidence of
their activities in the Treasury Books and in the comments
of John Evelyn, who saw them during both summers. Andrew
Marvell, too, took note of them. In a letter dated
June 24, 1675, he speaks of
Scaramuccio acting daily in . . . Whitehall, and all
sorts of people flocking thither, and paying their money
as at a common playhouse; nay even a twelve-penny gal
lery is builded for the convenience of his Majesty*s
poorer subjects. *
Given the existence of a flourishing English theater, then,
it was easy for English writers to imitate, revise, and
plagiarize the commedia dell*arte.
Many of the elements \diich are present in the commedia
dell*arte are also present in farce; in fact, farce and the
commedia have nearly identical origins and structure, and
both have appealed widely to the same kinds of audiences.
four other actors and on 12 September presented a member of
the company with 20 oz. of white plate. A warrant was
issued, dated 11 September, for h 52 to pay for the erec
tion of their stage. The actors probably included Bianco-
lelli as Harlequin'* (Foreign Theatrical Companies in Great
Britain in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
[London, 1955], pp. 2-3).
^Quoted in Ifan Kyrle Fletcher, "Italian Comedians in
England in the 17th Century," Theatre Notebook, 8:88
(July-September 1954).
19
Both can be traced at least from the Greek satyr plays
(500 B.C.) and Greek New Comedy (300 B.C. - 200 A.D.)
through the Roman fabula Atellana, to religious drama and
the^ Interlude. The comic structure is identical in both.
Northrop Frye’s description is lucid and useful:
What normally happens is that a young man wants a
young woman; that his desire is resisted by some opposi
tion, usually paternal; and that near the end of the
play some twist in the plot enables the hero to have his
will.18
Although Frye includes all ’ ’dramatic comedy,” his defini
tion is consistent with discussions of the structure of
commedia dell’arte by Schwartz, Nicoll, Duchartre and
others.
Because of the many similarities in the two types, the
terms ’ ’commedia dell’arte” and ’ ’farce” are frequently taken
to be synonymous.^ The use of the word farce by Pepys and
18
Anatomy of Criticism (Princeton, 1957), p. 163.
^The term ’ ’farce” is derived from the Latin farcio
("I stuff”) and moved into Restoration criticism through the
incongruous route of cookery and church litany. The Oxford
English Dictionary reports that the term (in Latinized form
farsa, farsia) was applied in the thirteenth century France
and England to the various phrases interpolated in litanies
between the words kyrie and eleison: "Subsequently, the use
of farce . . . occurs as the name for the extemporaneous
amplification or * gag, * or the interludes of impromptu buf
foonery, which the actors in the religious dramas were
accustomed to interpolate in their text." Oxford English
Dictionary, IV (Oxford, 1933), 71.
20
other writers indicates its popularity and the looseness of
its application, for the term was applied to comedy, farce,
burlesque, and parody, all of which included buffoonery,
coarse jokes, sexual contests and deceptions, and improvi
sation. All these elements were present in the commedia
dell*arte.
From its beginning in the traditions of the early
English stage, when it served as a filler or comic relief
in full-length plays and where it was often mixed with
pageantry or stage-magic, farce showed a strong tendency to
go in the direction of the commedia dell*arte. Leo Hughes
has commented that "in many cases, where a given play is not
taken directly from an earlier piece, the native stress on
ridiculous character and the Continental tradition of in-
20
trigue are both in evidence." Like the commedia dell*
arte, English farce included metamorphosed animals, trans
formations of characters, all kinds of magic, devils, magi
cians, complicated stage machinery, and intrigues, usually
0 1
alternated with touching love scenes and comic lazzi.
Century of English Farce (Princeton, 1956), p. 233.
21
See scenari in Appendix A for examples of comic
business in typical commedia dell*arte performances.
The direct influence of the commedia dell* arte on
English drama becomes evident in the latter half of the
seventeenth century. During the first decade after the
theaters re-opened (1660), many extant plays were "re
written," or at least revised, to include more slapstick.
Among them were such plays as Cowley's Guardian, reproduced
in 1661 with considerable farcical alteration as The Cutter
of Coleman-Street, and Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew,
which received similar treatment at the hands of the star
comedian John Lacy and was renamed Saving the Scott (1667).
Tomkis' Albumazar, a mixture of rousing farce and satire on
astrologers, was revived in 1668. This play is farcical,
especially in its depiction of Trincalo, who is first
tricked into believing that he has undergone a magic trans
formation that has completely altered his appearance, and
then is beaten, shut up in a beer barrel, tumbled down
cellar steps; in short, he has submitted to most of the
indignities of slapstick comedy. It is of this farcical
performance in Albumazar that Pepys reports: "The King
there, and indeed all of us, were pretty merry at the
mimique tricks of T r i n k i l o . " ^ Pepys’ reaction, if it
2^Piary, 22 February 1668.
22
represents the current attitude, suggests clearly enough
which of these elements were most pleasing to a Restoration
audience. Marlowe*s Dr. Faustus enjoyed a renewal of
popularity in these early days, though what proved most
pleasing in it may well have been the scenes of the mar
velous and the magic, attractions which account for the
popularity of pantomimes in the eighteenth century. A
little later, the actor Mountfort revised Faustus (1686),
principally by adding much Italian harlequinesque.
In addition to the full-length plays which contained
farcical elements and which had been revived from the
earlier English repertory, there were a few original plays
of similar structure in these early years. Lacy*s The Old
Troop (1665) is an example of such a mixture. Into a sur
prisingly realistic and cynical picture of the recent civil
wars the actor-playwright managed to work a series of basic
farce turns (lazzi). Similar in the use of hilarious slap
stick are Boyle*s comedies, Guzman (1669) and Mr. Anthony
(1671), the latter designed largely to exploit the talents
23
in clowning of Nokes and Angel.
23
James Nokes (d. 1692?) and Edward Angel (fl. 1660-
73) appeared in Mr. Anthony in 1671-72.
23
The demands for farce in the early days of the
Restoration were generally satisfied, however, without any
great expenditure of effort in original composition. The
common practice was simply to rewrite, with varying amounts
of change, plays from contemporary Italian and French
comedies.
An audience which believed in reason, honesty, and
control of the passions was soon disgusted with the am
bitious crimes of petty Italian tyrants and shocked at the
sexual perversity which usually lay at the bottom of
Italian dramatic productions. Thus a distrust of the
Italian national character set in which forced the English
dramatist to shift gradually from Italian to French sources
during the latter half of the seventeenth century. Yet the
Elizabethan admiration for Italy had been so intense that
it fell off slowly between 1660 and 1705. In pieces like
Behn's Amorous Prince, Dryden's Assignation, Southerne's
Disappointment, Wilson's Belphegor, Centlivre's Perjur'd
Husband, or Rowe's Fair Penitent, the Italian character
continued to exhibit his traditional virtues and vices.
Moreover, works such as the anonymous Religious-Rebell,
Crowne's Charles the Eighth of France, Settle’s Female
24
Prelate, Lee’s Caesar Borgia, Otway’s Venice Preserv’d,
D’Urfey’s Rise and Fall of Massaniello. and Gildcm's
Patriot show the influence of Capriata, Platina, Nani,
Machiavelli, Leti, and Saint-Real.
Most effective in diminishing English interest in
things Italian was the supervening popularity of the French
writers and their dicta against Italian writers. The
Italian poets were decried by the Classicists Boileau,
Rapin, Le Bossu, and Bouhours, as lacking "nature."
Shaftesbury, echoing these sentiments in England, declared
that Italian poets were "good for nothing but to corrupt
the taste of those who have had no familiarity with the
noble ancients.But while English critics such as
Rymer, Dryden, and later, Shaftesbury, Addison, and others
followed the French lead in burying Italian literature,
stories of intrigue by Boccaccio and others were used by
dramatists such as Mrs. Behn, Otway, and Ravenscroft. In
fact, it was with marked slowness that English interest in
Italian literature and life declined during the last sixty
years of the seventeenth century.
24
Cited in Roderick Marshall, Italy in English Litera
ture, 1755-1815 (New York, 1934), p. 10.
Despite the increasing popularity and influence of the
French writers, however, and, paradoxically, because of
them, Italian elements in English farce and the typical
character types, lazzi, scenari, and stage devices of the
commedia dell*arte continued to be transmitted through the
French, notably through Moli&re. Italian was sufficiently
well-known to the courtly audiences of 1660-1680 for plays
to be presented in that language by native performers. As
early as October 22, 1660, Charles II had granted a patent
to Giulio Gentileschi to build a theater for Italian
musicians and Italian players. By 1665, troupes of Italian
comedians were well-known in London. Moreover, a vast
amount of borrowing from the Italian directly and through
the French indirectly is evident in dozens of scenes and
many full-length plays. The patent influences on the plays
of Cokain (and Tate), Behn, and Ravenscroft will be dis
cussed later. At this point, only the most prominent of
the plays which featured the commedia* s well-known Scara-
mouche, Harlequin, and other "types” will be mentioned.
In 1686 William Mountfort sensed the taste of the time suf
ficiently to produce his The Life and Death of Doctor
Faustus, Made into a Farce . . . With the Humours of
26
25
Harlequin and Scaramouche. Dryden refers to the same
characters in his Discourse Concerning the Origin and '
Progress of Satire (1693). Two Scaramouche men and two
Scaramouche women'as well as two Harlequin men and women
"Enter and Dance" in George Powell’s New Opera: Called,
Brutus of Alba (c. 1694). Two other plays which show the
influence of Italian comedy at this time are The Husband
his own Cuckold (1695), written by Dryden’s son, John, who
calls this farce "un pasticcio Inglese," and Belphegor, or,
The Marriage of the Devil (1690), by John Wilson. Pierre
Antoine Motteux, one of the most interesting figures of his
period, became famous for his work in acclimatizing the
Italian commedia dell’arte and in furthering the develop
ment of the opera. His first comedy, the extraordinarily
successful Love’s a Jest (1696), owes its theme to an
Italian play, the author of vrtiich is unknown. More in
teresting for us is The Novelty, Every Act A Play, Being a
Short Pastoral, Comedy, Masque, Tragedy, and Farce after
25
This play is an admixture of the Italian commedia
dell’arte and the tragedy of Marlowe.
26
See Allardyce Nicoll, A History of English Drama.
1660-1900 (Cambridge [England], 1955), I, 251.
27
the Italian Manner (1697). This play includes a farce en
titled Natural Magic which introduces the regular Italian
characters Pantalone, Pasquarel, Mazzetin, and Columbine.
As I have pointed out, the English appetite for farce
during Restoration England combined with a long-standing
interest in Italian culture to promote the copying of
Italian commedia dell' arte. English familiarity with the
Italian language, royal subsidies for visiting Italian
troupes, and the likeness of lazzi to native English slap
stick all encouraged English farceurs to adapt and plagiar
ize directly from the Italian. With Moli&re and his French
contemporaries lies an indirect channel of influence from
the Italian commedia dell*arte to the English farce. In a
careful study of The Influence of Moliere on Restoration
Comedy Dudley Howe Miles states:
that . . . with a few exceptions the English plots best
suited to reflect the conditions of the time were either
adapted from Moliere or developed under his influence,
that the situations most instinct with comic satire
derived their effectiveness from the reproduction in
some degree of Moliere1s spirit, and that the types of
character that linger in one's memory may be traced
more or less directly to the pages of Moliere.27
In a discussion of the transmission of commedia
27(New York, 1910), pp. 220-21
28
dell*arte lazzi, scenari, characters, and devices to the
Restoration stage through Moliere, only a sampling of the
most obvious examples of indebtedness can be made. In the
more detailed discussion of Cokain, Behn, and Ravenscroft,
the techniques of adaptation, augmentation, and plagiarism--
directly and indirectly from the Italian--will be treated
more thoroughly.
From the great number of English plays translated,
adapted, or borrowed from Italian sources or French plays
influenced by the Italian, three of the most popular farces
of the time have been selected for closer inspection:
Sir Aston Cokain's Trapolin (c. 1633), Edward Ravenscroft's
The Anatomist: or The Sham Doctor (1697), and Mrs. Aphra
Behn's The Emperor of the Moon (1687). The first of these
plays, Trapolin, shows direct Italian influence. Cokain
witnessed a number of similar Italian scenari of the
commedia dell*arte while traveling in Italy and wrote an
English version of one of them, which was rewritten with
minor revisions by Nahum Tate as A Duke and No Duke (1693).
The second play, Edward Ravenscroft*s The Anatomist, best
illustrates the transmission of Italian influence through
the French--Moliere, and then Hauteroche. The third play,
Mrs. Aphra Behn’s The Emperor of the Moon, illustrates the
combination of direct and indirect Italian influence, and
is based on a hybrid Italian-French play, Fatouville's
Arlequin empereur dans la lune (1684), in which only the
French scenes were written down; the Italian ones were
still played all’improvisio. Although Mrs. Behn has added
as much as she has borrowed, she demonstrates her close
acquaintance with the Italian commedia dell’arte troupes in
England. She describes the improvised lazzi in full for
the benefit of native English actors.
CHAPTER II
THE COMMEDIA DELL*ARTE AND ENGLISH FARCE:
AN INSPECTION OF REPRESENTATIVE WORKS
Sir Aston Cokain1s Trapolin, a tragi-comedy composed
sometime after 1633 and first published in 1658, is a good
illustration of the direct connection between Italian
comedy and English farce. Examples of Cokain's specific
borrowings from the Italian appear below. The Prologue to
the first edition of the play (1658) hints at its origin:
Gallants, be't known as yet we cannot say
To whom you are beholding for this play;
But this our Poet hath licens'd us to tell
Ingenious Italy hath lik’d it well:
Yet it is no translation; for he nere
But twice in Venice did it ever see....
Cokain was in Venice in the autumn of 1632 and on October 11
2
entered the University of Padua. According to the verse-
epistle to his son, written some years later, he came home
^James Maidment and W. H. Logan, eds., The Dramatic
Works of Sir Aston Cokain (Edinburgh, 1874), p. 116.
2
H. F. Brown, Inglesi e scozzesi all'Iftrversita di
Padova (Firenze, 1925), p. 113.
30
31
by way of Rome, Naples, and Paris and landed in Dover in
1633. It was evident on this occasion that he was occupied
with Trapolin. for in the Epilogue in 1658 he writes that
here in London
It was not writ
In sweet repose and fluencies of wit;
But far remote, at Rome began, half-made
At Naples, at Paris the conclusion had.
Cokain’s "tragi-comedy" shows Lavinio, Great Duke of
i
Tuscany, setting out for Milan to claim Isabella Sforza as
his bride, and leaving in Florence the two counsellors,
Machavil and Barberino, in charge of his daughter Prudentia.
Once the Duke is away, the counsellors lose no time in
wooing Flaminetta, the sweetheart of Trapolin, who is the
stupid-wise servant in the royal household. This honest
fellow protests, but he is clapped into prison, and after
a mock trial is summarily banished. Horatio, Frince of
Savoy, who has come to court for the love of Prudentia and
% •
who stays there disguised as the servant Brunetto, is sym
pathetic with Trapolin; whereas Mattamoros (the braggart
Captain), a hanger-on at court, jeers at the unfortunate
Trapolin. Outside the city, Trapolin meets a conjurer,
3
Maidment and Logan, p. 204.
32
who at first scares him with an apparition of devils and
then provides the cloak, hat, mirror, and mandrake root
which will transform Trapolin into the likeness of Duke
Lavinio.
Meanwhile, in the city, the Captain has overheard
Prudentia offering to elope with Brunetto; the Captain
betrays her tp the counsellors, who imprison this "impru
dent ,slave.” As they congratulate themselves, the "Sup
posed Prince" (Trapolin) arrives, reproves them for banish
ing Trapolin, and inquires after his friend Brunetto, whom
he frees and then embarrasses with his kindness; Trapolin
then rides the counsellors pick-a-back into the palace.
Duke Lavinio and his bride come back to a city that is
topsy-turvy with mistaken identity and contradictory
orders; and, when all are worn out with the confusion, the
"Supposed Prince" brings matters to a head by using his
magic root to change the real prince into the likeness of
Trapolin. At last the magician intervenes, bargains for
a general pardon, reveals himself as Trapolin’s natural
A
father, and marries off the lovers.
4 *
Trappolin creduto: or. Trapolin Supposed a Prince by
Sir Aston Cokain, found in Maidment and Logan, pp. 113-
204.
33
CokainTs riddling statement in his prologue "yet it is
no translation" is explained when it is £ound that the
"Supposed Prince" was for over a hundred years one of the
favorite themes of the commedia dell ’ arte. Nine versions
of the "Supposed Prince" are still extant. Six are manu
script scenari still preserved in the miscellanies of play-
plots which were drawn up for use of improvising players,
professionals, or amateurs.
To aid in demonstrating Cokain*s indebtedness to the
Italian for the elements of structure, situation, lazzi,
stage devices, and character-types, a typical "Supposed
Prince" scenario follows:
In the absence of the Prince (Lelio), Trappolino (or
Trivellino) has been unjustly banished by the Prince*s
counsellors (the Doctor and Pantalone). After leaving the
city Trappolino meets a magician (Mago) who frightens him
with a display of demons and then presents him with a cloak,
5 In Italian Popular Comedy (Oxford, 1934), I, Miss
K. M. Lea says of the "Supposed Prince" theme, "... the
five versions extant belong to the second half of the
seventeenth century, but the scenario was evidently well
established by 1632, when Sir Aston Cokain saw it played
twice in Venice by the Affezionati and wrote it up in
English as Trapolin Suppos*d a Prince" (p. 193).
34
hat, mirror, and mandrake root which will give him magical
power. The magician then transforms Trappolino into the
likeness of the Prince. Meanwhile, in the Court, a roman
tic sub-plot is developed which involves the Prince's
daughter Isabella and Brunetto her lover--a nobleman dis
guised as a menial. Isabella, who truly loves Brunetto,
offers to elope with him, but this plan is destroyed by the
arch-villain, the braggart Captain (Spavento), who over
hears Isabella's conversation with Brunetto. The Captain
betrays them to the counsellors who imprison Brunetto to
await trial upon the Prince's return. Trappolino returns
to the court and with his new power disgraces the unfortu
nate counsellors by subjecting them to many farcical situ
ations which place them in humiliating positions. These
scenes provide a full presentation of the numerous commedia
tricks, which include, of course, the counsellors being
ridden pick-a-back by Trappolino. Trappolino then frees
Brunetto and imprisons the counsellors and the Captain.
The Prince returns to a much transformed Court which,
through the antics of Trappolino, resembles a madhouse.
He frees the counsellors and the Captain and imprisons
Brunetto. Successive imprisonments are made by the sup
posed Prince followed by successive liberations by the
real Prince. Finally, Trappolino manages to have everyone
believe that the real Prince is an imposter and has him im
prisoned along with the counsellors and the Captain, at the
same time freeing Brunetto. The magician interrupts these
confusing events with earthquakes, thunder, and flames.
He bargains with the imprisoned Prince for the forgiveness
of Trappolino. The Prince agrees to do so and is released.
The drama ends in a great feast with the marriage of
Isabella and Brunetto, who is discovered to be in reality
a Prince.
With the exception of the wedding masque there is not
a single incident in Cokain's play that does not have a
parallel in one or another of the Italian versions. In
both the Italian scenario and Cokain's version, double
plots are discovered, one dealing with usurpation, the
other with a triangular romance. The masquerade of
nobility as menials and its converse, the parodying humili
ations of the usurpers, are likewise present. Moreover,
situations such as ah unjust banishment by a deluded court,
the double appearance of a magician, betrayal by an eaves
dropping coward, the infernal bargain, and the doubled
Prince are common to both. Included too are lazzi of
36
lovemaking, pick-a-back riding, deceptive costume-changes
among all the characters, sudden reversals of fortune, and
a kangaroo court. In fact, even the magician’s emblems--
hat, cloak, mirror, and mandrake root— are identical in
both plays.
Cokain*s variations on the Italian plot are interest
ing. There were, for example, at least two ways of dealing
with the romantic sub-plot. The common and more exciting
was that of II Creduto principe, where the Princess makes
love to Brunetto, who shyly but firmly refuses her (this
also occurs in II Finto principe [1]). In her indignation
she summons the counsellors and accuses the slave of daring
to woo her. He is immediately imprisoned, only to be re
leased by the supposed prince, and re-arrested by the real
prince, who overhears the love-scene in which the slave,
Brunetto, encouraged by the supposed prince, Trivellino,
ventures to return the princess' affection. By the more
pleasing tradition, which Cokain follows, the slave is a
nobleman who has come to court disguised to be near the
princess. Unwittingly she falls in love with him, and they
are betrayed by the Captain. The lover is imprisoned and
is then subjected to the series of comic twists and turns
37
which beset the lover in the Italian version. This version
was evidently Italian, for it appears again in II nuovo
finto principe. This scenario provided Cokain with another
piece of comic business for variation in his play. In
Act II, scene three, Trappolin makes, an effective exit
riding the counsellors Barbarino and Machavil pick-a-back.
It was not Trivellino (the English Trapolin) but Pulcinella,
who appears in three of our scenari (II Nuovo finto
principe, II Finto principe, and II Finto re), who usually
fi
performed this feat.
f L
As mentioned earlier, Nahum Tate followed Trapolin
closely in A Duke and No Duke, but he did make some changes,
unfortunately losing some of the flavor of the commedia
dell*arte. One of the principal revisions occurs in the
character of Duke Lavinio. Tate takes Cokain*s really^sen
sible and agreeable Duke and makes him into a ranting fool.
He likewise increases Trapolin's worst traits until he has
become a drunken lecher. Where Cokain's Trapolin is a
happy-go-lucky, pleasure-loving scamp who asks for nothing
more than a loaf of bread, a bag of Bologna sausages, a jug
of Montefrascone, and his fair Flametta, Tate's Trapolin is
a lascivious parasite who, in order to bribe his way out of
trouble, would pander his faithful Flametta to Lord Bar
barino. As a result, Tate has made his characters not more
diverting, as in the commedia, but less so. The episodes
mentioned above in outlining the farce in Cokain's play re
ceive varied treatment in Tate's. Some of the knockabout,
such as the scene involving literal horse-play, he deletes
entirely, together with the role of Puccanello. Others,
such as the conjuring scene, are retained, but reduced both
in length and comic effectiveness. Still others, such as
the early scene of double-talk, he retains pretty much in
their original state.
It is evident that the scenario upon which Cokain drew
was a typical one in that the farcical element and the
leading farce actor dominate the play but do not quite
monopolize it. In the Italian comedy, farce was the lead
ing element, but it was always accompanied by the romantic
plot, just as in the commedia dell*arte troupe the leaders
were invariably the farce actors, but no troupe was without
its group of young lovers. The romantic plot, always the
most stereotyped possible, served as the unifying element
to which the farce episodes could be tied. Of the extant
scenari (see Appendix A), the first scenario, II Creduto
principe, corresponds most nearly to the English Trapolin.
Even if we had no other evidence it would be quite clear
that Cokain’s play "is no translation"; it is based on the
performance of the professional comedians who improvised
their plays from given scenari.
Character borrowings show Cokain’s indebtedness even
more than structural parallels. The company which he saw
perform must have been the Affezionati, which included many
well-known actors of the day. Its cast of characters was
in part the following: Lavinio, a lover; Trappolino, the
stupid-wise servant (played by Giovan Battista Fiorillo,
39
whose father Silvio was also a favorite actor); Prudenze,
the prima donna; Flametta, a waiting-maid; Riccolina, an
older servant; and the Queen (played by Isabella Chiesa,
whose husband Girolano was also an actor). I list here
Cokain’s dramatis personae, for it shows clearly that he
took over many of the stage names of II Creduto principe
and in some cases the given names of the actors of the
Affezionate.
Affezionate
Lavinio
Sforza
Horatio
Barbarino
Machavil
Mattemores
Trapolin
Mago
Puccanello
Bulflesh
Calfshead
Bame
Tiler
Whip
A Notary, a Guard, Officers, Attendants
Eo, Meo, Areo Devils
Hymen, Luna, Mars,
Mercury, Jupiter,
Venus, Saturn, Sol Maskers
The Great Duke of Tuscany
The Duke of Milan
Son of the Duke of Savoy
Two noble Florentines
A Spanish Captain
Supposed a Prince
A Conjurer
A Jailor
A Butcher
A Puritan
A Fariner
A poor Workman
A Coachman
Isabella
Hortentia
Prudentia
Wife to Lavinio
Wife to Sforza
Horatio's Mistress
40
Hipolita The Captain's Mistress
Flametta Trappolin's Sweetheart
Mrs. Fine A Plaintiff
The roles of Cokain*s Mattemores and Puccanello were
probably played by Silvio Fiorillo, who was especially
famous for his roles of the Spanish Captain and Pulcinella.
The counsellors, satirically renamed Barbarino and Machavil,
were generally played by the actors who took the parts of
Pantalone and Graziano. Girolano Chiesa, Isabella's hus
band, who was famous for his Graziano, probably played one
of the counsellors. The actress who took the part of
Riccolina probably played Hipolita, Prudentia*s maid.
Other elements which Cokain borrowed freely from his
Italian sources are the horseplay, the use of magic, the
bragging soldier, the lecherous and talkative old men, and
most of all, the clever-stupid and often amoral clown. In
fact, Cokain's Trapolin clearly illustrates the direct in
fluence of the Italian commedia dell'arte on Restoration
farce.
Edward Ravenscroft was both more voracious and less
scrupulous in his use of sources than Cokain.^ He
^Edward Ravenscroft (c. 1650-1697), like his contempo
raries Cokain, Tate, and Mrs. Behn, had a good instinct for
theater and seemed to be able to anticipate what the public
41
examplifies the Englishmen who borrowed indirectly from the
commedia dell*arte. The new element in the influence of
the commedia dell*arte theater on English drama is the
French compositor, in the persons of Moliere and his com
patriot emulators. If many of the links between English
and French drama are obscured by critical focus on Moliere*s
influence, the evidence of direct borrowings from other
French sources such as Fatouville, Le Noble, Regnard, and
Dufresney, who will be discussed later, is still consider
able.
In his own composition, Moliere was not less indebted
than his confreres to Italian sources, but only more
talented and successful. Moliere frequently came into
close contact with Italian actors in Paris. Established in
the city under Henry III, they were playing regularly there
when Moli&re was a boy. While in Lyons during his wander
ings in the provinces he frequently saw Italian perform
ances of commedia dell*arte, and upon his return to Paris
wanted. Allardyce Nicoll says of him: "In general, I be
lieve, no writer had more influence on the usual farce of
the theatre than had Ravenscroft. A third-rate dramatist,
he yet divined what was desired by the public, and in
meeting that desire he set a fashion which many others were
only too happy to follow" (A History of English Drama.
1660-1900, I, 256).
42
he shared a hall with an Italian commedia troupe. In fact,
If one were to accept at face value the assertions of
Riccoboni in his Observations sur la comedie et le genie de
O Q
Moliere and Cailhava in his Art de la comedie. nearly all
the plays of Moliere have their origin in some Italian
scenario of the commedia dell*arte.
Even though the strong influence on Moliere of com
media dell*arte and the popularity, in turn, of Molifere in
Restoration English farce have been long recognized, no
attempt has yet been made to correlate these steps. Fortu
nately, this correlation can now be made with some preci
sion. D. H. Miles has listed the "important direct borrow
ings from Molifere" (pp. 223 ff.), augmenting and correcting
the work of his predecessors Langbaine, Jacob, Laun,
Charlanne and Kerby. While showing that neither Corey's
Metamorphosis, or the Old Lover Outwitted (1704) nor
Motteux's The Loves of Mars and Venus (1696) owes anything
to Moliere, in spite of assertions to the contrary, he has
listed sixty-five Restoration plays which translate or
adapt scenes, acts, or whole plays from Moliere. In the
8(Paris, 1736) 9(Paris, 1772).
43
most important of these plays, it can be seen that Moliere
has taken the same elements directly from scenari of the
commedia dell*arte. In charging direct Italian influence
on English farce and identifying obvious parallels to
Moliere, the otherwise thorough Hughes, among others, has
failed to recognize the pervasiveness of the Italian
dramatic forms, particularly since apparent Italian borrow
ings had fallen under a moral and critical pall by the end
of the seventeenth century.
Farcical elements taken from Moli&re, who had borrowed
them from the commedia dell*arte, appear prominently in the
production of the major Restoration dramatists: Dryden,
Otway, Congreve, Wycherley, and Farquhar, among others.
According to Louis Moland, Moliere' s L*Avare, for example,
is derived largely from five or six scenari of the commedia
dell*arte, including Le Case svagliate. I n this scenario,
Scapin points out to Flammia, who is loved by Pantalone,
that the latter wears a beautiful diamond on his finger.
Flammia's interest is aroused. Scapin in Pantalone's
presence assures Flammia that Pantalone is anxious to have
^Moliere et la Comedie Italienne.
44
her accept it. Pantalone is forced to part with his jeweled
ring in order not to lose Flammia. In L*Avare, Cleante
gives a present to his mistress in much the same manner.
Other parallels can be demonstrated between L!Avare and
scenari like L*Amante tradite, II Dottor bachettore, and La
Cameriera nobile. In England, Shadwell virtually trans
lated the play in The Miser (1671), adapted from it the
first and third acts of The Woman Captain (1680) and act IV
of The Squire of Alsatia (1688), and used its father-son
rivalry in The Amorous Bigot (1690). Moreover, he modeled
Gripe (Woman Captain) and Belford (Squire) on Harpagon, a
fixed type evolved from II Dottore, with his legendary
avarice, volubility, and susceptibility to cuckolding. In
Scene 4 of Le Mariage force. Moliere makes this type, in a
famous description, an "homme savant, savantissime per
omnes modus et casus." Moreover, Congreve has taken the
outline for the plot of Love for Love (1695) from L*Avare
(with Harpagon becoming Sir Sampson), and Crowne has based
his Lady Pinchgut on Harpagon in the little-known English
Friar (1690). The zanni, peasant or servant types who
appear in the commedia dell*arte principally under the
names of Arlequin and Brighello, appear in Moliere as
45
Scapin, Mascarille, and Sganarelle. Moliere's Scapin,
closely related to Ariosto’s Corbulo,
is a direct descendant of the zanni of the commedia
dell’arte. He is the valet toube. the life and soul
of the action of the play. He is set to work, like his
brothers of the commedia dell’arte, Arlequin, Brighello,
and Pedrolino, to devise ways and means to bring about
his master's work.
Moliere's Les Fourberies de Scapin (1671), which strung to
gether Scapin*s typical lazzi, was translated by Otway as
The Cheats of Scapin (1677); one of its lazzi was adapted
for the third act of Lacy's Dumb Lady (1699), and another
for the second act of Congreve's Old Bachelor (1693). In
Moliere's L* Etourdi (1655), the Scapino of Beltrame's
L' Inawertito, an extended French version of a commedia
scenario, had become Mascarille, a valet, an inflexible
marionette who may appear only as a marquis. After 1660,
Mascarille drops out and his more flexible counterpart,
12
Sganarelle, is used in six plays. Molifere himself played
the parts of Mascarille and Sganarelle extensively.
A. Schwartz, The Commedia Dell'Arte and Its In
fluence on French Comedy in the Seventeenth Century (New
York, 1933), p. 101.
12
Le Medecin volant, Sganarelle ou le cocu imaginaire,
L'Ecole des maris, Le Mariage force, Don Juan, L'Amour
medecin.
Mascarille appears as Merryman in Betterton's The Amorous
Widow, or The Wanton Wife (1670), and as Quillon in Behn's
False Count (1682). Sganarelle is even more appealing to
the English adapters. This commedia buffoon appears in at
least three plays: as Forecast in Sedley's The Mulberry
Garden (1668), as Sir Salomon in Cary11*s Sir Salomon, or
The Cautious Coxcomb (1669-70), and as Sir Davy Dunce in
Otway's The Soldier's Fortune (1681). Moreover, there are
two translations of Moliere's Sganarelle ou le cocu
imaginaire (1660). They are Vanbrugh's The Cuckold in
Conceit (1707), and Rawlins' Tom Essence, or The Modish
Wife (1677).
Although Moliere's influence can be seen in the works
of many English writers, it is most obvious in those of
Ravenscroft. His first play, Mamouchi, or The Citizen
Turned Gentleman, was produced at Dorset Gardens in 1671,
and printed in 1675 with a dedication to Prince Rupert.
Ravenscroft took it, as the subtitle made clear, from
Molifere's Le Bourgeois gentilhomme, produced in 1670. He
turned repeatedly to Moliere's comedies, lifting from them
those elements which Moliere had borrowed from the commedia
dell'arte. The Citizen Turn'd Gentleman (1672) and
47
The Careless Lovers (1672) were taken bodily from Le
Bourgeois gentilhomme and from Monsieur Pourceaugnac, re
spectively, and display Ravenscroft's emphasis on farce and
comic incident at the expense of characterization and wit.
It is in The Wrangling Lovers, or, The Invisible Mistress
(1676) that Ravenscroft first adds intrigue to his comic
writing; its French origin is patent. The plot and charac
ters of the play come partly from French and partly from
Spanish originals, principally Corneille's Les Engagements
du hasard.
13
Interesting for the extent of its borrowing is
Ravenscroft's Scaramouch a Philosopher, Harlequin a School
boy, Bravo, Merchant and Magician. A Comedy after the
13
Even Ravenscroft's contemporaries were aware of his
borrowings. Langbaine sneered that "this rickety poet can
not go without others' assistance," and Dibdin stated that
Ravenscroft's plays are "a series of thefts from beginning
to end." Gerard Langbaine, The Lives and Characters of the
English Dramatic Poets and Charles Dibdin, History of the
Stage, both quoted in DNB, XXI, 759-60. Of his entire
production Dudley Miles says that Ravenscroft was "so in
veterate a plagiarist that when he no longer found anything
good in Moliere or other Frenchmen, he plagiarized from his
own earlier plagiarisms" (The Influence of Moliere on
Restoration Comedy [New York, 1910], p. 103).
But Ravenscroft ignored the criticism, for he had
found a successful method; and nowhere is it shown more
clearly than in his last farce The Anatomist.
48
Italian Manner (1677). Despite all the evidence to the con
trary, the author claims that he is introducing a novelty
on the London stage. "The Poet," says the prologue,
. . . does a dang’rous Trail make,
And all the common Roads of Plays forsake . . .
[He] rather chose in new attempts to fail
Than in the old indifferently prevail.
For Scaramouch a Philosopher Ravenscroft is heavily in
debted to Le Mariage force and to Les Fourberies de Scapin
of Moliere, though he doubtless owes something to Fiorelli's
commedia troupe which, as Rosenfeld has shown, returned to
London in 1673, 1674, 1675 and 1684, after an initial visit
14
there in 1672. The snatches of Italian phrasing through
out the play, as well as the typical commedia dell*arte
characters, offer additional proof that Ravenscroft
realized how popular Italian comedy had become in England.
That Ravenscroft plagiarized from Moliere extensively
is patent, but his thefts can be exaggerated. The English
man’s The Anatomist is generally considered to owe much to
Molifere. Allardyce Nicoll, for example, insists that
Sybil Rosenfeld, Foreign Theatrical Companies in
Great Britain in the 17th and 18th Centuries (London,
1955), pp. 2-4.
49
1 * 5
"The Anatomist plainly shows its indebtedness to Moliere,"
but the evidence clearly shows that for this play Ravens
croft did not go to Moliere but instead rewrote Hauteroche* s
✓ 16
Crispin medecin. It was Hauteroche, not Ravenscroft, at
least in this instance, who borrowed from Moliere. And the
evidence suggests that Hauteroche was as strongly influ
enced by the Italian commedia dell1arte~as Moliere was.
Ravenscroft’s "borrowings” from Hauteroche include
characters, structure, plot, and dialogue. With one minor
exception, the characters of The Anatomist correspond to
those in the original, and in some cases have the same
names, as, for instance, Crispin and Gerald. The following
^ British Drama (London, 1949), p. 249.
^After witnessing Ravenscroft's The Anatomist in
1738, Luigi Riccoboni left an account which clearly identi
fied Hauteroche's Crispin medecin as the play on which The
Anatomist had been based: "Au thefitre de Linkinsfild je me
trauvia a la representation d'une Cornedie, dont 1*action
principale ne m’etoit point connue, mais il ne fut aise de
reconnoitre un episode que 1*Auteur avait sans doute place
dans son intrigue: c'etoit cette scene que nous avons tant
vue dans Crispin Medecin; le seul changement qu'on y avait
fait c*etoit d'introduire un Vieillard k la place du Valet,
qui fait rire le Spectateur par ses allarmes, lorsqu'il
se met k la place du cadavre que le Medecin doit dis-
sequer .... II fait precisement les memes choses que
Crispin dans la Comedie Fransoise" (Reflections historiques
et critiques sur les differens theatres de 1*Europe [Paris,
1738], p. 173).
comparison of the dramatis personae of the two plays
clearly demonstrates the extent of Ravenscroft*s indebted--
ness to Hauteroche’s character types:
Hauteroche
Lisidor, Pere de Geralde
Geralde, Axnant d’Alcine
Mirobolan, Medecin, Pere
d'Alcine
Feliante, Mere d’Alcine
Alcine
Dorine, Servante de Feliante
Marin, Valet de Lisidor
Crispin, Valet de Geralde
Lise, Servante
Uh Chirurgien
Grand-Simon, Magister de
son Village
Furthermore, both Hauteroche’s Crispin medecin and
Ravenscroft’s The Anatomist have the same structure. Both
plays have three acts. Except for some slight additions
(at the beginning of Act I and at the end of Act II),
Ravenscroft's first two acts are a scene for scene and a
line for line translation of the French.
Because the plot details are identical, including the
sequence in which the scenes appear, I have not included a
separate synopsis of the Hauteroche play. The synopsis
Ravenscroft
Old Mr. Gerald
Young Mr. Gerald
The Doctor
Wife to the Doctor
Mrs. Angelica, their daughter
Beatrice, the Maid
Martin, Servant to old Gerald
Crispin, the Sham Doctor
Servant to young Gerald
Waiting-woman
(Appears in the play, but
not in the cast)
Simon, a country fellow
51
of the Ravenscroft play is sufficient to furnish a basis
for comparison.
A doctor and his wi£e, who dominates him, have a
daughter, Angelica, who is courted by Old Mr. Gerald and
his son, Young Gerald. The latter has been sent to study
law at the university but lingers in London on account of
Angelica. The Doctor repeats his promise to give his
daughter to Old Gerald, but his wife vetoes this arrange
ment. Young Gerald*s valet, Crispin, sent with a note to
Angelica, is caught in a room which the doctor's maid,
Beatrice, is preparing for a dissection. In order to pro
tect Crispin, she makes him pretend to be the corpse; she
then has considerable difficulty in preventing his im
mediate dissection. Then she disguises the valet as a
doctor. He prescribes pills to his patients and gets into
difficulties with Old Gerald and the victims of his pills,
who demand the return of their money. Cornered, he admits
that Young Gerald has never left London and is in love with
Angelica. When the three parents make the discovery, they
agree to the marriage of Young Gerald and Angelica.
The Hauteroche play has an identical opening: Lisidor
(Old Gerald), having sent his son to the university to
52
get him out of the way, plans to marry the doctor1s
daughter Alcine (Angelica); he discusses his matrimonial
project with his disapproving servant Marin (Martin). The
doctor has promised his daughter to Lisidor, but his wife,
who henpecks him unmercifully, refuses her consent because
Lisidor is too old (see Appendix B). In each of the plays
Crispin is sent with a letter to ask his master's father
for money, a letter which he loses and replaces with
another. And in each play the Young Gerald is not at the
university, where he is supposed to be, but in town,
secretly arranging a meeting with the young lady his father
is planning to marry (see Appendix B for this scene).
The second act of each play begins with the doctor
giving orders to the servant Dorine (Beatrice in Ravens-
croft’s play) for the disposal of a body that is to be sent
him from the gallows for dissection (see Appendix B).
After the doctor leaves, Crispin enters. The knock
ing which signifies the doctor's unexpected return causes
Dorine to put Crispin on the operation table where the
cadaver was supposed to be:
BEATRICE. Here, here, lay DORINE. Crispin, mets-toy
yourself at length upon this tout etendu sur cette table:
Table: I'll say you are the je diraz que tu es ce pendu
dead Body from the Gallows. qu'on vient d'aporter.
53
CRISPIN. Oh, Beatrice-- CRISPIN. Mais ...
BEATRICE. No more; do as I DORINE. Mais ne raisonne
bid you. (CRISPIN lies at point, fais ce que je te dis.
his full length on the (CRISPIN se met sur la table,
Table. BEATRICE opens the et DORINE ouvre a Mirobolan.)
door.)
Then follows the scene in which the terrified Crispin nar
rowly escapes dissection.
I have included a large section from the second act of
each play to stress the common debt which Ravenscroft,
Hauteroche, and ultimately Moliere owed to the commedia
dell*arte. It should be noticed that the Doctor (il
Dottore), as in the commedia, uses many technical terms
with no inkling of their true meaning, is indifferent to
the fate of his patients, and is self-convicted of incom
petence. In the following scene, for example, when Beatrice
asks, "Should any of ’em dye. in the mean time?" the Doctor
replies, "That's not my fault; if any of ’em are in so much
danger, my visit will do ’em no good now." This section,
like those portions included in Appendix B, also emphasizes
Ravenscroft’s plagiarisms from Hauteroche.
DOCTOR. I think I am be- MIROBOLAN, entrant. Je pense
witcht to day; I have taken que je suis aujord'huy im-
the wrong Medicines. briaque; j’oublie la moitie
What's that there? des choses dont j'ay besoin:
certaintes pilules que j'ay
promises ... . Mais que
void-je la, Dorine?
54
BEATRICE. The Body from
the Gallows, Sir; the fel
lows that brought it would
not carry it into the
Vault.
DOCTOR. How came they to
send him with his Cloaths
on?
BEATRICE. They*11 call
for ' em to morrow.
DOCTOR. *Tis very well.
Ha! the Body's warm: I have
a mind to make an experi
ment immediately. Go,
Beatrice, fetch me my In
cision Knives, Amputation
Knife, Dismembering Saw,
with the Threads, Pins, and
all the other instruments
I laid ready in my Closet.
BEATRICE. But, Sir, your
Patients expect you now.
DOCTOR. An hour, or two
hence will serve.
BEATRICE. Should any of
'em dye in the mean time?
DOCTOR. That's not my
fault; if any of 'em are
in so much danger, my visit
will do 'em no good now.
DORINE. C’est ce corps qu'on
vient d'apporter: il etoit
dejA icy quand vous estes
venu.
MIROBOLAN. Fort bien; mais
d'ou vient qu'il a encore ses
habits?
DORINE. Ils ont dit qu'on
auriot le soin de les rendre.
MIROBOLAN le taste. Ou n'y
manquera pas. Je suis d'avis,
tandis qu'il est encore tout
chaud, d'en conxnencer la dis
section. Va-t*en me querir
mes bistouris, qui sont la-
haut dans mon cabinet.
DORINE. Mais, Monsieur,
vous n'avez rien de prepare,
cela fera un trop grand em-
barras; et d'ailleurs vos
malades attendent apres vous.
MIROBOLAN. Pour attendre
deux ou trois heures, il n'y
a pas grand mal.
DORINE. Mais s'il en vient
a mourir quelqu'un cependant?
MIROBOLAN. Ce ne sera pas
ma faute; car s'il doit mou
rir dans si peu de temps, ma
visite ne luy serviroit pas
de grand chose.
55
BEATRICE. I have heard you
say, Sir, a proper dose
given at a lucky time—
DOCTOR. Go, bring me only
my Incision Knife: for
while the natural heat re
mains, I shall more easily
come at the Lacteal Veins,
which convey the Chyle to
the Heart, for Sanguifica
tion, or encrease of Blood.
BEATRICE. But, Sir, you
won't begin the Anatomy
before the Doctors come.
DOCTOR. Fetch it, I say.
BEATRICE. Well, Sir, since
I must.
Exit.
DOCTOR. Hefs not ill shap'd;
nor is he very ill featur'd;
and yet his visage retains
much discontent and trouble.
Well, still all the Rules of
Metoposcopy and Physiognomy
are false, if this was not a
Rogue that very well de
serv'd hanging. This Inci
sion pleases me extremely;
I'll open his Belly from the
Xiphoid Cartilage, quite
along to the Os Pubis. I
feel his Heart pant yet: if
any of my fellow Physicians
DORINE. Mais un remede a
propos ...
MIROBOLAN. Va seulement, et
m'apporte un paquet de cordes,
et des clous que tu trouveras
tout proche les bistouris.
Pendant qu'il a ce reste de
chaleur, je trouveray plus
facilement les veines lactees,
et les reservoirs qui con-
duisent le chyle au coeur
pour sanguification.
DORINE. Mais, Monsieur, vous
m'allez oster ma liberte
d'approprier ce lieu comma je
le voudrois. Attendez h .
demain, comme vous avez dit.
MIROBOLAN. Va done, ou
j'iray moy-mesme.
DORINE. J'y vais, puisque
vous le voulez.
MIROBOLAN, le regardant.
Il le deboutonne. Il n'a pas
mauvaise mine, mais il a
pourtant quelque chose de
fascheux dans le visage. Ouy,
ou toutes les regies de la
metoposcopie sont fausses, ou
il devoit estre pendu. Ah!
quel plaisir je vais prendre
a faire sur son corps une
incision cruciale, et h . luy
ouvrir le ventre depuis le
cartilage xiphoide jusqu'a
l'os pubis. Le coeur luy bat
encore! Ah! s'ily y avoit
56
were here now, especially icy de mes confreres, par-
those who doubt the Harveyan ticulierement de ceux qui
Doctrine, I’d let ’em plain- sont dans l’erreur, je leur
ly see the Circulation of ferois bien voir, par son
the Blood thro the Systole systole et diastole, le
and Diastole. mouvement de la circulation
du sang.
Two scenes follow in both plays in which Crispin,
preferring to play doctor rather than corpse, prescribes
pills, first to Lise (waiting-woman) for the recovery of a
lost dog and then to Grand-Simon (Simon), who is seeking to
find out whether he is beloved (see Appendix B). When the
doctor returns again, he consults with Crispin, still wear
ing the professional gown, about a difficult case. Crispin
/
squirms under the barrage of medical lingo, and when he can
no longer evade the doctor’s questions, he rushes off,
blaming his sudden departure on a dose of cathartic pills,
which, of course, he had not taken (see Appendix B).
Ravenscroft’s third act differs materially from the
third act of Crispin medecin, but most, if not all, of it
can be accounted for without going beyond Hauteroche's
play. The opening scene in which Old Gerald bribes the
tricky Beatrice to use her influence with Angelica seems to
be Ravenscroft’s own. The next two scenes are taken di
rectly from the French. Young Gerald sends the reluctant
57
Crispin back to the doctor’s house (see Appendix B).
Old Gerald’s calling on Angelica and giving her jewels
has no counterpart in the French play. The scene in which
Old Gerald is forced to ’ ’ hide" on the operating table while
Crispin, feigning to be a doctor, reads over him a lecture
on his anatomy, with much brandishing of knives, saws, and
other surgical instruments, is an obvious repetition of the
similar scene in the second act of the French play, Cris
pin's role being reversed from that of victim to torturer.
Ravenscroft is here obviously plagiarizing from his own
plagiarism earlier in the play:
CRISPIN. Stay one little time. Dis be de Body,
let me make de observation of the Visage--here be
de ver ill aspect--dis was one person of de fair
Speech, but de fals Heart; covetous, designing,
letcherous; a Robber, a Thief, a Cut-throat—
Sacrament, hanging was too good for him, a Rogue,
a villain— ah vat pleasure will dis be to make le
Dissection, de Incision, and de Amputation, upon
dis Body, and rip open his Belly from de Cartilage
Ziphode, quite along his Os-pubis. Ah! vat de
dis? his Heart pant still--dis was the stubborn
old Thief, was but Mr. Doctor here, just a now, I
would shew him de Circulation of de Blood, thro de
Systole, and Diastole. Come I'le begin de Dis
section while de body be warm.
BEATRICE. Stay Sir; What's that sharp crooked
Knife for?
CRISPIN. Dis be de Amputation Knife, to cut off
de Leg or de Hand, just-a in de Joynt. ' Ha! where
be de Leg and de arm?— (CRISPIN draws one Leg
58
from the other, and OLD GERALD draws 'em close
to him again.) De Devil! me lay one Arm here,
and one Leg here, to Saw off just in the middle,
and cut off just in de Joynt, for de fine ex
periment; and de Arm, and de Leg, be gone home
to de Body.
BEATRICE. Oh! Sir, I have seen whole bodies,
after they have lain here a day or two, get up,
and run away.
OLD GERALD. And so will I. I'll not stay to be
butcher'd here. (He leaps off the Table.)
CRISPIN & BEATRICE. Ah, ah, ah.
OLD GERALD. Lose my Cloaths, my Life, and Jewels
all at once!--Your Servant, Mr. Doctor.
CRISPIN. Stop Thief, stop Thief. (As OLD GERALD
is running out, and CRISPIN after him, the DOCTOR
and his WIFE enter. OLD GERALD runs against the
DOCTOR, beats the DOCTOR and his WIFE down, and
Exit.)
The noisy return of Simon and the waiting-woman demanding
revenge or the return of their money is a telescoping and
abbreviation of a similar scene in the French play.
Although the two plays end somewhat differently, there
is enough similarity in the endings to show that the
English version is based on the French. Old Gerald's
blustering return is added by Ravenscroft. He has to get
the character back on the stage for the finale. Once Young
Gerald and Angelica marry (in Hauteroche's play they merely
get permission to marry), the characters in both plays
59
withdraw to tell the story again in detail, Crispin being
the hero of the hour.
The only sizeable bit of the French play which Ravens
croft has not made use of is in Act III, a part in which
Lisidor thinks he recognizes the disguised Crispin but can
not be sure because the latter speaks Latin with apparent
ease and because Mirobolan vouches for him. Otherwise,
Ravenscroft uses the whole of Hauteroche*s Crispin medecin
in The Anatomist.
Hauteroche, in turn, borrowed his comic situation from
Moli&re. Lancaster has pointed out that the play recalls
Le Medecin volant. Le Medecin malgre lui, and L*Amour
medecin, as well as L’Avare in the rivalry of father and
son and Les Femmes savantes in the scenes between the Doc-
17
tor and his wife. But it is Moliere*s Le Medecin volant
which Hauteroche*s play most resembles, and behind Moliere
stands the tradition of the Italian commedia dell*arte
which antedates him by more than a century. Although the
exact date of composition of Le Medecin volant is unknown,
17
Henry Carrington Lancaster, A History of French
Dramatic Literature in the Seventeenth Century, II, 773.
60
the play is generally believed to be one of Molifere*s
v 18
earliest works. H. Ashton, in A Preface to Moliere
places it sometime before 1655. It was first published in
1819 from an early manuscript.
Brander Matthews has demonstrated that
Moli&re's immediate predecessors in the comic drama,
the members of the commedia dell*arte, had drawn un
hesitatingly from the inexhaustible arsenal of missiles
directed against the [medical] profession.^
In attacking the practitioners of medicine, Moliere was
only doing again what had been done before him--and in a
comic mode clearly indebted to the commedia dell*arte.
(For a discussion of Hauteroche*s direct indebtedness to
Moliere's Le Medecin volant and Moliere's borrowings from
the commedia dell'arte scenario, Il Medico volante, and
others, see Appendix D).
Ravenscroft*s The Anatomist shows indirect transmis
sion of the influence of the commedia dell'arte through
Hauteroche and Moliere. By tracing this influence, it be
comes clear that once the Italian troupes had captured
18(New York, 1927), p. 176.
19Moliere. His Life and His Works (New York, 1916),
pp. 193-94.
61
the Imaginations of the French and English, the most rigid
and unimaginative parts of their contribution to art—
namely, the language they used to fill out their plots—
were passed along, usually in French.
Mrs. Aphra Behn, the third representative writer,
. »
shows another variant of the transmission of the Italian
comic influence to England. Aphra Behn (1640-1689), the
first English woman to live by her pen, was a prolific
hack, and the production of her many farces coincided with
20
an influx of skilled performers of conmedia dell*arte. u
Mrs. Behn was well-read, particularly in French, and bor
rowed unscrupulously. She took the plot of Sir Patent
Fancy from Moliere’s Malade imaginaire. In 1687, she pub
lished the farce The Emperor of the Moon, which she took
from Nolant de Fatouville, a French conmedia dell’arte
playwright. The next year she took A Discovery of New
Worlds from the French of Fontenelle. Of all her borrow
ings, however, only The Rover and The Emperor of the Moon
enjoyed an enduring success, the latter occupying a place
20
See especially Montague Summers, ed., The Works of
Aphra Behn (London, 1915), 6 vols., which contain good
histories of the plays.
62
in the repertory for over seventy years. Leo Hughes has
discovered slightly over 130 performances of the play be
tween its first production in December/ 1687, and the last
for which a record exists, in December, 1748.^ The British
Museum has a copy of a 1777 edition of the play, "with
alterations," produced at the Patagonian Theatre, but there
is no information on its reception at this date. Because
of its popularity through the years, its position in the
dramatic canon, and Mrs. Behn’s obvious indebtedness to the
Italian drama and players, her The Emperor of the Moon has
been selected for discussion here.
The Emperor of the Moon illustrates the combination of
direct Italian influence (consisting of Mrs. Behn’s per
sonal observation) and indirect influence (based on an
explicit French version of an Italian scenario). Although
Mrs. Behn adds as much as she borrows from her French
source, she translates or directly adapts the French
scenario for the main structure of her plot. Her firsthand
knowledge of the commedia lazzi enables her to describe for
English actors in her text the gestures which the Italians
^Ten English Farces (Austin, 1948), p. 42.
63
22
would already have known from long acting experience.
In the Emperor of the Moon Mrs. Behn supplies her two
Italianate clowns with typical conmedia dell*arte lazzi.
These include the night scene in which they grope about in
the dark, getting fingers in each other's mouths and so on,
and the exaggerated scene of Harlequin's desperate attempt
to commit suicide by tickling himself to death. A good
example of Italian farce occurs at the beginning of Act III.
Here there is a wholly extraneous bit of clowning in which
Harlequin almost drives a customs officer or tax collector
out of his wits by repeatedly changing his appearance in
order to avoid paying a tax. The Italians had long since
arrived at a stylized kind of farce in which repetition
figured heavily. Mrs. Behn, as did the theater-wise makers
22
In an illuminating note on drama history, Kyrle
Fletcher informs us that lazzi were played by English
actors trained in the Italian mode:
"[The] two actors, Hayns and Jevon, came together at
the Dorset Garden Theatre in 1687, in the production of
Mrs. Behn's The Emperor of the Moon, based on Biancollelli*s
great success, Arlequin Empereur dans le monde de la lune,
1684, which was itself derived from the Italian. In this
performance, the nearest approach to a commedia dell'arte
performance given in England in the seventeenth century,
Jevon played Harlequin and Hayne had the distinction of
appearing as himself" (from "Italian Comedians in England
in the Seventeenth Century," Theatre Notebook. 8:90 [July-
September 1954]).
64
of the commedia dell*arte, arranges her material so that
her Italianate clowns may concentrate on their many lazzi--
lazzi tested for generations, performed before hundreds of
audiences until the actors knew just how often to repeat
them in order to get the greatest number of laughs.
Mrs. Behn not only follows the Italian tradition in sub
ordinating her story to lazzi, she also takes over the
23
typical commedia plot structure. The framework of The
Emperor of the Moon is also typical of the Italian pattern.
The romantic young men, Cinthio and Charmant, are un
successful in their attempts to marry Elaria and Bellemonte
until, with the aid of the simple-wise servants, Harlequin
and Scaramouch, they convince the father and uncle of the
girls, the bemused old astrologer Dr. Baliard'o,^ that they
are emissaries of the etaperor of the moon. This fantastic
23
In dedicating her play to the Marquis of Worcester,
Mrs. Behn divulged the source of her plot:
"A very barren and thin hint of the plot I had from
the Italian, and which, even as it was, was acted in
France eighty odd times without intermission. ’Tis now
much altered, and adapted to our English Theatre and
genius'* (from Hughes and Scouten, Ten English Farces,
p. 46).
24
One of the many abilities of Dr. Baliardo of the
Italian commedia dell1arte is his skill as an astrologer.
See. Duchartre, The Italian Comedy, p. 196.
65
plot is obviously designed only to provide a number of
scenes of pageantry and scenic display on the one hand and
a series of extraneous lazzi on the other. Scaramouch and
Harlequin not only assist the young lovers but also carry
on a subplot in which they outbid each other for the hand
of Mopsophil.
In addition to the lazzi and the plot structure,
Mrs. Behn has taken considerable stage machinery and
several devices directly from the commedia. She uses the
typical motives of the servant concealed in the lady’s
boudoir, the mistaken identities, the lovers disguised as
art objects (tapestries in this play), arrivals from
another planet or foreign country (the moon in this play),
the pageant within a play, and many others. The appearance
of Cinthio and Charmante in a silver chariot shaped like
a half moon is the most striking example of a commedia
"machine."
In addition, the names and personalities which Mrs.
Behn assigns most of her characters are straight out of her
source in Fatouville, whence they can be traced to their
Italian originals. She has taken, for example, the names
of Doctor Baliardo, Scaramouch, Harlequin, Don Cinthio, and
66
Don Charmante from Fatouville. She has, however, changed
the names Elaria to Isabella, Bellamante to Eularla, and
Colombine to Mopsophil.
The extensive direct borrowing of Mrs. Behn from the
conmedia dell1arte is nearly matched by her indirect bor
rowing through the French. While there is incontestable
evidence that she took much of the dialogue of her play and
many plot episodes from Fatouville*s Arlequin Empereur dans
la lune, her access to his play is not clear. Mrs. Behn
states that she took the play from the Italian comedy; one
must assume that she saw it performed. The remarkably
close parallelism, tantamount to translation, makes it
highly unlikely that Mrs. Behn memorized the parts. It is
possible that she could have taken down the dialogue in
shorthand; however, it is much more likely that she had
access to the manuscript or to a printed version of the
Italian manuscript. Of course, she could not have seen the
25
famous Gherardi edition published in 1695 which scholars
believe to be not only definitive but also the earliest
25
In 1695, Adrian Braakman published at Amsterdam
three volumes of these scenes under the title Le Theatre
Italien.
in print. Therefore, the obvious conclusion is that Mrs
Behn had access to an unrecorded printed version now lost.
Here follow Mrs. Behn’s text borrowings. The first is
the Scene du desespoir in which Harlequin attempts suicide
by tickling himself to death, and although there is no
direct translation of speeches, the details of the English
scene are very close to the details of the French scene.
HARLEQUIN. My Mistress
Mopsophil to marry a Farmers
Son I What am I then for
saken, abandon’d by the
false fair One!
--If I have Honour, I must
die with Rage:
Reproaching gently, and
complaining madly.
--It is resolv’d, I’ll hang
my self--No,— When did I
ever hear of a Hero that
hang’d himself? no--’tis
the Death of Rogues. What
if I drown my self?--No,--
Useless Dogs and Puppies are
drown'd; a Pistol or a
Caper on my own Sword wou'd
look more nobly, but that I
have a natural aversion to
Pain. Besides, it is as
Vulgar as Ratsbane, or the
slicing of the Weasand.
No, I’ll die a Death tin-
common, and leave behind
me an eternal Fame. I have
ARLEQUIN seul. Ah! malheu-
reux que je suis! Le Docteur
veut marier Colombine h . un
Fermier, & je vivray sans
Colombine? Non, je veux
mourir. Ah! Docteur ig
norant! Ah Colombine fort
peu constante! Ah Fermier
beaucoup frippon! Ah Arle-
quin extremement miserable!
Courons h . la mort. On ecrira
dans l'Histoire ancienne &
moderae: Arlequin est mort
pour Colombine. Je m'en iray
dans ma chambre; j’attacheray
une corde au plancher; je
monteray sur une chaise; je
me mettray la corde au col,
je donneray un coup de pied a
la chaise, & me voilh pendu.
(Il fait la posture d'un
penau.) C'en estait, rien ne
peut m’arreter, courons a la
Potence .... A la Potence?
Et sy done, Monsieur, vous
n’y pensez pas. Vous tuer
pour une fille, ce seroit une
grande sottise. ... Ouy, Mon
sieur; mais tine fille trahir
68
somewhere read in an Author,
either Ancient or Modern,
of a Man that laugh'd to
death.--I am very Ticklish,
and am resolv'd--to die that
Death.
(He falls to tickle himself,
his Head, his Ears, his Arm
pits, Hands, Sides, and
Soals of His Feet; making
ridiculous Cries and Noises
of Laughing several ways,
with Antick Leaps and Skips,
at last falls down as dead.)
un honn§te homme, c'est une
grande fripponnerie ... .
D'accord: mais quand vous
voux serez pendu, en serez-
vous plus gras? Non, j'en
seray plus maigre; je veux
estre de belle taille moy,
qu'avez-vous a dire A cela?
Si voux voulez estre de la
partie, voux n'avez qu'a
venir .... Ho pour cela,
non, mais vous ne vous en
irez pas ... . Ho je m'en
iray .... Ho voux ne voux
en irez pas .... Je m* en
iray vous dis je. (Il tire
son Coutelas & s'en frappe.
puis dit:) Ah! me voilh
delivre de cet importun. A
present qu'il n'y a plus per-
sonne, courons nous pendre.
(Il fait semblant de s'en
aller, & s*arrete tout court.)
Mais, non. Se pendre, c'est
une mort ordinaire, une mort
qu'on voit tous les jours,
cela ne me feroit point
d'honneur. Cherchons quelque
mort extraordinaire, quelque
mort heroique, quelque mort
Arlinquinque. (II songe.)
Je l'ay trouvee. Je me bou-
cherayla bouche & le nez,
le vent ne la qui est fait.
(II se bouche le nez & la
bouche avez les deux mains. &.
aprfes avoir demeure quelque
temps dans cette posture, il
dit): Non, le vent sort par
le bas, cela ne vaut pas le
diable. Helas! que de peine
pour mourir! (Vers le Par
terre .) Messieurs, si quel-
qu'un vouloit mourir pour me
69
servir de modele, je luy
serois bien oblige. ... Ah,
par ma £oy j'y suis. Nous
lisons dans les Histoires,
qu'il y a eu du monde qui
est mort A force de rire.
Si je pouvois mourir en riant,
ce seroit une mort drdle.
Je suis fort sensible au
chatouillement; si on me cha-
toulloit long-temps, on me
seroit mourir de rire. Je
m'en vais me chatouiller, &
comme cela je mourray. (Il
se chatouille, rit, & tombe
par terre.)
From the Scene la fille de chambre Mrs. Behn borrowed
some of Harlequin's satirical jibes. In her play, Harle
quin, disguised as a woman, pretends to be seeking a place
as waiting-maid to the doctor. In the French, Pierrot,
dressed as the doctor's wife, interviews the applicant.
The parallels are easy to see. In both plays a male clown
appears disguised as a woman, and obscene gestures and
allusions, and slurs on social and religious pretensions
are used (see Appendix C for the parallel scenes). The
highly farcical scene in which Harlequin slips from his
hiding place to tag Bellamante’s verses is an elaboration
of Isabella's narration of how the same thing happened to
her. Similar rough parallels and piece-meal borrowings
occur for the Scene du Fermier, the Scene de L’Apoticaire,
the Scene de l’ambassade, et du voyage dans 1*empire de la
lune, and the Scene demifere, in which a striking parallel
occurs: the repeated comment of the old man on Arlequin’s
answer, ’ ’C’est tout comne ici!" The elaborate tapestry
scene was probably taken from another commedia dell’arte,
Fatouville’s Arlequin Jason ou la toison d'or. But it is
the Scene de l’ambassade, et du voyage dans 1*empire de la
lime, in which the French Arlequin satirizes contemporary
Parisian society, that provides the most striking parallel
in the whole play. Speaking to the deluded but intelligent
doctor, Harlequin obliquely attacks drunkenness in both
men and women, the hypocrisy and empty rhetoric of states
men, the marital infidelity of the aristocracy, the preten
sions of young wastrels, and the catastrophic shifts in
social fortune which social climbers bring upon themselves.
In his performance (in both Behn's play and her commedia
source), the zanni presents a dazzling display of the quick
wit and ready invention which characterized the typical
clown of the Italian commedia dell’arte. Moreover, the
bitter social criticism, permitted and even encouraged in
England by the tolerant Charles II, was typical of the
71
Italian comedy elsewhere. As indicated above, it was di
rectly responsible for the expulsion of the favored com-
media troupe from Paris in 1796.
The following excerpt, which clearly shows borrowing,
will serve as a good example of the Italian type of farce.
The play on human vices, the costume changes which subtly
mock rapid movements in social rank, and the stage machinery
are all typical of the congnedia dell*arte. This scene
occurs at the beginning of Act III and is included to in
dicate the extent of Mrs. Behn's indebtedness.
ARLEQUIN dans un souflet.
Dia, ho!
LE COMMIS a part. Voicy un
homrne avec un Souflet.
Scachons s'il a paye les
droits au Bureau. (Vers Ar-
lequin) D’ou vient ce Souf
let?
, ARLEQUIN. Un soulet! Je ne
vous ay pas touche.
LE COMMIS. Je vous demande
en vertu de quoy voux avez
un Souflet.
ARLEQUIN d1un ton fache. Je
n'en ay jamais recu, Mon
sieur, & prenez garde Comme
voux parlez.
The Street, with the Town
Gate, where an Officer
stands with a Staff like a
London Constable.
Enter HARLEQUIN riding in a
Calash, comes through the
Gate towards the Stage,
dress'd like a Gentleman
sitting in it. The Officer
lays hold on his Horse.
OFFICER. Hold, hold, Sir,
you, I suppose, know the
Customs that are due to
this City of Naples, from
all Persons that pass the
Gates in Coach, Chariot,
Calash, or Siege Voglant.
HARLEQUIN. I am not ignor
ant of the Custom, Sir,- but
what's that to me.
72
OFFICER. Not to you Sir!
what privilege have you
above the rest.
HARLEQUIN. Privilege, for
what; Sir?
OFFICER. Why, for passing,
Sir, with any of the be
fore named Carriages.
HARLEQUIN. Ar’t mad?--Dost
not see I am a plain Baker,
and this my Cart, that comes
to carry Bread for the Vice-
Roy’s, and the Cities Use?--
ha--
OFFICER. Are you mad, Sir,
to think I cannot see a
Gentleman Fanner and a
Calash, from a Baker and
a Cart?
HARLEQUIN. Drunk by this
Day--and so early too? Oh
you're a special Officer;
unhand my Horse, Sirrah, or
you shall pay for all the
Damage you do me.
OFFICER. Hey day! here's a
fine Cheat upon the Vice-
Roy; Sir, pay me, or I'll
seize your Horse.--(HARLE
QUIN strikes him. They
scuffle a little.)--Nay,
and you be so brisk, I'll
call the Clerk from his
Office. (Calls.)
Mr. Clerk, Mr. Clerk.
(Goes to the Entrance to
call the Clerk, the mean
time HARLEQUIN whips
LE COMMIS. C'est un Carosse,
qui ... .
ARLEQUIN. Rosse vous-mesme.
Je voux trouve bien insolent
de me traiter de la sorte.
LE COMMIS. Ha, ha, vous
faites le raisonneur! Nous
allons vous apprendre a
raisonner tout a l'heure.
Vo icy un Commissaire qui
vient fort a propos.
LE COMMISSAIRE. Voila bien
du tintamarre icy. Qu'y a
t-il?
LE COMMIS. Pas grand’ chose,
Monsieur. C'est un Souflet
LE COMMISSAIRE. Qu’on vous a
donne? Verbalisons.
LE COMMIS. He non, Monsieur.
C'est tan homme qui a une
Voiture qu'on appelle un
Souflet. II n'a pas paye les
droits au Bureau, je demande,
Mr, que la Voiture soit
saisie.
ARLEQUIN pendant ce temps
change de jus t'aucorps & de
chapeau, & paroit en Boulan
ger, avec une chemisette
rouge & un bonnet blanc de
laine; & son Souflet se
trouve change en charette.
LE COMMISSAIRE. Voyons, oil
est-elle? (II se retoume,
& vovant une Charette au
Frock over himself, and
puts down the hind part of
the Chariot, and then 'tls
a Cart.)
Enter CLERK
CLERK. What's the matter
here?--
OFFICER. Here's Fellow,
Sir, will perswade me, his
Calash is a Cart, and re
fuses the Customs for
passing the Gate.
CLERK. A Calash— Where?--
I see only a Carter and his
Cart (The Officer looks on
him).
OFFICER. Ha,--What Devil,
was I blind?
HARLEQUIN. Mr. Clerk, I am
a Baker, that come with
Bread to sell, and this
Fellow here has stopt me
this hour, and made me lose
the Sale of my Ware--and
being Drunk, will out-face
me I am a Farmer, and this
Cart a Calash--
CLERK. He's in an Error
Friend, pass on--
HARLEQUIN. No, Sir, I'll
have satisfaction first, or
the Vice-Roy shall know how
he's serv'd by Drunken
Officers, that Nuisance to
a Civil Government.
73
lieu A un Souflet, il se met
& rire.
LE COMMIS au commissaire,
Monsieur le Commissaire, cet
homrne la est fou au moins?
LE COMMISSAIRE. Prendre la
Charette d’un Boulanger pour
un SoufletI Ha, ha, ha!
(il_rit.)
LE COMMIS, tout-etonne.
Monsieur le Commissaire,
je vous demande pardon, je
me suis mepris.
LE COMMISSAIRE. Ce n'est pas
assez, il faut me payer.
ARLEQUIN. Et moy aussi dea.
LE COMMIS au Conmiissaire.
Cela est trop juste, Mon
sieur, combien vous faut-il?
LE COMMISSAIRE. Un Louis
d'or.
ARLEQUIN. Et moy quinze
francs.
LE COMMIS au Commissaire.
Tenez, Monsieur, voila un
Louis d'or: mais je vous prie
de considerer que voila un
horane qui me demande quinze
francs pour un moment qu'il
s'est arrSte icy.
74
CLERK. What do you demand,
Friend?
HARLEQUIN. Demand, --1
demand a Crown, Sir.
OFFICER. This is very
hard--Mr. Clerk--If ever I
saw in my Life, I thought I
saw a Gentleman and a
Calash.
CLERK. Come, come gratifie
him, and see better here
after.
OFFICER. Here, Sir,--If
I must, I must--(Gives him
a Crown.)
CLERK. Pass on, Friend--
(Exit Clerk. HARLEQUIN un
seen, puts up the Back of
his Calash, and whips off
his Frock, and goes to
drive on. The Officer looks
on him, and stops him
again.)
OFFICER. Hum, I’ll swear
it is a Calash--Mr. Clerk,
Mr. Clerk, come back, come
back— (Runs out to call him.
[HARLEQUIN] changes as be
fore. )
Enter OFFICER and CLERK.
OFFICER. Come Sir, let
your own Eyes convince you,
Sir,--
ARLEQUIN. II y en a plus de
cinquante des momens.
LE COMMISSAIRE k Arlequin.
Tais-toy. Pourquoy demandes-
tu quinze francs?
ARLEQUIN. Pour avoir perdu
mon temps, S e mon pain, que
sera brusle dans le four k
Gonesse.
LE COMMISSAIRE. Voyez le
maraut! Demander quinze
francs pour un instant qu'il
y a qu’il est-la!
ARLEQUIN au Commissaire.
En verite, Monsieur, c'est
son prix ordinaire. Voyez
ailleurs, je ne vous demande
que la preference.
LE COMMISSAIRE. Tais-toy, te
dis-je, tu es un fripon; il
ne faut pas tyranniser les
gens. (Au Comnis) Monsieur,
donnezluy six ecus. (Se s'en
va. )
ARLEQUIN au Commissaire. St,
st, Monsieur le Commissaire;
(Le Commissaire se retoume)
allez, allez, il y aura du
pain pour vous.
LE COMMISSAIRE portant son
doigt k sa bouche. Metus!
LE COMMIS k Arlequin. Tien,
voilA six ecus, mais tu me
le payeras.
CLERK. Convince me, of
what, you Sott?
75
OFFICER. That this is a
Gentleman, and that a— ha,--
(Looks about on HARLEQUIN.)
CLERK. Stark Drunk, Sirrah!
if you trouble me at every
Mistake of yours thus, you
shall quit your Office.--
OFFICER. I beg your Pardon,
Sir, I am a little in Drink
I confess, a little Blind
and Mad--Sir,--This must be
the Devil, that's certain.
(The Clerk goes out. HARLE
QUIN puts up his Calash
again, and pulls off his
Frock and drives out.)—
Well, now to my thinking,
'tis as plain a Calash
again, as ever I saw in my
Life, and yet I'm satisf'd
'tis nothing but a Cart.
EXIT.
ARLEQUIN en prenant 1*argent.
Apprenez une autre fois a
scandaliser le pain de
Gonesse.
LE COMMIS A part. Je suis
tout hors de moy. Je voy un
homme dans un Souflet, je ne
l'abandonne pas de la vug,
je viens dans cette place, &
je trouve qu'au lieu d'un
Souflet, c'est une Charette
de Boulanger! Non, il faut
que tu sois diable, pour ...
II se toume vers la Charette,
& revolt Arlequin en Fermier
dans le Souflet, ou il
l'avoit vue d'abord. Je le
sqavois bien que je ne me
trompois pas. Monsieur le
Commissaire. Il sourt apres
le Commissaire; & aussitost
Arlequin se remet en Boulan
ger, & son Souflet se change
en Charette.
LE COMMISSAIRE revenant.
Que-est-ce? Qu'y a-t-il de
nouveau?
LE COMMIS au Commissaire.
Je vous avois bien dit,
Monsieur, que j'avois vue
un homme dans un Souflet.
LE COMMISSAIRE. Oh est-il?
LE COMMIS. Le voilk, voyez.
From a close examination of the parallel texts, it
becomes evident that Mrs. Behn's statement that she only
took "a very barren and thin hint of the plot" from the
Italian, and that "all the words are wholly new, without
one from the Original" must not be taken too seriously. As
indicated earlier, the extant Italian scenari of the com-
media dell*arte in Gherardi's and Pandolfi's collections
are merely skeletal plots which the Italian actors con
sulted before performing the play. Once on stage, the
actors augmented their parts with appropriate speeches
taken from full-length plays, poetry ex tempore, and lazzi.
In France, where actor-playwrights like Moliere began to
imitate and expand the commedia dell*arte scenari for
native audiences, the scenes were written down in French
and the lazzi were interpolated all* improvisio. The com
media dell*arte which influenced Mrs. BehnTs play is no
longer entirely Italian; it is French-Italian. That is,
Fatouville and other French writers performed with the
Italian troupes in France and wrote portions of the scenari
of the commedia in French because the French audiences had
difficulty in understanding Italian. But essentially the
form of the commedia dell'arte remained Italian. Mrs. Behn,
then, after seeing the commedia dell*arte*s Arlequin,
L*Empereur dans la lune "a number of times," as she testi
fies, wrote an English version of the play which closely
77
parallels many of the French scenes. She also Included the
Italian portion of the play, which consisted primarily of
lazzi, in the form of stage directions.
By using the earliest extant scenari of the commedia
dell1arte, French intermediate sources, and representative
English farces, I have tried to show that in every sense
26
"farce is chiefly a matter of lazzi." It is paradoxical
that the Italian commedia dell1arte should attract well-
educated and talented players and yet amuse and entertain
the ignorant masses, and that it should be so rigid in form
and yet remain fresh and appealing to audiences. It is,
however, quite likely that such a spontaneous, collective
and creative product should be susceptible to plagiarism by
popular hack writers of the day. Thus, Sir Aston Cokain,
Nahum Tate, Aphra Behn, Edward Ravenscroft and many others
"manufactured" farce. By their own testimony they took
lazzi, mechanical devices, stage names, situations, and
whole plays from the Italians. In this process the French
were indispensable, particularly Moliere and his school.
It has been noted that the Italian commedia dell1arte
26
Hughes, Century of English Farce, p. 21.
78
troupes had enjoyed royal French patronage in Paris for
over a century and a half--from 1548 to 1696. The best of
them toured England in the 1680’s and were eagerly imitated.
I have traced the commedia dell’arte to its classical,
ritual, and popular sources, and have charted its conver
gence with farce of all types. In indicating the indebted
ness of the commedia dell’arte troupes to a traditional set
of character types, a series of time-tested lazzi, easily-
identified masks, and collections of skeletal scenari, I
have emphasized the incidental aspects of the art, but the
soul of the commedia was the "active essence" of the
character which dictated the timing, order, and appropriate
ness of the gestures which the actors brought to perfection
in each of their lifetime roles.
Through a historical survey of the transmission of the
Italian comedy to the English stage, I have attempted to
show the extent and variety of borrowings. Moliere is a
pivotal figure. It is he who brought to high literary
excellence the typical structures, character types, lazzi,
stage devices, and denouements of the Italian commedia
dell*arte. Moliere fraternized with the Italian players,
became a successful zanni in plays which succeeded with
79
audiences the Italian players had amused earlier, and
attracted by his example a host of imitators. It is be
cause they were so faithful to their sources that the
French playwrights can be so clearly identified as the in
direct contributors to the Italian influence on English
farce of the late seventeenth century.
The direct influence of the commedia dell*arte is most
apparent in the practice of Sir Aston Cokain. After seeing
several performances in Italy, Sir Aston wrote an English
version of the commedia. Cokain*s Trapolin was published
after the Italian influence on English literature had passed
its peak and was being supplanted by the more "regular"
French drama. But that the English appetite for farce
mixed with melodrama and sentiment was as great as ever is
indicated by the appearance of Nahum Tate’s version of the
Cokain play. Tate’s A Duke and No Duke differed chiefly
in characterization, leaving the other commedia elements
virtually intact.
Edward Ravenscroft, unlike Cokain, voluminously ex
panded his borrowings from the French, particularly the
works of Hauteroche and Moliere. Capitalizing on the par
tial eclipse of the direct Italian influence by English and
80
French critical disapproval, he "reintroduced” Italy to
England and established himself as a reliable touchstone of
British popular taste.
Mrs. Behn borrowed directly from the commedia dell*
arte, as Cokain did, and used a French rendering of the
commedia as Ravenscroft did. Though she makes use of the
French, she was both more inventive and closer to her
Italian original in her typical production than was Ravens
croft.
Thus Cokain, Ravenscroft, and Behn have received the
primary emphasis of this study because they were the most
highly literate and productive farceurs of their time.
They wrote successfully for a fickle market, and the popu
larity of their plays illustrates the shallow homogeneity
of popular audiences in the leading nations of Western
Europe. Through an examination of their work I have shown
that English farce of the late seventeenth century was
strongly influenced by direct borrowing by English farceurs
who had firsthand acquaintance with the Italian commedia
dell*arte troupes, by the presence on the English stage of
native actors trained abroad in the tradition, conventions,
and skills of the commedia, and finally by indirect borrow
ing through the French.
CHAPTER III
THE COMMEDIA DELL*ARTE AND ENGLISH BALLAD-OPERA
It is but a step from farce to the ballad-opera, a
dramatic production peculiar to the eighteenth century.
The history of ballad-opera is both brief and well-known,
but neither the term nor the form it seeks to describe has
been rigidly established. "Ballad-opera,” "ballad-farce,"
and "ballad-comedy" are all used as labels for forms that
are sometimes satire, sometimes pure burlesque, sometimes
sentimental drama, and sometimes pastoral. Allardyce
1 2 3
Nicoll, William Schultz, and Sir George Grove have sought
to reduce chaos to order by definition. These gentlemen
agree that "ballad-opera," together with its variants, re
fers to a play of humorous, satirical, or pastoral content
^A History of English Drama, 1660-1900, II, 237-38.
9
Gay's Beggar's Opera; Its Content, History, and
Influence (New Haven, 1923), p. 128.
A Dictionary of Music and Musicians (London, 1900),
I, 489.
81
82
interlarded with songs which were generally derived from
old or contemporary ballad airs rather than especially com
posed for the occasion. Presented in one, two, or three
acts, these ballad-operas borrowed nearly all of the comic
machinery of the commedia dell*arte either directly from
Italian sources or indirectly through the French. Apart
from the songs, the typical ballad-opera differs from a
commedia production chiefly in the use of frequent dances
and elaborate staging and scenery.
The first and, by general consensus, probably the best
of these ballad-operas is John Gay's The Beggar's Opera,
which was first performed in 1728. If a predecessor did
appear on the English stage earlier, there is now no trace
of it. More important, Gay's work definitely fixed the
form and gave strong impetus to a new type of drama.
Doubtless a more remote and exotic beginning for English
ballad-opera could be established, but the ballad-opera as
a distinct type clearly came into prominence with The
Beggar's Opera. Subsequent ballad-operas follow this first
one not only in using ballad airs but also in focusing on
the realistic and the satiric.
The world that ballad-opera presents is always enter
taining. It is a world of intriguing chambermaids and
83
rebellious daughters, of highwaymen and bawds, of false
officials and hypocritical Quakers, of stupid rustics and
drunken squires, of coxcombs and unscrupulous rakes. Its
scenes are set in the country village, the cobbler's stall,
the poet's garret, in Billingsgate, Bridewell, St. James',
and Mother Pierce's. In brief, the ballad-opera offers
a realistic and often topically accurate portrait of the
life of the time.
The appeal of the ballad-opera is patent, but the
form itself, in England at any rate, was short-lived.
After its triumphant beginning in 1728, the ballad-opera
became the most popular dramatic form on the English
stage for ten years. So great was its success during the
period 1728 to 1739 that it very nearly drove the tradi
tional comedy and tragedy from the theater. But from
its beginning the story of the ballad-opera is one of
degeneration. In his first attempt, Gay had brought the
form to such high perfection that it could not be much
improved upon even by so competent an artist as Henry
Fielding. After 1750 ballad-opera simply vanished and a
new form, the comic opera a la Bickerstaffe, Dibdin, and
84
Sheridan replaced it.^
Throughout its brief history the ballad-opera clearly
owes much to the commedia dell*arte. The extent of this
indebtedness becomes readily apparent when the Gherardi
plays are compared with most ballad~operas, for such a com
parison reveals a great number of close similarities in
characters, situations, and incidents. The very form of
ballad-opera may have been influenced by such commedia plays
as Ulisse et Circe (1691), L*Opera de campagne (1692), La
Baguette de Vulcain (1693), Le Depart des cornediens (1694),
La Foire de Saint Germain (1695), and others--all contain
ing numerous songs set to popular airs, and all found in
the easily available Gherardi collection, which was pub
lished in London in 1714. The ballad-opera*s debt to the
conmedia dell*arte is particularly obvious in those ballad-
operas that combine plays with pantomime.'’ These hybrid
^The Beggar’s Opera and certain other similar pieces
continued to be played after 1750 and the influence of the
form has continued to the present.
^Several curious attempts to combine ballad-operas and
pantomime were made. Among these hybrids are Fielding's
The Author's Farce (1730), Theophilus Cibber's Harlot * s
Progress (1733), and the anonymous Harlequin Restor'd
(1732). Although of English origin, the pantomime was more
highly influenced by the commedia dell'arte than any other
performances introduced both the zanni and the farcical
tricks, and the incidents of pantomime. The commedia con
ventions, already familiar to audiences, were thus employed
together with the musical and dramatic effects of ballad-
opera. Such plays as Robert Drury’s The Devil of a Duke,
or Tranolin’s Vagaries (1732), Theophilus Cibber’s The
Harlot’s Progress, or The Ridotto al* Fresco (1733), Henry
Ward’s Prisoner’s Opera (c. 1733), and the anonymous Harle
quin Restor’d (1732) and Cupid and Psyche, or Columbine-
Courtezan (1743), all employ this combination. At times
the commedia's zanni and their bag of tricks were used by
English authors, who, very likely, assumed that their
audiences possessed a good knowledge of the commedia dell*
arte devices, as a method of ridiculing the rage for panto
mime and Harlequin's part in it. Three travesties of
pantomime are Gabriel Odingsells’s Bays's Opera, James
Ralph's Fashionable Lady, or Harlequin’s Opera, and Henry
Fielding's Author’s Farce. In 1736 Fielding returned to
English dramatic form. Nicoll gives a good account of the
origin of pantomime and its heavy reliance on the commedia.
(See vol. II of his History of English Drama . . . ,
pp. 252-58.) A short history of the pantomime appears in
the section on comedy which follows (p. 123).
86
the assault on pantomime in Tumble-Down Dick, or Phaeton
in the Suds, one of his liveliest burlesques.
The imprint of the commedia dell*arte on ballad-opera
reveals itself not only in the form and situation, but also
in the plot and characters. In the ballad-opera, as in
Restoration farce, the familiar commedia formula unfolds
with monotonous regularity. The plot divides into two
parts--that which concerns the non-comic characters and
that which concerns the comic characters. The ingredients
of the typical plot include an heiress of sixteen, a gal
lant, an aged or foppish or boorish rival, an opinionated
father or avaricious guardian, a clever valet, an intriguing
chambermaid, a stratagem, a marriage. While variations
occur, the basic pattern holds. Suspense arose from the
discovery of the deception and its apparent failure, but in
the nick of time some new trick is devised and the lover
wins the heiress, to the discomfiture of the parent or the
rival. Disguises by the hero, heroine, valet, or maid
played a vital part in the stratagem and undoubtedly gave
the actors an excellent opportunity to display their powers
of mimicking and impersonation. The characters of the
typical ballad-opera are the standard ones found in the
commedia and their roles remain the same. The lovers offer
occasion for sentiment and pathos, and the servants provide
the wit and the trickery, so that the title of Fielding’s
ballad-opera, The Intriguing Chambermaid, could equally
well be applied to a vast number of ballad-operas. The
other personages--the multitude of fops, of cruel fathers,
of amorous captains— are drawn to a standard plan, with
little attempt at individualization. They are all familiar
from the commedia dell*arte, from Restoration farce, and
from Moliere. The form, situation, plot, and characters of
many of the typical English ballad-operas, then, reflect
the influence of the commedia— an influence which spread to
this genre in several ways.
Like the commedia on the continent, and comedy in
general, the English ballad-opera used incongruous situ
ations for its humor. And, again like the commedia,
ballad-opera often used this method of producing humor to
serve certain functions. One of the functions of the
ballad-opera was to satirize the manners of contemporary
society, and the principal method employed by the English
authors involved the use of classic themes and personages
in ridiculous and degrading situations which made it
88
evident that the tastes of the times were being condemned.
This method of satire was taken directly from the commedia
dell*arte. In the hands of the writers for the commedia,
gods, goddesses, and heroes of antiquity were transported
with little dignity to the stage. The works of Ovid,
Juvenal, Ariosto, Virgil, and Homer all suffered the in
dignities of parody. At least a dozen plays of the
Gherardi collection alone deal in this manner with classic
themes and personages, the latter being frequently inter
preted, for the purpose of humor, by Harlequin, Mezzetin,
or the other zanni. Most important among these commedia
productions are La Descente de Mezzetin aux enfers (1689),
Ulisse et Circe (1691), Arlequin Phaeton (1692), and La
Baguette de Vulcain (1693). The treatment of the gods in
these pieces is witty rather than vulgar and, as in the
English plays they influence, the purpose of this wit is to
satirize the manners of contemporary society.
The English writers of ballad-opera were quick to see
that this sort of satire would be well received by the
London audiences and so adopted it for a number of the more
popular ballad-operas of the period. In The Rape of Helen
(1737), for example, John Breval uses Helen and Menelaus
89
to attack some of the foibles of the upper middleclass
group of contemporary London:
HELEN. Your jealousy, Menelaus, is unreasonable.
MENELAUS. Your coldness, Helen, is insupportable.
HELEN. Don’t I suffer you in bed two nights out of
seven? To expect more, were quite out of the Conjugal
Rules established among people of fashion.
MENELAUS. Tell you me of fashion? But say, even
those two nights do 1 clasp any thing more than your
empty form in my arms? Is not your imagination always
at Quadrille or Basset, at a Toyshop or an Indian
House? Nay, perhaps, running riot upon my pretty Lord
Somebody, that you saw at the Opera, or the tall broad-
shouldered Colonel that made his barb caper tinder him
with such peculiar grace, when we went last to the
Olympick games. (Scene 1)
And in Tumble-Down Dick, or Phaeton in the Suds (1736)
Henry Fielding presents the gods as low-life characters--
Clymene is an oyster wench and Apollo is the leader of the
watchmen in the Roundhouse. The settings include, among
others, a cobbler's stall, King’s Coffee House, and the
"open country," where the Goddess of the Earth and a
dancing-master pair in dancing the White Joke. The
dramatis personae and the scene setting of John Mottley and
Thomas Cooke’s Penelope (1728) are sufficient evidences
that the Greek personages in the play will be involved in
ridiculous and satirical roles:
Minerva
Ulysses. An old soldier, and Sergeant of Grenadiers.
Telemachus. His son.
90
Cleaver. A butcher.
Thimble. A taylor.
Hoppins. A parish dark.
All suitors to Penelope.
Penelope. Wife to Ulysses.
Poll. Her maid.
Scene, London, at the Royal Oak Ale-House; and the
sign hanging out with this motto:
This is the Royal Oak, the House of Pen,
With Entertainment good for Horse and Men.
One of the main targets for satire was the Italian
f
grand opera, which was extremely popular with the middle-
class audiences after the turn of the century. Here too
the English ballad-opera writer turned to the commedia
dell*arte for his material, for the writers for the com
media had ridiculed this same craze on the continent as
early as the middle of the seventeenth century. One of the
most popular commedia travesty of Italian grand opera is
Arlequin Phaeton, which is a parody of the opera by
Quinault and Lully.^
In England, at a later date, the attack on Italian
grand opera was joined with great relish by the writers of
ballad-opera. Some of the more successful satires are
^The opera Phagton (1683) by Jean Baptiste Lully
(1639-1687) and Phillippe Quinault (1635-1688).
91
Mrs. Aubert’s Harlequin Hvdaspes (1719)^ and James Ralph’s
Fashionable Lady, or Harlequin’s Opera (1730). The princi
pal roles in these ballad-operas are played by Harlequin,
Pierrot, Colombine, the Doctor, and the rest of the com-
media zanni. and include their usual bag of tricks. Another
ballad-opera which satirizes Italian opera is Gabriel
Odingsells's Bays’s Opera (1730). In this play Odingsells
presents a travesty of Italian opera performed by the
characters Cantato and Tragedo. He also launches an attack
on pantomime by utilizing the play within a play technique
and using Roman deities for characters. In Act II, for
example, the following scene takes place:
Jupiter and Juno descend. Neptune, Amphitrite,
Pluto, and Proserpine arise. Several other deities
appear. [They sing.]
Jup. I quit my Starry Regions,
Nep. And I my Fish and Widgeons,
Plu. And I my Stygian Legions,
All 3 When Pantomime Invokes.
Jun. I quit dear talking Rumour,
Amp. And I my Stormy Tumour,
Pro. And I my growling Humour,
All 3 When Pantomime Invokes.
Mrs. Aubert’s play satirizes the Italian opera
Hvdaspes--the one in which occurred the famous scene be
tween Nicolini and the lion, already burlesqued so effec
tively by Addison in the Spectator (No. 13).
92
Odingsells’s play also includes the typical commedia
characters: Harlequin, Crispin, demons, furies, and the
ever-present innamorata, her lover, and their foils. More
over, this play is of special interest to the student of
drama because Odingsells makes extensive use of stage ma
chinery, using mechanical devices which the Italians had
developed to a surprising degree in the seventeenth century,
and which had been used in most of the commedia productions
8
both in Italy and France and, later, in England. In Act II
of Bays’s Opera, for instance, an eagle "descends" and
"hangs" in the air; a rocket concealed in a thunderbolt
(image) is fired to simulate reality; Apollo and the Muses
"fly" off the stage; an eagle "flies" on the stage and
perches on Pamasses; and Harlequin, representing Momus,
"descends" from the sky and alights on an ass. In Act III
Harlequin enters riding on a "monkey," and Demons and
Furies appear bearing standards representing the rapes of
Jupiter with the motto: "Wit arid Religion." All of these
8
For a good account of the lavish stage machinery
developed by the Italians during the Renaissance and the
Eighteenth Century, see Duchartre, pp. 57-69. The influ
ence of the Italian mechanical equipment on other nations,
especially France, is treated by Schwartz, pp. 1.2-14 and
131-69.
93
devices appear again and again in plays in the Gherardi
collection which, by this time (1730), was easily available
Q
in England.
Besides these direct borrowings there are indirect
borrowings through Restoration farce, which was in its turn
influenced by an earlier commedia dell*arte. Robert
Drury's The Devil of a Duke, or Trapolin's Vagaries (1732)
was based directly on Nahum Tate's A Duke and No Duke
(1685) which, as pointed out earlier, was a rewriting of
Sir Ashton Cokain*s Trappolin Suppos'd a Prince (1658), it
self from an Italian "tragi-comedy" witnessed twice by
Cokain at Venice. The Devil of a Duke incorporates the
magical transformation theme and utilizes the much used
commedia "supposed" plot, which appears in five variations
in Appendix A. Two other ballad-operas which borrow from
the commedia dell'arte indirectly through Restoration farce
are Henry Ward's The Happy Lovers, or The Beau Metamor
phosed (1736) and Charles Coffey's The Devil to Pay, or
9
In addition to the publication mentioned earlier,
Jacob Tonson brought one out in London in 1714. It was
immediately popular.
94
The Wives Metamorphos’d (1731).^ Both plays include the
transformation device and other well established commedia
features such as the ruthless father who attempts to force
his daughter to marry a boorish fop while her true love
suffers gallantly, and the inevitable happy ending brought
about by the clever servant.
Ballad-opera not only borrows from Restoration farce
but also borrows from the same sources that influenced this
farce in the seventeenth century. One of these sources is
the plays of Molifere. His "medecin" plays especially were
in great demand by his English adaptors, and his "mock
doctors" attracted huge audiences when they were prepared
for the English stage by such dramatists as Henry Fielding.
The latter*s adaptation of Le Medecin malgre lui (1732) as
The Mock Doctor, or The Dumb Lady Cur’d was performed more
than two hundred and fifty times before the middle of the
century, in London alone. While Fielding's play is only
one of many successful ballad-opera adaptations of the
^This highly successful ballad-opera went through
more than forty editions in the eighteenth century alone,
and it was adapted into German, French, and Italian. In
Germany The Devil to Pay played an important part in the
introduction of the Singspiel.
95
medecin series of Moliere's comedies, his treatment of his
original is representative. Fielding borrowed characters,
situations, disguises, lazzi, dialogue, and theme from
Moliere, who, in turn, got them directly from the commedia
dell*arte. * Moreover, the kind and style of the satire
found in Fielding's play is easily traced to Moliere and to
the commedia dell'arte. ^ Aside from the insertion of
songs set to ballad tunes, Fielding's play, like its origi
nal, is a brief and lively farce. It is by no means devoid
of character interest or sharp comment, and has a generous
11
Fielding's close borrowing from Molifere is seen par
ticularly in the doctor scenes:
"Gregory. Besides, sir, certain spirits passing from
the left side, which is the seat of the liver, to the
right, which is the seat of the heart, we find the lungs,
which we call in Latin, Whisherus, having communication
with the brain, which we naine in Greek, Jackbootos, by
means of a hollow vein, which we call in Hebrew, Periwiggus,
meet in the road with the said spirits which fill the ven
tricles of the Omotoplasmus; and because the said humours
. . ." (The Mock Doctor, Scene 9).
"Sganarelle. Or, ces vapeurs dont je vous parle ve-
nant a passer, du cote gauche ou est le foie, au cdte droit
ou est le coeur, il se trouve que le poumon, que nous appe-
lons en latin army an, ayant communication avec le cerveau,
que nous nommons en grec nasmus, par le moyen de la veine
cave, que nous appelons en hebreu cubile, rencontre en son
chemin les dites vapeurs qui remplissent les ventricules
de l'omoplate; et parce que lesdites vapeurs ..." (Le
Medecin malgre lui, Act II, Scene 3).
96
quantity of the disguises, the beatings, and the clowning
of the commedia dell1arte.
Henry Fielding*s The Intriguing Chambermaid (1734) was
one of the most successful ballad-operas of the period.
For this reason and because it is highly representative of
the genre I have selected it for a detailed study. Field
ing's play is an adaptation of Le Retour imprevu (1700) by
the French dramatist Jean-Ftan^ois Regnard (1655-1710), who
was himself indebted to the Mostellaria of Plautus and to
the Italian commedia dell'arte. I will show that Fielding
borrows characters, structure, plot, dialogue, and theme
from Regnard*s play.
Regnard*s comedy is built around the clever valet
Merlin, who with Crispin had created a tradition in the
French theater. Fielding uses most of Regnard's charac
ters, though he replaces the valet with an engaging chamber
12
maid, Lettice. Moreover, Fielding's Lettice takes over
the roles of the French Lisette and Cidalise, and thus
assumes much more importance than does Regnard*s Merlin,
12
Edmond McAdoo Gagey suggests that Fielding created
the role specifically for his favorite actress Kitty Clive.
(See Ballad Opera [New York, 1937], pp. 118-19.)
97
who is the central character in the French play. On the
other hand, Fielding divides the role of Regnard's Le Mar
quis into two roles: Old Castle*s and Col. Bluff's. Fol
lowing is a comparison of the roles played by the characters
of both plays:
Regnard
Geronte, pere de Clitandre
Clitandre, amant de Lucile
Madame Bertrand, tante de
Lucile
Lucile
Merlin, valet de Clitandre
Lisette
Cidalise
Le Marquis
M. Andre, usurier
Fielding
Goodall, father of Valentine
Valentine, lover of Charlotte
Mrs. Highman, Charlotte's
aunt
Charlotte
Lettice
Old Castle
Col. Bluff
Security
Fielding's borrowings from Regnard also include plot
and dialogue, and although Fielding substitutes two acts
for Regnard*s twenty-three scenes, the plays are equal in
length. Fielding's adaptation, with the exception of the
changes mentioned, follows its original exactly. Both
plays are fast-paced intrigue farces, amusing and charming
98
in performance, centering on the glibness and resourceful
ness of the clever servant.
The wealthy merchant Geronte (Goodall) unexpectedly
returns from abroad and is on the point of discovering that
his son Clitandre (Valentine), with whom the care of the
house and affairs was left, has turned prodigal. Most of
the movables have been pawned and the house is besieged by
creditors. Meanwhile the son has also been trying vainly
to win the consent of the wealthy widow Madame Bertrand
(Mrs. Highman) to marry her niece Lucile (Charlotte). The
valet Merlin (Lettice) resorts to a series of clever lies
to prevent the father's discovering the truth. He tells
him, for example, that the money a creditor asks for has
been invested in the widow's house, that the widow has lost
her mind, and that his own house must be emptied of its
ghosts before he can enter. With the appearance of the
widow, the climax of deception is reached and Merlin's in
genuity is taxed to the utmost. Having already persuaded
the merchant of the widow's insanity, he has no great dif
ficulty in convincing the widow that the merchant has been
affected by the tropical sun. The real problem is to keep
either from entering the house. This he does for an
99
extended period but finally the truth comes out and Geronte
and Madame Bertrand realize that they have been duped.
However, Merlin is forgiven and so is his young master
Clitandre, who is granted permission to marry Lucile.
An examination of the dialogue and sequence of events
selected from key moments in the plays helps establish
Fielding's close reliance on Regnard. Both plays open with
a conference between the wealthy widow Madame Bertrand
(Mrs. Highman) and a clever, witty servant. In Regnard*s
play the servant in this scene is Madame Bertrand's maid,
Lisette; in Fielding's play the servant is Valentine's
chambermaid, Lettice, whose role, as has been mentioned,
includes those of Lisette and Cidalise of the French
production. The discussion under way is about Madame
Bertrand's marriage plans for her niece Lucile (Charlotte)
and Le Marquis (Old Castle):
Mrs. H. Oh! Mrs. Lettice; Madame Bertrand. Ah! vous
is it you? I am extremely voila! Je suis fort aise de
glad to see you; you are vous rencontrer. FarIons en-
the very person I would semble un peu serieusement,
meet. je vous prie, mademoiselle
Lisette.
Let. I am much at your Lisette. Aussi serieusement
service, Madam. qu'il vous plaira, madame
Bertrand.
100
Mrs. H. Oh! Madam; I know
very well that; and at
every one’s service, I dare
swear, that will pay you
for it: but all the service,
Madam, that I have for you,
is to carry a message to
your master--I desire,
Madam, that you would tell
him from me, that he is a
very great villain, and
that I entreat him never
more to come near my doors,
for, if I find him within
’em, I will turn my niece
out of them.
Let. Truly Madam, you must
send this by another mes
senger; but, pray, what has
my master done, to deserve
it should be sent at all?
Mrs. H. He has done
nothing yet, I believe;
I thank Heaven, and my own
prudence; but I know what
he would do.
Let. He would do nothing
but what becomes a gentle
man, I am confident.
Mrs. H. Oh! I dare swear,
Madam, debauching a young
lady, is acting like a very
fine gentleman; but I shall
keep my niece out of the
hands of such fine gentle
men.
Madame Bertrand. Savez-vous
bien que je suis fort mecon-
tente de la conduite et des
manieres de ma niece?
Lisette. Comment done, ma-
dame! Que fait-elle de mal,
s'il vous plait?
Madame Bertrand. Elle ne fait
rien que de mal; et le pis que
j’y trouve, e'est qu’elle
garde aupres d'elle une co-
quine comme vous, qui ne lui
donnez que de mauvais con-
seils, et qui la poussez
dans un precipice ou son
penchant ne l’entraine deja
que trop.
Lisette. Voila un discours
tres-serieux au moins, ma-
dame; et si je repondais
aussi serieusement, la fin
de la conversation pourrait
bien faire rire; mais le
respect que j1ai pour votre
age, et pour la tante de ma
maitresse, m’empechera de
vous repondre avec aigreur.
Madame Bertrand. Vous avez
bien de la moderation!
Lisette. II serait a sou-
haiter, madame, que vous en
eussiez autant: vous ne
seriez pas la premiere a
scandaliser votre niece, et
k la decrier, comme vous
faites, dans le monde, par
des discours qui n’ont point
d'autre fondement que le
dereglement de votre imagina
tion.
101
Let. You wrong my master,
Madam, cruelly; I know his
designs on your niece are
honourable.
Mrs. H. You know!
Let. Yes, Madam, no one
knows my master1s heart
better than I do: I am
sure, were his designs
otherwise, I would not be
accessory to them; I love
your niece too much, Madam,
to carry on an amour, in
which she should be a
loser: but as I know that
my master is heartily in
love with her, and that she
is heartily in love with my
master; and as 1 am certain
they will be a very happy
couple, I will not leave one
stone unturned, to bring
them together.
Mrs. H. Rare impudence!
hussy, I have another match
for her, she shall marry
Mr. Old Castle.
Let. 0 then! I find it
is you that have a dis
honourable design on your
niece.
Mrs. H. How, sauciness!
Let. Yes, Madam, marrying
a young lady, who is in
love with a young fellow,
to an old one, whom she
hates, is the surest way
Madame Bertrand. Comment, im
pudent e! le dereglement de
mon imagination! Cfest le
dereglement de vos actions
qui me fait parler; et il n'y
a rien de plus horrible que
la vie que vous faites.
Lisette. Comment done, ma-
dame! quelle vie faisons-nous,
sfil vous plait?
Madame Bertrand. Quelle? Y
a-t-il rien de plus scan-
daleux que la depense que
Lucile fait tous les jours?
une fille qui n’a pas un sou
de revenu!
Lisette. Nous avons du
credit, madame.
Madame Bertrand. Cfest bien
h . elle d1 avoir seule tine
grosse maison, des habits
magnifiques.
Lisette. Est-il defendu de
faire for time?
Madame Bertrand. Et comment
la fait-elle, cette fortune,?
Lisette. Fort ixmocemment:
elle boit, mange, chante, rit,
joue, se promene; les biens
nous viennent en dormant, je
vous en assure.
Madame Bertrand. Et la repu
tation se perd de mime. Elle
verra ce qui lui arrivera;
elle nfaura pas tin sou de mon
102
to bring about I know not
what, that can possibly be
taken. .
When a virgin in love with
a brisk jolly lad,
You match to a spark more
fit for her dad,
'Tis as pure, and as sure,
and secure as a gun,
The young lover’s business
is happily done:
Though it seems to her arms
he takes the wrong rout,
Yet my life for a
farthing,
Pursuing
His wooing,
The young fellow finds,
though he goes round
about,
It's only to come
The nearest way home.
Mrs. H. I can bear this no
longer. I would advise
you, Madam, and your master
both, to keep from my house,
or I shall take measures you
wont like. [Exit.]
Let. I defy youI we have
the strongest party; and 1
warrant we'll get the
better of you. But here
comes the young lady her
self.
bien. Premi&rement, ma fille
unique ne veut plus £tre re-
ligieuse; je m'en vais la ma-
rier: mon frere la chanoine,
qui lui en veut depuis long-
temps, la desheritera; car il
est vindicatif. Patience,
patience; elle ne sera pas
touj ours j eune.
Lisette. He! vraiment, c'est
pour cela que nous songeons a
profiter de la belle saison.
Madame Bertrand. Oui! fort
bien! et tout le profit qui
vous en demeurera, c'est
que vous mourrez toutes deux
h l'hdpital, et deshonorees
encore.
Lisette. Oh! pour cela, non,
madame; un bon mariage va
nous mettre a convert de la
prediction.
Madame Bertrand. Un bon
mariage! Elle va se marier?
Lisette. Oui, madame.
Madame Bertrand. A la bonne
heure, je ne m'en mele point;
je la renonce pour ma niece,
et je ne pretends pas aider
h tromper personne. Adieu.
Lisette. Nous ferons bien
nos affaires sans vous; ne
vous mettez pas en peine.
Madame Bertrand. Je crois
que ce sera quelque belle
alliance!
103
Lisette. Ce sera un mariage
de toutes les formes; et
quand il sera fait, vous
serez trop heureuse de nous
faire la cour, et d’etre la
tante de votre niece.
Between this scene and the arrival of Geronde (Goodall)
there is a series of comical situations which humorously
show Clitandre*s (Valentine) extravagance with his father*s
property. The young man, after borrowing all he can, sells
the furniture of the house in order to procure money to
entertain a group of leeches. Meanwhile he is besieged by
a usurer to whom he owes a great sum of money. The usurer
approaches Merlin (Lettice) demanding to see the master:
Sec. Your servant, Mrs. Monsieur Andre. Bonjour,
Lettice. monsieur Merlin.
Let. Your servant, Mr.
Security— here’s a rogue of
a usurer, who hath found
a very proper time to ask
for his money in.
Sec. Do you know, Mrs.
Lettice, that I am weary of
following your master day
after day, in this manner,
without finding him, and
that, if he does not pay
me to-day, 1 shall sue
out an execution directly.
A thousand pounds are a
sum--
Merlin. Votre valet, mon
sieur Andre, votre valet.
(A part.) Voila tan coquin
d'usurier qui prend bien son
temps pour venir demander de
1* argent.
Monsieur Andre. Savez-vous
bien, monsieur Merlin, que
je suis las de venir tous les
jours sans trouver votre
J /S
maitre; et que, s'il ne me
paye aujourd'hui, je le ferai
coffrer demain, afin que vous
le sachiez?
104
Upon the father's return from his travels abroad, he is met
by Merlin (Lettice) at the door. Merlin (Lettice) prevents
him from entering the house, which has been stripped of its
furnishings, by engaging him in conversation:
Good. This cursed stage
coach from Portsmouth hath
fatigued me more than my
voyage from the Cape of
Good Hope: but Heaven be
praised, I am once more
arrived within sight of my
own doors* I cannot help
thinking how pleased my son
will be to see me returned
a full year sooner than my
intention.
Let. He would be much more
pleased to hear you were at
the Cape of Good Hope yet.
[Aside.]
Good. I hope I shall find
my poor boy at home, I dare
swear he will die with joy
to see me.
Let. I believe he is half
dead already; but now for
you my good master
[Aside.] Bless me, what
do I see? an apparition?
Good. Lettice!
Let. Is it my dear master
Goodall returned, or is it
the devil in his shape? Is
it you, Sir, is it posi
tively you yourself?
Geronte, & lui-meme.
Enfin, apres bien des travaux
et des dangers, voilA, grSce
au ciel, mon voyage heureuse-
ment termine; je retrouve ma
chere maison, et je crois que
mon fils sera bien sensible
au plaisir de me revoir en
bonne sante.
Merlin, A part.
Nous le serions bien davantage
a celui de te savoir encore
bien loin d'ici.
Geronte. Les enfants ont bien
de 1*obligation aux peres
qui se donnent tant de peine
pour leur laisser du bien.
Merlin, A part.
Oui; mais ilsn'en ont guere
A ceux qui reviennent si mal
a propos.
Geronte. Je ne veux pas dif-
ferer davantage A rentrer chez
moi, et A donner A mons fils
le plaisir que lui doit causer
mon retour: je crois que le
pauvre garcon mourra de joie
en me voyant.
105
Good. Even so. How do you
do, Lettice?
Let. Much at your honour's
service. I am heartily
glad to see your honour in
such good health. Why, the
air of the Indies hath
agreed vastly with you.
Indeed, Sir, you ought to
have stayed a little longer
there for the sake of your
health--and our quiet.
[Aside.]
Good. Well, but how does
my son do? and how hath
he behaved himself in my
absence? I hope he hath
taken great care of my
affairs.
Let. I'll answer for him,
he hath put your affairs
into a condition that will
surprise you, take my word
for it.
Good. I warrant you, he
is every day in the alley.
Stocks have gone just as
I imagined, and if he
followed my advice he must
have amassed a vast sum
of money.
Let. Not a farthing, Sir.
Good. How, how, how!
Let. Sir, he hath paid it
out as fast as it came in.
Merlin, a part.
Je le tiens deja plus que
demimort. Mais il faut
l'aborder. (Haut.) Que
vois-je? juste del! suis-je
bien eveille? Est-ce un
spectre?
Geronte. Je crois, si je ne
me trompe, que voilk Merlin.
Merlin. Mais vraiment! c'est
monsieur Geronte, lui-meme,
ou c'est le diable sous sa
figure. Serieusement parlant,
serait-ce vous, mon cher
maitre?
Geronte. Oui, c'est moi,
Merlin. Comment te portes-tu?
Merlin. Vous voyez, monsieur,
fort A votre service, comme un
serviteur fidele, gai, gail-
lard, et toujours pret k vous
obeir.
Geronte. Voilk qui est bien.
Entrons au iogis. (11 va pour
entrer chez lui.)
Merlin, 1* arretant.
Nous ne vous attendions point,
je vous assure; et vous Stes
tombe des nues pour nous, en
verite.
Geronte. Non; je suis venu
par le carrosse de Bordeaux,
ou mon vaisseau est heureuse-
ment aborde depuis quelques
jours ... Mais nous serons
aussi bien ... (Il va pour
entrer chez lui.)
106
Good. How!
Let. Put it out, I mean,
Sir, to interest, to
interest, Sir; why, our
house hath been a perfect
fair ever since you went,
people coming for money
every hour of the day.
Good. That’s very well
done, and 1 long to see
my dear boy; [To Lettice1
knock at the door.
Let. He is not at home,
Sir,-'-and if you have such
a desire to see him--
Merlin. 1’arretant.
Que vous vous portez bien!
Quel visage! quel embonpoint!
Il faut que l’air du pays
d’ou vous venez soit mer-
veilleux pour les gens de
votre £ge. Vous y deviez
bien demeurer, monsieur, pour
votre sante, (k part) et pour
notre repos.
Geronte. Comment se porte
mon fils? A-t-il eu grand
soin de mes affaires, et mes
deniers ont-iIs bien profite
entre ses mains?
Merlin. Oh! pour cela, je
vous en reponds; il s’en est
servi d’une maniere ... Vous
ne sauriez comprendre comme
ce jeune homme-la aime
1’argent: il a mis vos
affaires dans un etat ...
dont vous serez etonne, sur
ma parole.
Geronte. Que tu me fais de
plaisir, Merlin, de m’ap-
prendre une si bonne houvelle!
Je trouverai done une grosse
somme d*argent qu’il aura
amassee?
Merlin. Point du tout, mon
sieur.
Geronte. Comment, point du
tout!
Merlin. Et non, vous dis-je:
ce garcon-lk est bien meilleur
menager que vous ne pensez;
107
il suit vos traces; il fatigue
son argent h . outrance; et
sitdt qu'il a dix pistoles, il
les fait travailler jour et
nuit. '
Geronte. Voil& ce que c’est
de donner aux enfants de
bonnes lemons et de bons
exemples a suivre. Je me
meurs d*impatience de l’em-
brasser: allons, Merlin.
Merlin. II n’est pas au
logis, monsieur; et si vous
§tes si presse de le voir ...
The father soon becomes aware of his son’s profligate con
duct during his absence and is particularly incensed with
the large sum of money owed. Merlin (Lettice), however,
explains that the money was not ill used but was spent to
purchase the house of Madame Bertrand (Mrs. Highman), who,
according to Merlin (Lettice), is mad:
Good. There is no good Geronte. Ne serait-ce point
house in that street, as I la maison de madame Bertrand?
remember, but Mrs. High
man’s. Merlin. Justement, de madame
Bertrand; la voil&: c’est tine
Let. That's the very house, bonne acquisition, n'est-ce
pas?
Good. That is a very good
bargain, indeed; but how Geronte. Oui, vraiment.
comes a woman in her circum- Mais pourquoi cette femme-la
stances to sell her house? vend-elle ses heritages?
Let. It is impossible, Sir, Merlin. On ne prevoit pas
to account for people's. tout ce qui arrive. Il lui
actions; besides, she is est survenu un grand malheur;
out of her senses. elle est devenue folle.
108
Good. Out of her senses!
Let. Yes, Sir, her family
hath taken out a commission
of lunacy against her, and
her son, who is a most
abandoned prodigal, hath
sold all she had for half
its value.
Geronte.
folle!
Elle est devenue
Merlin. Oui, monsieur. Sa
fami lie l*a fait interdire;
et son fils, qui est un dis-
sipateur, a donne sa maison
pour moitie de' ce qu'elle
vaut. (A part.) Je m’em-
bourbe ici de plus en plus.
When Madame Bertrand (Mrs. Highman) comes on the scene,
Merlin (Lettice), in order to keep his intrigue from being
discovered, informs Madame Bertrand (Mrs. Highman) that
Geronte (Goodall) has lost his mind during his travels
abroad; both parties eye each other suspiciously. Madame
Bertrand (Mrs. Highman) is especially convinced of
Geronte* s (Goodall) insanity when he mentions that his
house is haunted. (He has earlier been told by Merlin
[Lettice], as a means of keeping him out, that ghosts in
habit the house):
Mrs. H. What do I see!
Mr. Goodall returned?
Madame Bertrand. Comment!
voila monsieur Geronte de
retour, je pense.
Let. Yes, Madam, it is him;
but alas! he’s not himself-- Merlin, bas, A madame Ber-
he’s distracted; his losses
in his voyage have turned
his brain, and he is become
a downright lunatic.
Mrs. H. I am heartily con
cerned for his misfortune.
Poor gentleman!
trand. Oui, madame, cfest
lui-meme; mais il est revenu
fou. Son vaisseau a peri, il
a bu de I'eau salee un peu
plus que de raison; cela lui
a tourne la cervelle.
Madame Bertrand, bas. Quel
dommage! le pauvre homme!
109
Let. If he should speak
to you by chance, have no
regard to what he says;
we are going to shut him
up in a madhouse, with all
expedition.
Mrs. H. [Aside.] He hath
a strange wandering in his
countenance.
Good. [Aside.] How
miserably she is altered!
she hath a terrible look
with her eyes.
Mrs. H. Mr. Goodall, your
very humble servant. I am
glad to see you returned,
though I am sorry for
your misfortune.
Good. I must have patience
and trust in Heaven, and in
the power of the priests,
who are now endeavouring to
lay these wicked spirits,
with which my house is
haunted.
Mrs. H. His house haunted!
poor man! but I must not
contradict him, that would
make him worse.
Merlin, bas, a madame Ber
trand. S'il s'avise de vous
accoster par hasard, ne
prenez pas garde a ce qu'il
vous dira; nous allons le
faire enfermer. (Bas a
Geronte.) Si vous lui parlez,
ayez un peu d'egard a sa
faiblesse; songez qu’elle a
le timbre un peu f£le.
Geronte, bas, a Merlin.
Laisse-moi faire.
Madame Bertrand, k part.
II a quelque chose d’egare
dans la vue.
Geronte, a part. Comme sa
physionomie est changee! elle
a les yeux hagards.
Madame Bertrand, haut. Eh
bien! qu’est-ce, monsieur
Geronte? vous voila done de
retour en ce pays-ci?
Geronte. Pret a vous rendre
mes petits services.
Madame Bertrand. J'ai bien
du chagrin, en verite, du
malheur qui vous est arrive.
Geronte. II faut prendre
patience. On dit qu’il
revient des esprits dans ma
maison; il faudra bien qu’ils
en delogent, quand ils seront
las d’y demeurer.
Madame Bertrand, k part. Des
esprits dans sa maison! Il ne
faut pas le contredire, cela
redoublerait son mal.
110
Shortly after this scene, Geronte (Goodall) and Madame
Bertrand (Mrs. Highman) realize Merlin's (Lettice) intrigue
and how they have been played one against the other. Both
plays end similarly: the father forgives his son's tres
passes and the son is granted the hand of the widow's
niece.
Obviously, Fielding follows Regnard's farce very
closely; Regnard, in turn, has drawn heavily on the ma
terials of the commedia dell'arte (see Appendix E). In
both Fielding's and Regnard's plays the stock characters
and situations of the commedia dell'arte are readily appar
ent. Both plays, like nearly all the scenari which are now
extant, employ two distinct sets of characters and two
lines of action--the comic and the non-comic. The non
comic characters are, naturally, of least interest. The
comico acceso or young lover is an inoffensive gallant of
the age; whatever he may be called, his uninspired nature
remains the same. With him is always and necessarily
associated the comica accesa (innamorata), like her lover,
uninteresting and subdued. She is usually a young girl,
curbed by hard parents, who desires to marry her young
lover, but who is often about to be forced to marry an old
Ill
man of substance. This unhappy turn is always prevented by
one or more clever servants. It is these exaggerated,
blundering, astute, and rascally servant types who have
made the commedia dell*arte what it is.
Obviously, ballad-opera, or ballad-farce, is little
more than farce interlarded with song. And this form may
very well have been influenced by the many commedia plays
which contained songs set to popular airs. Ballad-opera
developed out of English farce of the Restoration period,
and as these farces borrowed liberally from the commedia
dell*arte (either directly, or indirectly), ballad-opera
includes many of these borrowings. Plots, characters,
stage devices, stage names, dialogue, and themes originally
from the commedia reached the ballad-opera by way of
Restoration farce. The writers of ballad-opera, moreover,
borrowed directly from the commedia repertoire, especially
from the plays written after 1690, which included new
methods of burlesque--in particular, the use of classical
themes to satirize the manners of contemporary society.
Gay, Breval, Carey, Drury, Fielding, Ward, Ralph, and
Cibber (Theophilus), among many others, employed ballad-
opera to ridicule various forms of tragedy and serious
112
opera, and the follies of people of quality and statesmen
In power. The new borrowings from the commedia Included
elaborate stage machinery, which was incorporated by the
English theater especially after the turn of the century
and which was used extensively by the writers of ballad-
opera. These English dramatists also made use of new
sources of commedia material, commedia dell*arte plays
written by such Italian and French writers as Louis Ricco-
boni, Tiberio Fiorilli, Charles Perrault, Abbe Faure, Paul
Scarron, Antoine Furetiere, and the early works of Jean
Francois Regnard, Jean Palaprat, and Florent-Carton
Dancourt.
CHAPTER IV
THE COMMEDIA DELL*ARTE AND ENGLISH COMEDY
During the last decade of the seventeenth century the
coimnedia dell*arte in Italy began to undergo an important
change. Throughout most of the seventeenth century the im
provising comedians remained immensely popular, but from
approximately 1690 on, the middle classes began to invade
the theater and they took much less pleasure in the mouth-
ings and caperings of the coarse buffoons who had arisen
triumphantly out of the slums of Naples and Rome. At the
turn of the century the commedia dell*arte found itself
catering to a more cultivated and more respectable bour
geois audience, which in order to maintain its recently
acquired respectability was highly conservative and de
manded moralizing themes.
After 1690, it became evident to theater managers that
the old conmedia was losing its popularity for other
reasons. The local and historic significance of the old
commedia masks was lost on the new audiences and many of
113
them were daily disappearing with no new masks arising to
take their place. The improvisations were becoming stale,
for the newer members of the commedia were, generally, a
class of educated artists who had less spontaneity. In
proportion as they were well trained they ceased to be in
ventors; the jokes and acrobatic feats were learned by rote.
To interest the public something new was required, and that
something new could be found only in the written element;
the only hope of novelty was in fully developed plots and
stories. The improvising comedians realized their danger
in time, however, and, as good showmen, willingly intro
duced such modifications in subject matter, characters, and
theatrical tricks as were likely to be well received by the
changing audiences. Writers such as Carlo Maria Maggi,
Girolamo Gigli, Jacopo Angelo Nelli, and Giovan Battista
Fagiuoli began writing plays which used the commedia
characters in new serious plots. These new plays, which
dealt with realistic social problems, true devot.on between
the sexes, and sentimental situations, were all well sup
plied with moral sentiment.^"
^Vernon Lee, Studies of the Eighteenth Century in
Italy (London, 1907), pp. 375-380.
115
At their best these writers of the commedia dell*arte
are secondary to two later dramatists: Count Carlo Gozzi
(1720-1806) and Carlo Goldoni (1707-1793). These two
authors were followers of the Italian popular comic tradi
tion, and both had grown up in Venice where the commedia
dell*arte had its strongest hold. They differed consider
ably, however, in their approach to the commedia.
Gozzi is best known for his fiabe (fairy tales with a
purpose) into which he injected a philosophic content. All
the characters of the commedia dell*arte appear in such
plays, but in roles differing greatly from the ones re
corded by Gherardi and Pandolfi. In his comedies Gozzi
weaves together the prose buffoonery of the commedia with
the stateliest tragic verse and the sharpest moralizing of
satire, and he uses the characters of the commedia to ex
hibit his moral indignation against the philosophic
sophisms of his day. Pantalone, Truffaldino, and the other
characters of the coimnedia who appear in his plays speak
parts prepared by Gozzi and present themes which were re
plete with moral sentiment and which allowed the new middle-
class spectator to indulge in the luxury of pity.^
^Lee, pp. 380-85.
1X6
Goldoni's plays, on the other hand, developed the
purely comic and realistic elements of the commedia. Its
other elements, the transformations, the extemporized quips
and cranks, and the fantastic, are eliminated. Like Gozzi,
he endows all of the commedia characters with new per
sonalities which mirror the new demands of the middle-class
audiences. His plays suggest that virtue is to be found
under the humble dress of the poor rather than under the
finery of the aristocracy. Through his modified commedia
characters, Goldoni creates rich humor that pervades essen
tially serious plays. These new commedia characters appeal
to the bourgeois audiences by utilizing wit to satirize the
foibles of the aristocracy, such as dueling, gambling, dis-
O
honesty in marriage, and dissipation in general.
Both Goldoni and Gozzi, as well as other contemporary
dramatists in Italy, were harbingers of the changing social
pattern of the eighteenth century who modified the charac
ters and situations of the commedia dell'arte for use in
formal Italian comedy.
3
Goldoni's popular and representative II Servitore di
due padroni (1745) is discussed in detail later (see
pp. 133-144). For a short history of Goldoni's connection
with the commedia dell'arte see Appendix F.
117
From 1690 on (and especially a£ter 1716 when the
Italian members of the commedia dell*arte returned to Paris
after royal command forced them to leave in 1697) French
dramatists were exposed to the new form of commedia dell*
arte which the Italians brought with them from their trips
to Italy, a modified commedia which the changing social
pattern in Italy had helped create. Gradually, the changes
in the commedia were incorporated by the French writers,
and thus the style of the old commedia dell*arte in France
was altered. Here, as in Italy, the originally rough
characters became noble and sentimental creatures and the
"whole of the action assumed a misty Watteauesque quality."^
The modifications met with immediate approval, for the
French audiences, like the Italian audiences, were now made
up principally of the middle classes. The emphasis in
these French plays is on humor, derived usually from a
satirical exposition of man's foibles in a manner that is
realistic and laced with moral sentiment. Such elements of
commedia as magical transformation, obscenity, lewd ges
tures, horseplay, and acting all' improvisio are eliminated.
4
Allardyce Nicoll, World Drama (London, 1949), p. 376.
(Jean Antoine Watteau [1684-1721] immortalized the spirit
of the commedia dell'arte in his paintings.)
118
Humorous Intrigue is still central in the plots, but the
action no longer revolves solely around the zanni. The
•once secondary characters, such as the lovers and the par
ents, now play important roles and are fully developed per
sons whose actions very often are designed to satirize
contemporary society. Several new themes are introduced,
among them poetic justice, which greatly affects the
characteristics of the zanni, who are now brought to
account for any liberties they take with justice and who,
by the end of the final scene, sincerely desire to amend
their ways.
These modifications in the French commedia are most
obvious in the plays of Alain-Rene Le Sage (1668-1747) and
Pierre-Carlet de Chamberlain de Marivaux (1688-1763). Le
Sage's Crispin rival de son maitre (1707), Turcaret (1709),
an<* La Tontine (1732), in particular, are examples of modi
fied commedia dell'arte plays containing themes and charac
ters designed to satisfy the demands of the middle-class
spectator. La Tontine, for instance, exposes a vicious
insurance system which was being misused by physicians and
apothecaries to the detriment of their patients. This play
presents some of the typical business and characters of
119
the commedia. A selfish father does his best to marry' his
young daughter to an old man, an act by which he expects to
gain materially. The girl despises her intended husband
and loves a young but penniless gallant. These two young
lovers are finally brought together by the ever present and
always clever valet, Crispin, who, with the assistance of
the young lady's maidservant, devises a plan which, as
always, includes a disguise (Crispin is disguised as a
colonel in this play) by which he is allowed to entertain
the audience with his clever machinations. Significant
changes from the old commedia, however, have been intro
duced. No longer do the zanni dominate the play. The once
secondary characters such as the father, the two lovers,
and the ancient would-be husband all take parts which are
significant to the development of the story and share with
the zanni in the production of humor. The characters in
volved are no longer just types but have developed con
siderable individuality. The zanni do not depend on masks
and costumes to help interpret their character; they now
rely on dialogue written by the dramatists, and on their
acting skill. The thin "love” story which formerly served
only to hold together the farcical intrigues of the zanni
120
has now been expanded and complicated and soon, as with
Marivaux and Goldoni, It comes to overshadow the farcical
portions. Le Sage's play omits the horseplay, obscenity,
lewd gestures, and cloacal jokes of the earlier contribu
tions to the commedia dell*arte. The zanni now rely on wit
for their humor, and it is the wit of the author behind the
play and not their own contributions all* improvisio. By
the end of the last scene, moreover, all misdeeds are
accounted for and all miscreants are brought to justice.^
The second writer, Marivaux, utilizes the qualities of
the modified commedia dell*arte in many of his plays. Like
Le Sage, among others, he omits the obscenity and the
coarseness of the old commedia. All of Marivaux's plays
written in the commedia tradition observe poetic justice
and contain moralizing themes. But Marivaux, much like
Goldoni, writing later in the eighteenth century than Le
Sage, reflects the increasing fondness for sentimentality
that is characteristic of the times. He adds delicate
shades of sentiment to his characters' speeches and
^See below, pp. 145-155 for further details on Le
Sage's commedia dell'arte modifications and their relation
ship to the English theater.
121
Indulges more In light moralizing, qualities \rtiich became
stronger in dramatic productions on the continent as the
century advanced.
The eighteenth century changes in the comnedia dell*
arte at its source in Italy and France are reflected in
the English adaptation of commedia productions from these
nations. But in the eighteenth century the influence of
the commedia in England is seen in comedy rather than just
in farce.^ The distinction between these types, never a
rigid one, becomes increasingly blurred in the eighteenth
century. In this period, comedy and farce had essentially
similar aims: to provoke smiles and laughter. Both de
pended upon incongruities in speech, events, or characters
to achieve their aims. Comedy focused on incongruities in
character; farce concentrated on incongruities in events.
g
Marivaux's masterpiece, Le Jeu de 1*amour et du
hasard (1730), is discussed in detail later (see pp. 158-
169). For a short history of Marivaux's relation to the
commedia dell'arte see Appendix G.
^Comedy is a term of Greek origin which has had a
variety of applications. In its modern application, that
is, from Dryden's time on, it refers to those plays which
aim primarily to amuse and which end happily. It differs
from farce by having a more sustained plot, more weighty
and subtle dialogue, more natural characters, and less
boisterous behavior.
122
Frequently, both sorts appeared in a single work, in this
circumstance, the two types can be distinguished only by a
difference in emphasis: comedy emphasized character; farce
stressed action. Dryden helps distinguish these two forms
by their purpose:
Comedy presents us with the imperfections of human
nature; farce entertains us with what is monstrous and
chimerical; the one causes laughter in those who can
judge of men and manners, by the lively representation
of their folly and corruption; the other produces the
same effect in those who can judge of neither; and that
only by its extravagancies.
After the turn of the century, the term farce is ex
tended to include many plays that ordinarily would be
described as comedies. These eighteenth-century "farces,"
unlike the seventeenth-century farces, representative
examples of which have been discussed in Chapters II and
III, no longer depend on buffoonery, coarse jokes, and the
risque in order to amuse, but are humorous without being
broadly or grossly comical, and the characters are no
longer just types but fully developed personalities. In
the eighteenth century, pantomime takes the place of the
8
The Works of John Dryden, ed. Sir Walter Scott (rev.
and corrected by George Saintsbury), III (Edinburgh, 1883),
241.
123
g
seventeenth-century farce.
During the latter half of the eighteenth century,
English dramatists borrowed from a commedia dell*arte which
g
’ ’ The invasion of London fairs after the turn of the
century by Italian and French Harlequins and Scaramouches
met with weak resistance from the native clowns and
tumblers, although insults were freely hurled at the
foreigners in print. They rapidly established themselves
and became naturalized, ousting the fools of Elizabethan
descent and even edging the players off their own stages.
They edged themselves into the play-bill by giving a
tumbling dance at the end of the evening and began to sug
gest a story in dumb show, calling Columbine, Pantalone,
Punch, and Pierrot to their aid until their entertainment
acquired the proportions of a short play. Thoroughly
anglicized, they added songs and dialogue; they introduced
magic into the plot, thereby providing the excuse for in
genious transformations effected mostly by trap doors and
'machines*; and with scenery, costumes and spectacle far
more elaborate and expensive than were provided for in
straight plays, the English pantomime came into being. The
personalities of Harlequin and Scaramouche, though under
going a gradual change through the years, differed little
from pantomime to pantomime, and their adventures, in
volving a good deal of horseplay, followed a traditional
pattern. From a stupid, mischievous country servant, Har
lequin, as interpreted by Rich (or Lun, as he called him
self), became a romantic magician, and his wooden sword
changed from a slapstick to a magic wand. Harlequin was
invariably chased and invariably allowed to escape, taking
with him Pantalone*s daughter, Columbine, whose morals were
traditionally light. Within this framework the plot could
be almost anything--a classical myth, a fairy story, or a
crime. At the unlicensed theaters it was often a thinly
disguised satire on contemporary events in which Harlequin
would have a double identity, and, as the dialogue was
seldom written down, the most scurrilous libels passed tin-
punished” (Margaret Barton, Garrick [London, 1948],
p. 124).
124
had already undergone a metamorphosis on the continent, a
metamorphosis Initiated by such writers as Goldoni, Mari
vaux, Le Sage, Dancourt, Regnard, and Destouches, whose
modifications of the commedia met the requirements of the
eighteenth-century middle-class audiences in Italy and
France. The English dramatists were easily persuaded to
use the modifications in the eonmedia dell*arte because the
English theater was also frequented primarily by middle-
class audiences who demanded reforms similar to those re
quested by their Italian and French contemporaries.
Strong English interest in the eonmedia dell*arte is
maintained throughout the eighteenth century in two princi
pal ways: first, by the many visits of the Italian commedia
troupes, who came to London in great numbers and who played
before full houses, enjoying enormous success;*- ® and second,
by the easy availability of texts of the continental com
media plays, which ’ ’for those who could not understand
^George Winchester Stone, Jr. writes that (espe
cially after 1750) foreign entertainment (particularly the
Italian) had become so popular that even Garrick failed to
hold his audiences and, in great disgust, went on a pro
longed vacation (1763-1765) to France and Italy. (The
Journal of David Garrick [New York, 1939], pp. xiii-xiv.)
125
[Italian], books were printed [in English] giving the
plots and business scene by scene.Several English
plays reflect modified commedia dell1arte material which
very likely arrived in these ways. Among them may be
found The Portrait (1770) by the elder George Colman (1732-
1794). This play contains the usual characters of the
commedia, but they are cast in new roles and the plot is no
longer that of the old commedia. Pantalone, here, is the
concerned guardian of a young lady in love with a young
gallant who is far from wealthy. The young lady, however,
is not forced to marry another for his wealth, for \idien
Pantalone is satisfied that the young man sincerely loves
o-
his ward, he happily consents to the match. The anonymous
Don Juan (1790) is another play that contains the charac
ters of the commedia dell’arte in modified roles and situ
ations, as does The Wedding Ring (1773) by Charles Dibdin
(1745-1814). The anonymous Try Again (1790) was drawn
directly from La Precaution inutile found in Gherardi's
collection; however, the English version includes a theme
of poetic justice. In 1770, the anonymous The Servant
^Rosenfeld, Foreign Theatrical Companies . . . ,
p. 15.
126
Mistress, adapted from the eonmedia La Serva padrona
(1733), achieved great success. The English version dif
fers from its source in that it emphasizes the foibles of
the times. This.English adaptation was the source of He
Wou'd if He Cou'd (1771) by Isaac Bickerstaffe (1735? -
1812?) and of The Maid the Mistress (1783) by John 0* Keefe
(1747-1833). It was also performed at Marylebone Gardens
in a version by Stephen Storace (1763-1796). All of these
English adaptations contain the characters and plots of the
modified commedia dell'arte.
The Italian dramatist Goldoni was particularly popular
1 9
with both English audiences and English writers. The
deep interest in Goldoni's eonmedia plays is manifest in
numerous English adaptations.*"* Such pieces as The Capri
cious Lovers (1764) and The Wishes, or Harlequin’s Mouth
(1761) by Richard Bently (1708-1782) are based on Goldoni's
Bertoldo in corte (1748). Thomas Vaughan's (fl. 1772-1820)
12
Nicoll writes that throughout the latter half of the
eighteenth century Goldoni's "style was eagerly watched by
dramatists in London" (A History of English Drama; 1600-
1900. Ill, 122).
13
Goldoni, in his later years, settled in France and
is responsible for maintaining the tradition of the modi
fied commedia in France.
The Hotel: or. The Double Valet (1776) is a combination of
Goldoni's II Servitore di que padroni (1745) in three acts,
with its five-act French version, Arleauin. Valet de deux
maitres (1763). Merriment here is furnished chiefly by
Trimwell (Truffaldino in Goldoni's play; Arlequin in the
French version) whose antics as a servant to a pair of
lovers succeed in reuniting them at an inn. In 1783 Robert
Jephson (1736-1803) produced a variation on Vaughan's play,
entitled The Hotel; or, The Servant with Two Masters,
ultimately indebted, of course, to Goldoni. In 1791
Jephson further altered this piece as Two Strings to Your
Bow. Both of Jephson* s adaptations were well received. In
1779 Mrs. Griffith (Elzabeth Griffith, 1720?-1793) adapted
Goldoni's charming and witty Le Bourri bienfaisant (1771)
into The Times which clearly shows the stamp of the modi
fied commedia by satirizing contemporary follies through
wit and humor and through the exaggerated behavior of the
characters. Thomas Holcroft (1745-1809) incorporated
Goldoni's La Serva amorosa (1752) and II Padre di famiglia
(1749) into Knave or Not, where the commedia*s reformed
Pantalone is replaced by an English equivalent who under
goes similar trials. In 1764 Samuel Foote (1720-1777)
128
made use of Goldoni's II Bueiardo (1750) in his Lvar.
Foote succeeds in capturing Goldoni's humor, which is
derived from intrigue and satire on contemporary manners by
the refashioned characters and manners of the commedia
dell'arte.
Although Italian writers and performers did much to
bring the new commedia dell'arte to England in the eight
eenth century, France remained the main source. French
commedia dell'arte influence reached England by way of per
formances by traveling companies, which Rosenfeld shows to
have been numerous, by Englishmen visiting France and wit
nessing performances, by the publications of French com
media plays in England, and by English translations of
French commedia plays, which appear to have been in vogue.
From French commedia dell'arte plays English dramatists
borrowed characters, stage names, plots, dialogue, struc
ture, and themes. During the early decades of the century,
Moliere remained one of the important French sources; how
ever, as the century progressed there was much less borrow
ing from his commedia dell'arte plays, for although, unlike
his seventeenth-century contemporaries who also wrote for
the commedia. he had avoided the vulgar and the lewd, his
129
commedia plays generally do not stress the themes that
Interested the middle-class audiences of the time.
For these themes the English dramatists turned espe
cially to the late plays of Le Sage, . Regnard, Destouches,
and to the plays of Marivaux. In 1702 Sir John Vanbrugh
(1664-1726) used Le Traitre punl (1699), a play by Le Sage,
as the basis for his The False Friend. Later in the cen
tury David Garrick (1717-1779) turned Crispin rival de son
maitre (1707) into Neck or Nothing (1766). Le Sage uses
modified commedia characters and plots in his plays and
these modifications are reflected in the English versions
which borrow his characters, plots, dialogue, and themes.
Thomas King (1730-1805) took the characters and plot of his
Wit’s Last Stake (1768) from Regnard's play, Le Legataire
universel (1708), and Isaac Bickerstaffe based his The
Absent Man (1768) on Le Distrait (1697) by the same author.
Both French plays are from Regnard’s late period and his
characters, plots, and themes belong to the modified com
media. The modifications he employed directly influenced
his English adaptors. The third writer, Destouches, pro
vided English dramatists with several plays that were great
successes in adaptations on the London stage. For example,
Arthur Murphy*s (1727-1805) The Citizen (1761) was taken
from La Fausse Agnes (1759), which also furnished part of
the plot of George Colman's (the elder, 1732-1794) Man and
Wife (1769); Elizabeth Inchbald*s (1753-1821) The Married
Man (1789) was adapted from Le Fhilosophe marie (1727), and
her Next Door Neighbours (1791) was taken from Le Dissipa-
teur (1736); and Thomas Holeroft*s (1745-1809) The School
for Arrogance (1791) came from Le Glorieux (1732). The
plays of the last French author, Marivaux, attracted many
English dramatists to use them as sources throughout the
eighteenth century. In 1785 Joseph Atkinson (1743-1818),
\
for example, adapted Marivaux's Le Jeu de 1*amour et du
hasard (1730) into The Mutual Deception. From the French
play Atkinson borrows characters and the conventional
intrigue plot, which includes disguises and impersonations.
The story, as usual, deals with two lovers and wily serv
ants: a valet, and a maidservant. But unlike the old com- .
media productions, Marivaux, and Atkinson in his turn, omit
all coarseness and concentrate on polite exchanges of wit.
Isaac Bickerstaffe used this same French source in Love in
a Village (1762). John Rule (fl. 1770-1780) altered Mari
vaux's La Joie imprevue (1738) as The Agreeable Surprise
131
r
In 1776, and Benjamin Victor (d. 1778) adapted Le Pavsan
parvenu (1735) into The Fortunate Peasant (1776). All of
the French plays Include modified commedia dell’arte
characters and plots, and these are mirrored in the English
adaptations. L’lle des esclaves (1725), for example,
demonstrates the degree to which Marivaux modified the old
commedia characters and plots.
In Marivaux’s play a Grecian nobleman, Iphicrate, has
been shipwrecked on a strange island with his servant, Arle-
quin; the same fate befalls the haughty Euphrosine and her
suivante, Cleanthis. The place turns out to be L'lle des
esclaves, founded a century earlier by escaped slaves who
have evolved a utopian government, in which servitude is
abolished and masters are purged of their arrogance.
Trivelin (the French counterpart of Trivellino), a sort of
head of state, encounters the four Greeks and, following
the laws of the island, forces the two aristocrats to
change places with their servants. In this transposition
Iphicrate and Euphrosine learn humility and kindliness,
while Arlequin and Cleanthis learn patience and respect for
their superiors. Having been thus reformed, the two pairs
are permitted to return to Athens. In 1761 Catherine Clive
132
(1711-1785) turned L'lle des esclaves into The Island of
/
Slaves. From the French play she borrowed the characters,
plot, dialogue, and theme, and her adaptation succeeds in
reflecting Marivaux's humane philosophy. Into the simple
situation in this play, Marivaux pours an abundance of
philosophical contemplation and hilarious comedy. The
interchange of master and servant is an old commedia de
vice, but Marivaux has so changed the theme and character
ization of this play that the spectator is immediately
aware that the play before him belongs to a greatly modi-
fied commedia dell'arte.
The influence of the new commedia dell'arte can best
be seen in a detailed analysis of English plays adapted
from continental commedia sources. Three such represents- .
tive plays are Robert Jephson* s Two Strings to Your Bow.
David Garrick's Neck or Nothing, and the elder George
Colman's Tit for Tat.
Two Strings to Your Bow is an example of direct
Italian influence and shows strong influence by the Italian
master of the form, Goldoni. Jephson*s comedy keeps the
same comic elements found in the Italian eonmedia dell*arte,
which differ from those found in other English comedies
133
which borrow through the French rather than the Italian
t
commedia, for the Italian commedia, although first to in
corporate the modifications of the new commedia, always
remained closer to the older forms by placing more emphasis
on the comic element.^
Jephson*s comedy, Two Strings to Your Bow (1791), is
an adaptation of his earlier piece, The Hotel; or The
Servant with Two Masters (1783), which, in turn, is itself
an adaptation of Goldoni's very popular 11 Servitore di
Goldoni's eonmedia comedies, among other eighteenth-
century Italian commedia comedies, contain more scenes
which rely heavily on the roles played by the zanni than
dp those of his French counterparts. These scenes, how
ever, differ sharply from those in the old commedia in that
humor is the outcome of an interplay of action between the
zanni and other characters in the play and not from the
antics of the zanni. The roles of the zanni, moreover, are
not devised all*improvisio, but are provided by the drama
tist who relies on wit rather than on slapstick in order
to produce this humor. The difference between the Italian
and the French eighteenth-century commedia forms, then, is
in the degree of emphasis given to the parts of the zanni:
the Italian commedia dramatists, as a rule, allow their
zanni a few scenes in which their activity is central,
controlling the action of the other characters involved;
the French commedia dramatists, on the other hand, gener
ally, keep their zanni in a subordinate position relative
to the other characters throughout their plays. And,
although the French zanni are at times the central actors
in a scene, it is not at the expense of the other charac
ters.
134
due padroni (1745).^
Two Strings to Your Bow has been chosen for analysis
because it is the more successful of Jephson's two adapta
tions, although, in fact, the two versions are virtually
identical and neither is much changed from the original.
Goldoni's play, like its French counterparts, omits the
slapstick, obscenity, lewd gestures, magical transforma
tions, and cloacal jokes of the old commedia. The old
commedia* s secondary characters> such as the lovers, now
play principal roles and share in the production of humor
modified by poetic justice. From his Italian original the
English dramatist borrows plot, characters, dialogue, and
stage business. Jephson*s play, like Goldoni's, is much
more complicated in plot than the plays of the old com
media. His comedy, for example, contains a major plot
The popularity of Goldoni's play can be ascertained
by the number of adaptations it underwent in the last quar
ter of the eighteenth and in the first decade of the nine
teenth century. Inspection reveals that the English drama
tists made very little change from the original. Besides
the successful adaptations by Jephson, Thomas Vaughan
adapted Goldoni's play in 1776 as The Hotel; or. The Double
Valet. John Baylis adapted it in 1804 as The Valet with
Two Masters. Jephson*s adaptation, Two Strings to Your
Bow, was brought back to the stage by popular demand in
1806.
135
(the Leonora-Ferdinand marriage), supported by two minor
plots (the Clara**Octavio intrigue, and the exploits of
Lazarillo). Jephson changes the stage names of Goldoni's
characters but retains all their characteristics; he
closely follows Goldoni's dialogue, and he keeps most of
the Italian zanni's stage business. His work mirrors the
emphasis on moral sentiment and poetic justice which are
evident in all the commedia comedies of Goldoni.
Goldoni used an ingeniously complex plot in which a
valet, Truffaldino, serves two masters— Beatrice and Florindo
- -who are in love, each unaware that the servant also serves
another. Throughout most of the play Beatrice wears male
attire and is disguised as her dead brother (Federigo), who
has been killed in a duel and who was betrothed to the
beautiful and wealthy Clarice, daughter of the Venetian
merchant Pantalone. Beatrice has assumed this disguise
because she hopes to receive the dowry that will be forth
coming when she appears on the scene in the character of
the man she is impersonating. She plans to use this money
to help her lover Florindo, who is involved in her brother's
death. Meanwhile Pantalone, after hearing of Beatrice's
brother's death, promises Clarice to the young gallant
136
Silvio, the son of his close friend, the Doctor, and the
man Clarice truly loves. However, when the disguised
Beatrice shows up and demands that he keep his gentleman1 s
bargain, Pantalone immediately agrees to do so and forces
Clarice to prepare herself to marry one Whom she despises.
Truffaldino, the zanno in this play, with his clever in
trigues brings about the twist in the plot which enables
the lovers to have their will. After many comical turns
involving Truffaldino, Beatrice, and Florindo the young
people are paired off for marriage: Silvio and Clarice,
Florindo and Beatrice. And Truffaldino undertakes to serve
his two masters in the same household.^
Except for a few changes, Jephson takes over Goldoni's
plot in its entirety. He makes, for example, only two
minor alterations in structure. He condenses Goldoni's
three act comedy into two acts, a change that does not
greatly affect the progress of the original plot. He
shortens his play by omitting some of the scenes between
Pantalone and the Doctor in which they argue the merits of
■^Goldoni, in this play, is employing the Plautian
mistaken identity theme, for in serving two masters
Truffaldino's true position is mistaken by both of the
persons he serves.
137
their cases, the Doctor, with all his legal jargon, defend
ing the right of Silvio to Clarice's hand, and Pantalone
insisting that, as a gentleman, he is bound to keep his
promise to "Federigo."
Jephson's alterations in plot are equally insignifi
cant. He contracts a long scene wherein Silvio argues at
length and engages in a duel with the disguised Beatrice,
whom he takes to be Federigo. He also makes a slight
change in the recognition scene between Florindo (Octavio)
and Beatrice (Clara). In 11 Servitore di due padroni
Florindo and Beatrice do not discover one another until
after the argument scene between Pantalone and the Doctor.
Before the discovery occurs there is a scene in which
Truffaldino is beaten when he is discovered by Beatrice
while opening one of her letters. While she is beating
Truffaldino, Florindo appears at his window and sees his
man being beaten by a stranger. Greatly insulted, he
rushes to the street, but by this time Beatrice has made
her exit and Florindo turns his wrath on Truffaldino, who
attempts to hide the real reason for his thrashing. The
recognition in Jephson's play occurs during this beating
incident, since Jephson telescopes these separate scenes
138
into one. Like Truffaldino. Lazarillo is beaten, but for
a different reason. At the end of a dinner Clara discovers
Lazarillo stuffing himself in the kitchen and beats him.
While she is beating him Octavio enters the'room and is
highly insulted to find a.stranger beating his servant.*
Upon recognizing Octavio, Clara reveals her true identity
to him and they mash into each other’s arms.
Jephson makes three other insignificant changes. He
shifts the scene from Venice to Granada and his characters
assume Spanish names, retaining, however, the same charac
teristics imposed upon them by Goldoni. He also puts more
emphasis on the comic episodes than did Goldoni, but re
tains the significant qualities of the modified commedia.
A comparison of the dramatis personae of both plays clearly
indicates the similarity between the roles Jephson selects
for his characters and those Goldoni used.
Goldoni Jephson
Pantalone, A Venetian Don Pedro, A Merchant of
Merchant Granada
Clarice, His Daughter Leonora, His Daughter
Doctor Lombardi Don Sancho
Silvio, His Son Ferdinand, His Son
139
Beatrice, A Lady of Turin,
Disguised as Her Brother
Federigo
Florindo, Of Turin, Lover
of Beatrice
Brighella, An Innkeeper
Smeraldina, Maidservant to
Clarice
Truffaldino, Servant First
to Beatrice, and After
wards to Florindo
First Waiter
Second Waiter
Porter
Clara, A Lady of Salaxnanca,
Disguised as Her Brother
Felix
Octavio, Of Salamanca,
Lover of Clara
Borachio, An Innkeeper
Maid, Maidservant to
Leonora
Lazarillo, Servant First to
Clara, and Afterwards to
Octavio
First Waiter
Second Waiter
Porter
Jephson has borrowed intact both the characters and
much of the dialogue that reveals these characters. Among
the serious characters the female lead, Clarice (Leonora),
identical in both plays, differs from the earlier commedia
dell'arte female lovers by being more complex. Throughout
the play Clarice exercises her will freely.
Following Goldoni, Jephson transforms the central
comic figure of the old eonmedia into a serious character.
Pantalone (Don Pedro) is no longer the rough and selfish
buffoon of the old commedia. Early in the play he is re
vealed to be the loving father of Clarice, very happy over
140
his daughter's engagement to one she deeply loves:
Pant. Truly we may say
that this marriage was made
in Heaven, for had it not
been for the death of
Federigo Rasponi, my cor
respondent at Turin, you
know, 1 had promised my
daughter to him, and (to
Silvio) I could not then
have given her to my dear
son-in-law.
Don P. Certainly--we*11 have
the wedding tonight. The
young couple are so much in
love, they will be glad to
dispense with ceremony— it
really looks as if heaven had
a hand in this match, for if
young Felix had not died so
commodiously at Salamanca, we
could never have been
brothers-in-law.
But when he finds out that Federigo (Felix) is still
alive and remembers his gentleman's agreement to give
Clarice's hand in marriage to that person, his sense of
honor forces him to keep his word even though he detests
the reversal of events which destroy his daughter’s hap
piness:
Pant. There, there, I'll
explain the whole matter.
My dear Signor Federigo, I
fully believed that the
story of your accident was
true, that you were dead,
in fact, and so I had
promised my daughter to
Signor Silvio; but there is
not the least harm done.
You have arrived at last,
just in time. Clarice is
yours, if you will have
her, and I am here to keep
my word. Signor Silvio, I
don't know what to say; you
Don P. I really don't know
what to say to it: you have
the appearance of a gentle
man; but I have had such
assurances that Don Felix was
dead . . . you'll pardon me,
sir, — I mean no harm . . .
my doubts are banished . . .
Your supposed death— but I'll
explain every thing to you
within— depend upon it I
shall fulfill my engagements.
141
can see the position your
self. You remember what
I said to you; and you will
have no cause to bear me
ill-will*
Jephson borrows not only character and dialogue but
also methods of producing humor. An example of Goldoni's
technique and Jephson's reflection of it occurs in the
first scene of both plays. The father (Pantalone-Don Pedro)
is discovered exclaiming his joy at the approaching wedding
of his daughter to her chosen lover (Silvio-Ferdinand).
This happy occasion is interrupted by the arrival of
Truffaldino (Lazarillo), whose behavior finally causes
Pantalone to lose his patience. Pantalone, a rather calm
man, tries hard to control his temper. Truffaldino is full
of wit and self-assurance:
Pant. Come, sir, have done
with ceremony. What do you
want with me? who are you?
who sends you hither?
Truff. Patience, patience,
my good sir, take it easy.
Three questions at once
are too much for a poor
man.
Pant, (aside to Doc.) I
think the man's a fool.
Will you tell me who you
are, or will you go about
your business?
Don P. What does the fellow
mean? to your business,
friend— who are you? what do
you want with me? who do you
belong to?
Lazar. Softly softly, sir:
three questions in a breath
are too much for a poor man
like me to answer all at once.
Don P. (to Don S.) I don't
know what to make of this
fellow— I believe he is none
of the wisest. What would
142
Truff. If you only want
to know who I am, I'll
tell you in two words.
I am the servant of my
master.
Pant. But who is your .
master?
Truff. He is a gentleman
who desires the honour
of paying his respects to
you.
Pant. Who is this gentle
man, _ I say? What is his
name?
Truff. Oh, that's a long
story. Si'or Federigo
Rasponi of Turin, that's my
master, and he sends his
compliments, and he has
come to see you, and he's
down below, and he sends
me to say that he would
like to come up and he's
waiting for an answer.
Anything else, or will
that do?
Pant. Come here and talk
to me. What the devil do
you mean?
Truff. And if you want to
know who I am, I am
Truffoldin' Battocchio
from Bergamo.
the fellow be at? what's your
business I say?
Lazar. Sir, to answer your
questions--in the first place,
I am my master's servant.
Don P. Who the devil is your
master?
Lazar. He's a strange gentle
man, sir, who has a strong
inclination to pay your wor
ship a visit.
Don P. Who is this strange
gentleman? what business has
he with me?
Lazar. Sir, he is the noble
Don Felix de Silva, of Sala
manca, who waits below to have
the supreme felicity of kiss
ing your honour's hand, and
has sent me before to make
his compliments to you.
Don P. Mind me, fellow--
what is this you say?
Lazar. Sir, if you are
curious to know particulars
about me, I am Lazarillo, of
Valencia.
The surviving stage business of the old commedia dorni
nates the scenes that follow. After more badgering by
Truffaldino, Beatrice (Clara) makes her entrance dressed as
her dead brother. Truffaldino, who is her servant, does
not know her true identity and believes he is serving
Federigo (Felix). Later on, unknown to his first master,
Truffaldino hires his services to a second master, Florindo
(Octavio), who has been searching for his love, Beatrice.
While Truffaldino is a servant of two masters he becomes
involved in a number of humorous intrigues. For example,
once, much to his chagrin, both his masters decide to dine
in the same inn, though in different rooms. Truffaldino
has to strain his wits in order to keep his two masters
from discovering his double role. In this scene Truffal
dino runs into one of his masters (Florindo-Octavio) at an
inn while he is in the process of serving the other
(Beatrice-Clara, in disguise):
Octa. Where are you going?
Lazar. Going, sir--sir, I
was going--I was going to
carry this in for your
honour's dinner.
Octa. Carry in my dinner,
before you knew I was come
home!
Lazar. Lord! sir, I knew you
was coming home. I happened
just now to pop my head out
of the window, so I thought
Flor. Where are you going?
Truff. Oh dear, oh dear!
I was just putting it on
the table, sir.
Flor. Why do you serve
dinner before I come in?
Truff. I saw you from the
window. (Aside.) I must
find some excuse.
Flor. And you begin with
boiled meat instead of
144
soup? I have other habits.
I want ray soup. Take that
back to the kitchen.
Truff. Yes, sir.
you would like to have your
dinner on the table the
moment you came in.
Octa. Let me have soup--
what, do you bring meat be
fore soup, you blockhead!
That's not my custom— carry
that back, and order some
soup immediately.
Lazar. Yes, sir.
Truffaldino pretends to go to the kitchen but instead
he goes to his other master's room to serve "him” (Beatrice
in disguise) the meat. Two waiters watching all this begin
to suspect that Truffaldino is somewhat strange. Truffal
dino, on the other hand, is quite pleased with this oppor
tunity to test his ingenuity:
Good Truff. (to Waiters).
lads, that's right.
(Aside) They're as lively
as kittens. Well, if 1 can
manage to wait at table on
two masters at once, 'twill
be a great accomplishment
indeed.
Wait. That's a strange
fellow.
Beat, (calling from her
room). Truffaldino!
Lazar, (to Waiter) You're an
honest fellow. Come, stir,
stir, get the soup as fast as
possible. (Exit Waiter) If
I can have the good fortune
to serve them both without
being discovered—
Wait. Where is this strange
fellow, Lazarillo!
Clara (from within) Lazarillo!
Lazar. Here.
Truff. Coming, sir. Octa. (within) Lazarillo!
Flor. (calls). Truffal
dino!
145
The Jephson play demonstrates the changes Introduced
into the ancient commedia dell*arte by Goldoni. Jephson,
by closely following Goldoni, borrowed the principal ele
ments of the modified commedia; and, by incorporating what
he borrowed into a play which proved successful on the
English stage, he helped maintain the influence of the new
commedia in England-, an influence which did much to enlarge
the scope of English drama.
The second play, Garrick's Neck or Nothing, exempli
fies the influence of the French modified commedia dell*
arte on English comedy. In 1766 Garrick's comedy was per-
17
formed in London. Except for a slight amplification of
certain parts of the.original text and the change Garrick
18
effects in the ending, this comedy is a close adaptation
of the highly successful Crispin, rival de son mattre
(1707) by Le Sage. The Le Sage play is written in the
tradition of the commedia dell'arte and contains the usual
^It was very well received and it was revived in
1773, 1774 (seven times), 1774 (Liverpool), and 1784. It
was printed in 1766, 1767, 1774, and 1786. In 1784 it was
contained in Bell's British Theatre.
18
This play is sometimes labeled "farce," but by my
definition it is a comedy.
situation: the trials of two lovers prevented from marriage
by their parents, and the intrigues and adventures of
clever servants. But it differs from the old commedia
productions in that it omits the slapstick, obscenity, lewd
gestures, and horse-play, and includes poetic justice and
a limited display of sentimentality. The French play con
tains two plots. The first plot develops the relationship
between two lovers, Valere and Angelique. Valere, who is
poor, has fallen in love with Angelique, daughter of
M. Oronte, and gains the help of her maid, Lisette, who
informs him that her «nistress loves him but is being forced
by her father to marry another; however, she does not re
veal the name of the man. The second plot includes the
intrigues of the two valets, Crispin and La Branche. After
Valere appeals to his valet, Crispin, for help in winning
Angelique, Crispin devises a scheme with La Branche, the
valet of Damis, the wealthy young man who was to marry
Angelique but who has secretly married a girl at Chartres.
La Branche has come to Paris to inform M. Oronte that Damis
cannot marry his daughter. Crispin proposes to disguise
himself as Damis, to marry Angelique, and to divide the
147
IQ
dowry with La Branche. La Branche agrees and brings
M. Oronte a forged letter, presumably from Damis's father,
Introducing his son. He is followed by Crispin in dis
guise, who is received as their son-in-law by M. Oronte and
his wife. At this point the two plots come together, for
Valere, who has become impatient waiting for Crispin's
results, meets Angelique and Lisette, learns that the
fiance is Damis, and declares that the latter, who happens*
to be his friend, has written that he is married. La
Branche, however, convinces M. Oronte that Valere has
forged the letter, and M. Oronte is so completely won over
that he discusses Angelique*s dowry with Crispin. On the
way to the bank to obtain the money M. Oronte meets
M. Orgon, who has come to tell him about his son's mar
riage. M. Orgon confirms Valfere's report that Damis is
married and declares that the young man is still at Char
tres. He and M. Oronte conclude that Crispin is an im
postor. When accused, the valets try to escape; failing in
this, they beg for mercy. M. Oronte finally releases them
after they are discovered to be sincere in their promises
19
Here is one of the central devices of the comroedia
dell'arte--the mistaken identity.
148
to reform. He gives his daughter to Val&re and Invites
M. Orgon to the wedding.
Garrick uses the whole of Le Sage’s story, except for
certain Insignificant changes. For example, he shifts the
scene of action from Paris to London; he omits one scene
entirely; and he alters the plot action in two minor de
tails. The scene Garrick omits is Le Sage's first scene,
the one in which Belford (Valere in the Le Sage play) tells
his valet, Martin (Crispin) of his love for Miss Nancy
(Angelique). Garrick omits this scene because the French
dramatist introduces this information again in the very
next scene (I,ii), in which Crispin meets La Branche (Slip)
and together they plan their stratagem for defrauding
M. Oronte (Stockwell) of Angelique's dowry. By eliminating
this repetitious material and by starting with the more im
portant valets' scene, Garrick accelerates the movement of
the plot. The first alteration in plot action concerns
Jenny, the maid (Lisette). She, of course, is aiding her
mistress, Nancy, in her plan to gain her parent's permis
sion to a marriage with Belfore instead of Harlowe (Damis).
The two valets know that in the maid they have a dangerous
opponent; hence, in Garrick's play Slip tries, by defaming
her character, to render valueless whatever information in
favor of the Belford-Nancy union she might bring to
Mr. Stockwell. Thus, Slip concocts a tale that she had
once been a barmaid who had been free with her favors. The
second alteration in plot action concerns Martin and Slip.'
In Le Sage’ s play, when the imposture of Crispin and La
Branche is discovered, these knaves are forgiven for their
deception and attempted extortion after they exhibit sin
cere remorse for their actions in a rather touching scene.
The two rogues in Garrick's play, however, meet with no
i
such good fortune. Here they are taken into custody by the
constable, and Mr. Stockwell proposes that they all go with
him into the house to "examine these culprits." To this
i
Sir Harry (M. Orgon) readily consents and adds: "'Tis a
good thing to punish villainy; but *tis better to make
virtue [Belford and Nancy] happy:— and so let us about it"
(II,iii). The final disposition of the two miscreants in
these plays suggests that the English idea of poetic jus
tice at this time differed somewhat from that of the French.
The characters and the dialogue of Neck or Nothing
correspond almost exactly to the characters and the dialogue
in the original. A comparison of the dramatis personae of
150
the plays discloses the similarity in the roles played by
both sets of characters:
Le Sage
M. Oronte, Bourgeois de
Paris
Madame Oronte, Sa Femme
Angelique, Leur Fille,
Promise A Damis
Valere, Amant d'Angelique
M. Orgon, Pere de Damis
Lisette, Suivante
d'Angelique
Crispin, Valet de Valfere
La Branche, Valet de Damis
Garrick
Mr. Stockwell, A Citizen
Mrs. Stockwell, Wife to
Mr. Stockwell
Miss Nancy Stockwell, Their
Daughter, Promised to Young
Harlowe
Mr. Belford, In Love with
Miss Nancy
Sir Harry Harlowe, Father of
Young Harlowe
Jenny, Miss Nancy's Maid
Martin, Belford's Servant
Slip, Servant to Harlowe
Garrick has taken over almost all of Le Sage's dia
logue. Representative sections reveal how much he is in
debted to Le Sage for his material and for his method of
character development.
The parents in Le Sage's comedy are not the flat
characters of the old commedia; they are realistic indi
viduals who develop progressively during the course of the
drama. Garrick follows Le Sage's characterization closely.
151
For example, early In the play Mrs. Stockwell (Madame
Oronte) accepts her daughter's choice of a husband after
listening to her pleading. Here, the daughter shows
respect for her parents, but a determination to make her
own choice of a husband. The mother exhibits tenderness
and concern for her child's desires:
Miss Nan. Pardon my folly,
my misfortunes, dear madam,
if I cannot conform in all
my sentiments with your's
and my father's—
Mrs. Stock. It will hap
pen, child, sometimes, that
a daughter's heart may not
be dispos'd to comply
exactly with the views and
schemes of a parent— but
then, a parent should act
with tenderness.--My dear,
I pity your distress: Bel
ford has my approbation, I
assure you.
Miss Nan. You are too good,
madam.'
Despite her concern for her child Mrs. Stockwell is
easily persuaded by the argument of her immediate audience.
For instance, when she announces to Mr. Stockwell her
choice of husband for Nancy, he quickly convinces her that
his choice is the better:
Angelique. Pardonnez, madame,
si mes sentiments ne sont pas
conformes aux vdtres; mais
vous savez ...
Mme Oronte. Je sais bien
qu'une fille ne regie pas
toujours les mouvements de
son coeur sur les vues de ses
parents; mais je suis tendre,
je suis bonne, j'entre dans
vos peines; en un mot,
j'agree la recherche de
Valere.
Angelique. Je ne puis vous
exprimer, madame, tout le
ressentiment que j'ai de vos
bontes.
Mr. Stock. ... I have
no great objection to the
man; but is not our word
and honour engaged to
another? ... It would be
such an affront, as never
cou'd be forgiven. Con
sider, dame, the instru
ments are sign'd, prepa
rations made, and the
bridegroom expected every
minute; 'tis too far gone
to be recall'd with any
honour.
Mrs. Stock. Good lack a
day! very true, very true!
M. Oronte. J'estime Valbre
... je lui donnerais tres- ^
volontiers ma fille, si je
le pourrais avec honneur;
... Pourquoi done lui faire
un pareil affront? Songez
que le contrat est signe, que
tous les preparatifs sont
faits, et que nous n*attend-
rons que Damis. La chose
n'est-elle pas trop avancee
pour s'en dedire?
Mme Oronte. Effectivement,
je n'avais pas fait toutes
ces reflexions.
Despite Mrs. Stockwell's apparent fickleness, she is
sincerely concerned about her daughter's happiness. She
differs in this respect from her counterpart in the old
commedia. Mr. Stockwell also differs from his earlier
counterpart in that he too is sincerely concerned about his
daughter's happiness; however, since a union with Young
Harlowe (Damis) had been arranged before his daughter fell
in love with Belford (Valere), he feels that honor requires
him to see this marriage consummated, an attitude foreign
to the Father of the old commedia. Both parents, moreover,
now play key roles in the love story which is now the
central plot of the new commedia plays.
Garrick follows his original in his method of pro
ducing humor. Humor in the new commedia plays derives from
153
the interplay between the various characters, not from the
antics of the zanni; and this humor is the product of wit
and personality, not merely horseplay. An example of the
modified means of developing humor occurs when Martin
(Crispin) enters the Stockwell home disguised as the in**
tended son-in-law, Young Harlowe:
Martin [Enters disguised as
Young Harlowe]. Stockwell,
I presume, my illustrious
father— ...
Mr. Stock. My dear son,
welcome! --let me embrace
you.
Martin. You do me too much
honor; my superabundant joy
is too inexpressible to
express the— This I flatter
myself fto Mrs. Stockwell]
is the brilliant beauty,
destin'd to the arms of
happy Mart--Harlowe--Gad!
I'd like to have forgot my
own name [aside].
Mr. Stock. Nay, nay, son-
in-law, not so fast--that's
my wife. Here's my
daughter Nancy!
Martin. A fine creature!
[salutes her.] Madam, I
have seen the world! and
from all the world, here
wou'd I chuse a wife, and
a mistress— a family of
beauties; let me die!
Crispin. Est-ce lk M. Oronte,
mon illustre beau-pkre? ...
M. Oronte. Soyez le bien-
venu, mon gendre, embrassez-
moi.
Crispin. Ma joie est extreme
de pouvoir vous temoigner
1*extreme joie que j'ai de
vous embrasser. ... [Montrant
madame Oronte.] Voila, sans
doute, l’aimable enfant qui
m'est destinee?
M. Oronte. Non, mon gendre,
c'est ma femme ... [lui mon
trant Angelique.] Voici ma
fille Angelique.
Crispin. Malepeste! la jolie
fami lie! Je ferois volontiers
ma femme de l'une et ma
maitresse de 1*autre.
Mme Oronte. Cela est trop
galant! ... [bas a Lisette.]
II paroit avoir de 1'esprit,
Lisette.
Lisette [bas.] Et du gout
meme!
154
Mrs. Stock. Excessively
gallant! He has wit, 1
assure you, daughter.
Jenny. And taste too,
madam.
Martin rsinging to Mrs.
Crispin [h madame Oronte1.
Quel air! quelle grace!
quelle noble fierte! Ventre-
bleu! madame, vous etes tout
adorable! Mon pere me le
disoit bien: "Tu verras
madame Oronte; cfest la
beaute la plus piquante!"
Stock.]. "With a shape,
and a face, and an air, and
a grace!" Ha, ha! — Just,
just as our old gentleman
told me. There you*11 see
madam Stockwell, says he,
the agreeable still--take
care of your heart, boy;
she’s a dangerous beauty,
though her daughter may be
After Martin narrowly escapes a number of traps he
leaves with Mr. Stockwell for the bank in order to receive
the dowry. When they have left, Slip (La Branche) makes
the following speech which includes some of the social
satire Le Sage subtly sprinkled throughout his comedy.
Social satire, as pointed out in the earlier chapters, was
one of the chief tools of the commedia dell’arte, used al
most exclusively by the zanni, and Le Sage’s zanni continue
the tradition. Garrick’s audiences, products of the "age
of satire," must have appreciated his including La Branche*s
cutting remarks in his adaptation:
by.
Mrs. Stock. 0 fie, fie,
fie!
Madame Oronte. Fi done!
155
Slip* I have only one
doubt remaining, and thatf s
about this same portion.
I don't relish this di
viding a booty. How shall
I cheat Martin? I should
deserve to be canonized,
could I but cheat that
rogue of rogues. I must
e'en throw the young lady
in his way, and persuade
him, for our better
security, to pass the night
with her! so leave him the
shell, while I slip off
with the kernel. A tempt
ing bait! But, no--stand
off, Satan! 'Tis against
our fundamental laws. — We
adventurers have ten times
the honour of your fair
traders.
La Branche. Nous voila pour
le coup au-dessus de toutes
les difficultes ... 11 ne me
reste plus qu'un petit
scrupule au sujet de la dot.
II me f£che de la partager
avec tin associe; car enfin;
Angelique ne pouvant etre a
mon maitre, il ne semble que
la dot m'appartient de droit
tout entiere. Comment
tromperai-je Crispin? II
faut que lui conseiller de
passer la nuit avec Angelique
... Ce sera sa femme une
fois; il l'aime, et il est
homme k suivre ce conseil.
Pendant qu'il s'amusera a la
bagatelle, je demenagerai
avec le solide ... Mais, non;
rejetons cette pensee. Ne
nous brouillons point avec
un homme qui en sait aussi
long que rnoi. Il pourrait
bien, quelque jour avoir sa
revanche. D'ailleurs, ce
serait aller contre nos lois.
Nous autres, gens d*intrigue,
nous nous gardons les uns aux
autres une fidelite plus
exacte que les honnetes gens.
Le Sage's play, as a representative of the new com
media dell'arte, manifests significant changes from the old
commedia. The characters involved are more realistic and
more fully developed, and they are involved in a story
which is now primarily concerned with the problems of the
young lovers and not with the antics of the zanni. Humor
156
is derived from the interplay of all the characters, and
relies heavily on personalities created by the dramatists
rather than on slapstick; the action as a whole is domi
nated by the idea of poetic justice. There can be little
doubt that Garrick was influenced by Le Sage's play, for he
follows his source closely, incorporating in his play the
above-mentioned modifications, which met with the approval
of the eighteenth-century English audiences. From his
original he borrowed characters, plot, structure, dialogue,
and theme. Garrick's play was successful and helped spread
the influence of the new commedia on the English stage. In
addition to borrowing from the modified continental comnedia
dell*arte of Le Sage, Garrick also adapted a number of
other commedia plays. Among them are The Lying Valet
(1741), which is built upon the second act of the play The
Novelty, or Every Act a Play (1697) by Mbtteux, who fully
incorporated the characters and situations of the commedia
in all his plays; Miss in Her Teens; or. The Medly of
Lovers (1746), which is based, as Garrick states in his
introductory "Advertisement,” on La Parisienne (1691) by
Dancourt, a play written in the typical style of the com
media dell'arte; and The Irish Widow (1772), which was
157
adapted from Molihre's Le Mariage force (1664). Moreover,
he helped to bring the commedia to the English stage in
other ways. As a manager, he produced many commedia panto
mimes at the Drury Lane Theatre, most of which had tremen
dous success, and at the same time he helped to make the
20
Italian and French Harlequins and Scaramouches the best
loved characters on the English stage.
The last play to be considered in this study also
demonstrates direct French influence of the modified com
media dell*arte. The elder George Colman's Tit for Tat was
performed in 1786 and was an immediate success. It was
repeated six times in the season of 1786-1787 and achieved
20
In her definitive history of Harlequin, Thelma
Niklaus makes the following interesting statement: "Garrick
himself had once appeared as Harlequin, but very few people
knew of it. In his early days, when family commitments
kept him in the wine business with his brother, and his in
creasing passion to be an actor caused him to haunt the
theatre at Goodman’s Fields, he became well known to the
owner of the theatre, who, from good nature, or a natural
desire to take advantage of cheap labour, sometimes made
use of him in crowd scenes, or in a backstage emergency.
One evening Yates, the Harlequin playing at the theatre,
fell suddenly sick just before the curtain was due to rise.
The young Garrick, as usual lingering in the wings, was
pressed into service; and for a single performance, his
incognito preserved behind the mask, played Harlequin so
well that no one apparently suspected that he was not
Yates” (Harlequin Phoenix [London, 1956], p. 143).
158
21
a total of thirty"eight performances, an outstanding
record for the time. Colman's comedy is a three-act
abridgement of Joseph Atkinson's The Mutual Deception
(1785), a five-act intrigue comedy adapted from the best
known and most frequently performed of Marivaux's comedies,
Le Jeu de 1*amour et du hasard (1730), by critical acclaim,
his masterpiece. Atkinson follows Marivaux's story closely;
however, he adds a serious subplot which involves the for-
22
tunes of a second set of lovers. * " The Mutual Deception
proved to be a success on the stage, and it was published
in 1785. Since Colman's comedy was more popular than
Atkinson's, I will use his work to illustrate the per
vasiveness of the modified commedia dell'arte in English
comedy during the eighteenth century.
Marivaux's play won instant fame and was frequently
revived by Italian actors throughout the century. It was
completely in the spirit of the modified commedia. It em
ploys the conventional intrigue plot revolving around
21
Tit for Tat was published twice in 1788.
22
Besides reducing Atkinson's adaptation to the origi
nal three acts of Marivaux, Colman discards this added
serious subplot in his abridgment.
159
disguises and Impersonations, and it utilizes the standard
collection of characters— a young lover, a sweetheart, wily
servants, and the traditional parent. He depicts the re
fined, witty, gallant, restrained aspects of a society
whose favorite pastime is conversation. His play reflects
the taste of the eighteenth-century middle-class, and re
veals the steady growth of sentimentality.
The action of Marivaux's play is based on an ingenious
and highly diverting situation. M. Orgon informs his
daughter Silvia that he has received a letter from his old
friend announcing the arrival of his son Dorante, Silvia's
intended husband, whom she has never seen. He does not,
however, reveal the entire contents, for Dorante's father
has disclosed to M. Orgon that his son is to arrive in the
disguise of his servant Arlequin, and his servant will come
disguised as his master. Dorante is very serious about his
marriage and wishes to observe his intended wife at a dis
tance in order to decide whether he and she would make a
suitable pair. Upon hearing of his intended visit, Silvia
asks permission of her father to disguise herself as her
maid Lisette and to have Lisette appear as the bride.
M. Orgon agrees and Dorante arrives. He assumes the name
160
Bourguignon. The gracious charm of the supposed maid In
contrast to the crude behavior of the supposed mistress of
the- house attracts him to Silvia from the start; likewise,
Dorante's own good breeding, 111 concealed by the garb of
a valet, arouses In Silvia's heart high hopes for the
master. When Arlequin arrives he appears so oafish and
arrogant that Silvia finds she detests him. Lisette, on
the other hand, discovers a great attraction for Arlequin,
who is also quickly drawn to her. Shortly after their
meeting, Lisette finds that Arlequin is in love with her
and she with him; Dorante finds himself falling in love
with Silvia, and Silvia takes an undue interest in the
valet. After a series of suspense-filled scenes, Dorante
reveals his identity to Silvia, who, although overjoyed,
continues to keep hers a secret; Lisette, meanwhile, is
light-headed over her success with Arlequin, whom, of
course, she believes to be Dorante. Arlequin, obeying
Dorante, tells Lisette the truth. Far from being incensed,
Lisette breaks into laughter and reveals her identity to
Arlequin. They both accept the reality of the situation
with hearty good humor. Still in the dark about Silvia's
identity, Dorante confesses his love for her and decides
161
to marry her In spite of the great distance between their
stations in life. Her victory complete, Silvia joyously
calls her father and reveals herself to the happy Dorante
as the woman destined to be his wife. The double disguise
has only brought them closer together, for their affections
have proved to be sincere.
With the exception of a shift in location--from Paris
to London— and a change in names, Colman’s Tit for Tat
repeats the plot of Marivaux's Le Jeu de 1'amour et du
hasard. The characters of Colman's play correspond to
those of the original. The following comparison of dramatis
personae shows Colman's debt to Marivaux:
Marivaux
M. Orgon [A Wealthy'Citizen
of Paris]
Mario [His Son]
Silvia [His Daughter]
Dorante [Disguised Lover
of Silvia]
Lisette, femme de chambre
de Silvia
Arlequin, valet de Dorante
Uh laquais
Colman
Old Meanwell, A Wealthy Citi
zen of London
Young Meanwell, His Son
Florinda, His Daughter
Villamour, Disguised Lover
of Florinda
Letty, Florinda's Maid
Skipwell, Villamour's Valet
Servant
162
In the sequence of events and in the entrances and
exits of characters the plays are identical. Entrances and
exits of the characters involved occur at the same points
in the story and for the same characters in both plays.
* ‘
The French play calls for a new scene with each entrance or
exit of a character; the English play, of course, has no
such scene divisions.
Colman not only borrows Marivaux’s character types but
also their personalities. He accomplishes this transfer
ence by remaining very close to Marivaux's dialogue, which
he uses to reveal the characteristics of the members of his
cast. An examination of the dialogue from representative
sections of both plays helps establish Colman's heavy
reliance on his original. The serious characters will be
considered first. In Act I Old Meanwell (M. Orgon) informs
Florinda (Silvia) of Villamour's (Dorante) arrival, but
upon learning of her fear of a misalliance assures her that
he will not agree to a match without her approval. Old
Meanwell is an exceptionally liberal parent for the eight
eenth century. The freedom he gives Florinda differenti
ates him from the usual stem fathers of the old commedia
dell* arte:
163
Old Meanwell [to Florinda].
I sent for you, my dear,
to acquaint you, I've re
ceived an account that
young Villamour will be
here today: but you seem
pensive and reserved.--
Pray, child, don't be un
easy; come be candid . . .
Come, come, this is not
the point--I*ll be plain
with you, Florinda:— You
must be sensible how dear
you are to me— you know I
told you before, that in
the last excursion I made
to Ireland this business
came on the tapis; his
father and I agreed to the
match, provided you should
mutually like each other,
and that no compulsion was
to be used on either side.
M. Orgon [to Silvia]. Eh!
boujour, ma fille. La nou-
velle que je viens t'annoncer
te fera-t-elle plaisir? Ton
pretendu arrive aujourd'hui;
son pere me l'apprend par
cette lettre-ci. Tu ne me
reponds rien; tu me parais
triste ... Qu*est-ce que cela
signifie? ... Allons, allons,
il n'est pas question de tout
cela. Tiens, ma chere enfant,
tu sais combien je t'aime. ...
Dans le dernier voyage que je
fis en province, j'arrStai
ce mariage-la avec son pere,
qui est mon intime et mon
ancien ami; mais ce fut a
condition que vous pl&iriez a
tous deux et que vous auriez
entiere liberte de vous ex-
pliquer la-dessus. ... Si
Dorante ne te convient point,
tu n'as qu'A le dire, il
repart; si tu ne lui con-
venais pas, il repart de m§me.
Encouraged by her father’s kindness, Florinda proposes
a scheme which will enable her to observe Villamour to a
better advantage--Letty (Lisette) and she are to change
places. Colman, following Marivaux, here makes use of one
of the principal devices of the commedia dell'arte— the
Plautian mistaken identity theme. In the following scene
the stage is set for a double travestissemente. for
Villamour (Dorante) arrives disguised as his servant Skip-
well (Arlequin) to meet Florinda (Silvia) who has assumed
164
the part of her maid, Letty (Lisette). Through their
dialogue, the two young people disclose to the audience
their keen sensitivity and good taste, which immediately
differentiates them from the servants they are represent
ing:
Florinda (Aside). A modest,
pretty behaved fellow this
. . . this lad seems neither
ugly nor unpleasing; and I
should not pity the servant
maid, that had him for a
sweetheart.
Villamour (Aside). This
girl astonishes me--there
is not a rank in life that
her figure and manners
wouldn’t do honour to—
but I’ll know more of her,
and gain her confidence
for my own sake. (Address
ing himself to her.) Since
we are now alone, on the
friendly footing of fellow-
servants, tell me, my
dear, is your mistress as
captivating as yourself?--
At any rate she must be
exceedingly vain to venture
on having an attendant like
Z2M-
Silvia (A part). Quel homme
pour un valet! ... Ce garcon-
ci n'est pas sot, et je ne
plains pas la soubrette qui
l'aura.
Dorante (A part). Cette
fille-ci m'etonne! Il n’y a
point de femme au monde a qui
sa physionomie ne fit honneur:
lions connaissance avec elle
... (Haut). Puisque nous
sommes dans le style amical,
et que nous avons abjure les
famous, dis-moi, Lisette, ta
maitresse te vaut-elle? Elle
est bien hardie d'oser avoir
une femme de chambre comme
toil
Later, there follows a scene which presents further
evidence of the advance in characterization in the modified
commedia dramas and which illustrates the new function per
formed by the serious characters in the production of
165
humor— the interplay with the zanni. In the course of
events Florinda finds Skipwell, whom, of course, she be
lieves to be Villamour, so detestable that she asks Letty
(disguised as Florinda) to dismiss the clod on her behalf.
Florinda finds herself unwittingly defending the supposed
valet (Villamour .disguised as his servant Skipwell), and
during her outburst becomes so angry that she is almost
speechless:
Florinda [to Letty], Well,
it is my orders you acquaint
him [her Father] that my
distaste to this gentleman
is invincible; and I cannot
think, after what he
promised, that he*11 de
ceive me by detaining
Villamour.
Letty. Has not his cox
comb of a skip prejudiced
you against him by some
stories to his disad
vantage?
Florinda. . . . What could
his servant say to disgust
me more than his ill
manners?
Letty. I however mistrust
that you listen too much to
this prating jackanapes of
a soldier. ... I suppose--
(saucily).
Silvia [to Lisette]. Eh
bien! je vous charge de lui
[Her Father] dire mes degoCts
et de 1*assurer qu'ils sont
invincibles. Je ne saurais
me persuader qu'apres cela il
veuille pousser les choses
plus loin.
Lisette. Son valet, qui fait
1* important, ne vous aurait-
il point gfite 1'esprit sur
son compte?
Silvia. Hum! la sotte! son
valet a bien h . faire ici!
Lisette. C’est que je me
roefie lui, car il est
raisonneur.
166
Florinda. X must once more
desire that you will behave
yourself respectfully; the
young man is very discreet,
sensible and deserving.
Lettv. Yes, yes, Ma*am,
he's a very good flirt, and
has art enough to prejudice
people in his favor.
Florinda. But I desire
you’ll not impute' to the
servant the fixed abhor
rence I bear the master.
Letty. Oh! Ma'am, since
you take his part, I will
not offend you by saying
any thing to his disad
vantage.
Florinda. I take his
part— I justify him--
(fluttered)
Silvia. Finissez vos por
traits, on n'en a que faire.
J'ai soin que ce valet me
parle peu, et dans le peu
qu'il m'a dit, il ne m'a ja
mais rien dit que de tres-
sage.
Lisette. Je crois qu' il est
honme a vous avoir conte des
histoires maladroites pour
faire briller son bel esprit.
Silvia. Mon deguisement ne
m*expose-t-il pas A m’entendre
dire de jolies choses? A qui
en avez-vous? D'ou vous
vient la manie d'imputer A ce
garcon une repugnance A
laquelle il n'a point de
part? Car enfin, vous
m* obligez A le justifier ...
Lisette. Oh! Madame, des
que vous le defendez sur ce
ton-lA, et que cela va
jusqu'A vous f&cher, je n'ai
plus rien A dire.
Silvia. Des que je le
defends sur ce ton-lA? ...
In following its source, Colman's play demonstrates
a number of other significant developments of the new com
media, one of which is a higher level of humor resulting
from the interplay of more serious, more subtle, and more
highly evolved personalities than the limited zanni of the
old commedia. The new zanni, now stripped of their
167
buffoonery and made to rely on the wit of the dramatist,
contribute, along with the other characters, to a more
subtle humor, and become fully developed personalities
rather than the caricatures of the old coramedia. The grand
entrance of Skipwell (Arlequin) disguised as Villamour
(Dorante) provides an example of the new role of the zanni.
Skipwell. AhJ Skipwell.
are you there?— well, were
my baggage and you gra
ciously received?
Villamour. It was impos
sible it could be otherwise,
Sir.
Skipwell. Go, and acquaint
my father-in-law and my
wife of my arrival.
Florinda [Disguised as her
maid, Letty]. What a
disagreeable fellow
(aside). I suppose you
mean Mr. Meanwell and his
daughter, Sir.
Skipwell. Yes, my wife and
father-in-law, *tis the
same thing, isn't it,
child? I'm come to be mar
ried, and they expect me
for that purpose; don't
they? It wants nothing but
the ceremony and that's a
trifle.
Arlequin. Ah! te voilh,
Bourguignon! Mon porte-
manteau et toi, avez-vous ete
bien recus ici?
Dorante. II n'etait pas pos
sible qu'on nous reotit mal,
Monsieur.
Arlequin. Un domestique la-
bas m'a dit d'entrer ici, et
qu'on allait avertir mon
beau-pere qui etait avec ma
femme.
Silvia [Disguised as her
maid, Lisette]. Vous voulez
dire Monsieur Orgon et sa
fille, sans doute, Monsieur!
Arlequin. Eh! oui, mon beau-
pere et ma femme, autant
vaut; je viens pour epouser,
et ils m'attendent pour 6tre
maries; cela est convenu; il
ne manque plus que la cere-
monie, qui est une baga
telle.
168
Florinda. 'Tis a trifle
however requiring some
serious consideration,
Sir—
Skipwell. Perhaps so; but
the more one thinks of it,
the less they'll like it,
'too much pudding will
choke a dog.'
Silvia. C'est une bagatelle
qui vaut bien la peine qu'on
y pense.
Arlequin. Oui; mais quand on
y a pense, on n'y pense plus.
Colman, still following Marivaux, ends his play on a
sentimental note with the main characters--the two lovers—
sincerely expressing their love for one another. Colman
here adopts Marivaux's theme--true love wins out despite
all obstacles:
Villamour. You, her father, Dorante. Qu'entends-je!
Sir—
Old Meanwell. Yes Villamour
— the same stratagem, the
same deception was contrived
by mutual chance against
each other.
Florinda. And you may
judge of the value I set
upon your heart, by the
means I took to gain it.
Villamour. . . . What de
lights me most are the
proofs I gave you,
Florinda, of the purity
and disinterestedness of
my passion.
vous, son pere, Monsieur?
Silvia. Oui, Dorante. La
meme idee de nous connaitre
nous est venue A tous deux
... jugez du cas que j'ai
fait de votre coeur par la
delicatesse avec laquelle
j'ai tache de l'acquerir.
Dorante. Je ne saurais vous
exprimer mon bonheur, Madame;
mais ce qui m'enchante le
plus, ce sont les preuves que
je vous ai donnees de ma
tendresse.
169
Colman's play is a representative English bourgeois
comedy, which clearly demonstrates the influence of the
commedia dell'arte. The English writer borrowed plot,
character, dialogue, and theme from the eighteenth-century
French master of the commedia, Marivaux. Moreover, and
perhaps more important, Colman successfully captured the
spirit of the modified commedia. His comedy, Tit for Tat,
was unusually popular with English audiences, as its record
thirty-eight performances attest. Its acceptance in
England is not surprising, since it is based on a play that
had been successful before similar audiences on the conti
nent. The immediate success of Tit for Tat and its con
tinued popularity did much to spread the influence of the
commedia dell'arte in England.
In the eighteenth century the commedia dell'arte in
fluenced English comedy extensively. This influence is
manifest in the number of English adaptations of commedia
plays, in the number of English comedies reflecting com
media material, in the frequent revivals in England of
continental commedia plays, in the amount of contemporary
criticism, in the publication and popularity of the
Gherardi collection in England, and in the popularity, as
170
a whole, of the English comedies derived from the commedia
dell*arte. The influence of the commedia reached England
in a variety of ways— through the many visits of the
Italian and French commedia traveling troupes, through
English translations of commedia plays, through the pub
lication of conHnedia plays in England, through the availa
bility of the famous Gherardi collection published in
Holland and France, and through Englishmen visiting the
continent and witnessing commedia performances.
The pervasiveness of this influence in English comedy
is a direct result of the demands made by the new bourgeois
audiences in England, who, especially after 1750, insisted
on plays which depicted the events, attitudes, and ideas of
middle-class life. Jephson, Garrick, and Colman, among
others, met the demands by writing comedies based on con
tinental plays written after the fashion of the modified
commedia dell*arte, which had been created by such drama
tists as Le Sage, Marivaux, and Goldoni to satisfy the
demands of similar audiences on the continent. As a result
of English borrowing from the continent, a significant form
of English comedy emerged under the influence of the new
commedia. The comedies of the Englishmen, following their
171
continental originals, concentrated on realistic problems,
true devotion between the sexes, and sentimental themes,
and included moral sentiment and poetic justice. This type
of English comedy utilized the characters, the situations,
and the stage business of the commedia. It presented the
lovers and their trials, the parents who complicate the
lovers' problems, the wily servants (zanni), the intrigues,
and the mistaken identities— all of which characterize the
commedia. English comedies of all types offer some of
these elements, but only the English comedy patterned after
the commedia contains them all simultaneously. This new
English form was neither Jonsonian comedy, nor Restoration
comedy, nor sentimental comedy: it was bourgeois comedy,
derived from the modified commedia dell'arte.
CHAPTER V
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
The present investigation has shown that the commedia
dell*arte exerted considerable influence on popular English
drama in the period from 1650 to 1800 and that this influ
ence contributed significantly to the development of the
English theater.
Chapter 1 indicated that the influence of the commedia
dell*arte came to England through various means--by English
men witnessing Italian and French commedia performances, by
way of French intermediate sources, and through extant
scenari, especially after the publication in Paris in 1701
Of Gherardi's voluminous collection. Once it reached
England the influence of the commedia was soon pervasive.
In the English adaptations, the stock characters and situ
ations of the conanedia are readily apparent. These plays,
like their prototypes found in Italian-French scenari, may
be divided into two levels of action--that involving the
non-comic characters, and that involving the comic
172
173
characters (zarml). The non-comic characters are of less
interest, for they form only a frame to contain the horse
play of the comic characters. In some instances, English
writers merely expanded commedia scenari to form English
plays, or merely translated French versions of Italian
scenari and presented such translations as original work.
All of the plays examined in this section show that the
English farceurs borrowed scenari, structure, stage devices,
character types, names, lazzi, and themes from the great
storehouse of the commedia dell*arte.
The English adaptors of commedia dell’arte productions
acquired their material in three main ways— directly, by
borrowing from the commedia; indirectly, by borrowing from
the French (whose indebtedness to the commedia dell*arte
has not been fully recognized); and by a combination of
direct and indirect borrowing. The three plays studied in
detail in Chapter I exemplify the three kinds of borrow
ings. The first play, Sir Aston Cokain’s Trapolin, Sup-
pos*d a Prince, shows direct influence of the commedia--he
witnessed several performances of a commedia dell*arte
troupe in Italy and wrote an English version of the plot
he had seen. The second play, Edward Ravenscroft's
174
The Anatomist, shows indirect influence of the commedia; he
copied a French play by Hauteroche, derived from Moliere,
who had himself duplicated the most significant aspects of
the commedia dell*arte. The third play, Aphra Behn's The
Emperor of the Moon, presents a combination of direct in
fluence and indirect influence. She used as her immediate
source a French version of a commedia dell*arte scenario;
she also made use of commedia dell*arte techniques which
she personally observed at performances given by traveling
commedia troupes.
The English playwrights borrowed material from the
commedia dell*arte for a number of reasons. First, and
most important, was the enormous popularity of farce in
Restoration England, vtfiich, aided by a long-standing inter
est in Italian culture, led many dramatists to seek new
material in the Italian commedia. Second, English famili
arity with the Italian language, royal subsidies for visit
ing Italian troupes, and the similarity of lazzi to native
English slapstick comedy all encouraged English farceurs to
adapt and plagiarize directly from the commedia.
Much of the English borrowing from the commedia dell*
arte before 1660 was direct. During the first half of the
175
seventeenth century, however, the Italian companies visit
ing France remained for longer and longer periods and
included more and more scenari written by French drama
tists. By 1660 the Italian commedia was definitely estab-
shed in Paris, and enjoyed a royal subsidy. French writers
such as Moliere, and, later, the French authors found in
the Gherardi collection--Regnard, the most important,
Fatouville, Dufresny, and Palapret, among others— con
tributed heavily to the repertoire of the Italian commedia.
As a result of the migration from Italy to France, the in
fluence of the commedia dell1arte began to reach the
English stage indirectly, and during the latter half of the
seventeenth century, the English dramatists shifted from
Italian to French sources for their material.
Chapter II demonstrated that the commedia dell*arte
strongly influenced another English dramatic form, the
ballad-opera. This influence reached England in much the
same way as had the Italian influence on English farce. In
form the ballad-opera may have been influenced by such
plays as Ulisse et Circe (1691), L*Opera de campagne (1692),
La Baguette de Vulcain (1693), Le Depart des cornediens
(1694), La Foire de St. Germain (1695), and others’ — all
176
containing numerous songs set to popular airs, and all
found in the famous and easily available Gherardi collec
tion published in London in 1714. Since many of the
ballad-operas were simply rewritten Restoration farces with
songs added, the commedia material that had been incor
porated into the farces was carried over into ballad-operas.
These ballad-operas, like many Restoration farces, utilized
the stock characters and situations of the commedia dell'
arte. The typical ballad-opera, like the typical Restora
tion farce, uses two major groups of characters— the non-
comic and the comic. And it is in the latter, particularly
the exaggerated, blundering, astute, rascally servant
types, that the audience's interest lay. Besides the
structure and character types, the names, lazzi, and themes
are borrowed from the commedia dell'arte. The emphasis,
obviously, is placed on situation comedy rather than on
character development; thus the controlling influence of
the commedia dell'arte is further indicated.
English writers of ballad-opera were strongly influ
enced by visiting Italian and French commedia troupes whose
visits to England increased when the ousted Italian members
of the commedia dell'arte were allowed to return to Paris
in
after the turn of the century. During the first quarter of
the eighteenth century a great number of new Italian and
French plays were written and added to the commedia dell*
arte repertoire; these new plays were constantly being
adapted into English ballad-operas. A third important path
of influence was the English publication in 1714 of the
huge Gherardi collection of commedia scenari.
Chapter III established the influence of the commedia
dell*arte on a third important English dramatic form,
eighteenth-century comedy. After the first few decades of
the eighteenth century the influence of a modified commedia
came to England in three principal ways. First, throughout
the century continental plays by such dramatists as Le
Sage, Marivaux, Destouches, Dancourt, and Goldoni appeared
in England in the original languages and in numerous
English translations, and thus became easily available to
the public. Second, English writers of comedy, such as
Foote, Bickerstaffe, Colman (the elder), Murphy, and Gar
rick visited France and Italy and witnessed performances.^
Garrick first witnessed a commedia performance while
in Naples and found it so "extraordinary" a feat that
he wrote a scenario at the request of the actors. This
178
And, third, throughout the century, Italian and French
touring companies came to England in great numbers to per
form hundreds of commedia dellfarte plays by Regnard (his
later works), Le Sage, Dancourt, Destouches, Riccoboni,
Marivaux, Dufresney, Ramagnesi, and Goldoni, among others.
These plays were presented in French and Italian and, for
those who could not understand, books were printed giving
o
the plots and business scene by scene in English.
The plays by these continental dramatists exhibited
many significant changes from the commedia dell*arte per
formances of the previous century, changes demanded by the
new middle-class audiences of Europe. On the continent
this demand for changes in the old commedia characters,
situations, and themes had been answered in Italy, princi
pally by Gozzi and Goldoni, and in France by such drama
tists as Regnard, Le Sage, Dancourt, Destouches, and
Marivaux. The characters of the old comnedia remained,
scenario was expanded and performed as a play all*impro-
visio for his satisfaction "within twenty-four hours" after
he had finished it. (Richard Brinsley Peake, Memoirs of
the Colman Family [London, 1841], pp. 89-90.)
o
Rosenfeld lists many of these Italian and French
touring companies which visited England in the eighteenth
century. She also comments on their enormous popularity
(see pp. 6-31).
179
but they dropped their masks and became fully developed
personalities involved in comparatively serious themes that
focused on realistic social problems. These plays por
trayed .true devotion between the sexes, and were supplied
3
with moral sentiments and poetic justice. The changes
made by these writers resulted in a modified commedia dell*
arte which, especially after 1750, appeared in English
adaptations of continental commedia originals. The lewd
gestures, obscenity, horseplay, and cloacal jokes of the
old commedia are gone, but the traditional spirit of the
commedia is retained. From this modified commedia English
dramatists borrowed plots, characters, stage names, lazzi,
stage devices, and themes.
For their material the English comedy writers drew on
Italian and French plays written in the modified commedia
dell*arte style. During the first few decades of the
eighteenth century some of the English comedies were adap
tations of commedia dell*arte plays by Moliere, Fatouville,
Regnard (in his early works), and other exponents of the
old commedia. As the century progressed, however, and as
3
For an account of these changes see pp. 113-123.
180
the English middle-class audience became more vocal in its
demands for reforms in the theater, the English dramatists
turned for their material to such continental writers as Le
Sage, Marivaux, Dancourt, Destouches, and Goldoni. Some
writers utilized Italian plays; for example, Robert
Jephsonfs Two Strings to Your Bow (1791) is an adaptation
of Carlo Goldoni's II Servitore di due padroni (1745).
Other writers utilized French plays; for example, David
Garrick's Neck or Nothing (1766) is an adaptation of Alain
Rene Le Sage's Crispin, rival de son maitre (1707), and
George Colman's (the elder) Tit for Tat (1786) is an adap
tation of Pierre-Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux's Le Jeu
de 1*amour et du hasard (1730). The material which the
English dramatists borrowed from their continental counter
parts helped provide English comedy with new situations,
themes, and characters, and thus enlarged its scope; and by
exposing Englishmen to some of the best Latin wit and
humor, it enriched their own taste in these qualities and
broadened their concept of human nature.
Even a cursory examination of the commedia dell'arte
shows that while its history is both obscure and frag
mentary, its influence is both patent and pervasive.
This influence was strongly felt in the drama of Europe and
England from the sixteenth century on, and it has persisted
to this day. Several scholars have shown that the influ
ence of the commedia on English drama was widespread from
1550 to 1650. This study shows that its influence con
tinued to leave a clear imprint on English drama from 1650
to 1800. It has not, however, exhausted this topic, for
the commedia dell*arte has continued to influence the
English stage down to the present time. The cinema shows
its pervasiveness--Charlie Chaplin is the twentieth-century
reincarnation of Harlequin. Modem English and American
plays have incorporated improvised scenes in the fashion
of the commedia dell*arte, and contemporary actors in
England and America still use some of the techniques of
improvisation of the ancient commedia dell*arte. They
choose a situation and then improvise dialogue and the role
itself. The antique commedia itself has survived and has
recently been gaining new life. Since the end of World
War II many of the commedia pieces mentioned in this
account have been performed by acting companies in the
principal theaters of Europe, England, and the United
States, and the commedia has once again begun its tours.
182
Traveling companies from Italy and France have toured not
only Europe and England, but also North and South America,
and Harlequin*s lazzi have been commended as far away as
Australia.
The appeal of the commedia dell*arte is attested by
the applause of audiences for several centuries, by the
success with which it met the competition of regular drama,
by its having won the favor and protection of the royal
court of France, and by its ability to come back with
renewed vitality after a long banishment. For the
eighteenth-century audiences of comedy in England and on
the continent the appeal of the commedia was its kind of
humor, which was brought about principally by the juxta
position of high society and the servant class, frequently
in the form of masquerades of nobility as menials and the
converse. Its survival, however, cannot be accounted for
solely on the basis of its entertainment value, for the
novelty of the usual situations in the congnedia soon wears
thin. The commedia has survived also because of a more
profound and subtle appeal. It is, of course, the antique
commedia rather than the modified eighteenth-century ver
sion that continues to hold the interest of both actor
and spectator. One reason for the improvised commedia* s
survival lies in the satisfying projection of the basic
urges of the human subconscious onto the stage in the
powerful, even though coarse, images of its characteristic
types. This survival also rests in part in the ancient
commedia* s ability to meet the very human demand for the
release of inhibitions in spontaneous laughter.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Sources
Argentina Strega per Amore: or Harlequin Multiply*d. Anon.
London, 1726. (Three Centuries of Drama; English
Drama, 1701-1750. New York, Readex Microprint Cor
poration. )
Atkinson, Joseph. Mutual Deception. Dublin, 1785. (Three
Centuries of Drama; English Drama, 1751-1800. New
York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
The Banish’d Duke. Anon. London, 1690. (Three Centuries
of Drama: English Drama, 1642-1700. New York, Readex
Microprint Corporation.)
Behn, Aphra. Abdelazer. London, 1677. (Three Centuries
of Drama: English Drama, 1642-1700. New York, Readex
Microprint Corporation.)
__________ . Counterfeit Bridegroom. London, 1677.
(Three Centuries of Drama; English Drama, 1642-1700.
New York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
__________ . False Count. London, 1682. (Three Centuries
of Drama: English Drama, 1642-1700. New York, Readex
Microprint Corporation.)
__________ . The Forced Marriage. London, 1688. (Three
Centuries of Drama: English Drama, 1642-1700. New
York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
_________. Sir Patient Fancy. London, 1678. (Three
Centuries of Drama; English Drama, 1642-1700. New
York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
185
186
Behn, Aphra. Works. ed. Montague Summers. 6 vols.
London, 1915.
Bell, John. British Theatre. 36 vols. London, 1791-1802.
(Microcard)
Bickerstaffe, Isaac. Love in a Village. London, 1763.
(Three Centuries of Drama: English Drama, 1751-1800.
New York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
[Boyle, Roger], Earl of Orrery. Mustapha. London, 1690.
(Three Centuries of Drama: English Drama, 1642-1700.
New York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
Brenner, Clarence, and Nolan A. Goodyear, eds. Eighteenth-
Century French Plays. New York, 1927.
Breval, John. The Rape of Helen. London, 1737. (Three
Centuries of Drama: English Drama. 1701-1750. New
York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
The British Drama, ed. W. Miller. 5 vols. London, 1804.
The British Stage; or The Exploits of Harlequin. Anon.
London, 1724. (Three Centuries of Drama: English
Drama, 1701-1750. New York, Readex Microprint Cor
poration. )
British Theatre, ed. William Jones. 10 vpls. Dublin,
1794.
Carey, Henry. Amelia. London, 1732. (Three Centuries of
Drama: English Drama, 1701-1750. New York, Readex
Microprint Corporation.)
___________. The Contrivances. Dublin, 1759. (Three
Centuries of Drama: English Drama, 1701-1750. New
York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
___________ . The Tragedy of Chrononhotonthologos.
London, 1734. (Three Centuries of Drama: English
Drama. 1701-1750. New York, Readex Microprint Cor
poration. )
187
Cephalus and Procris . • . with . . . Harlequin Grand
Volgi. Anon. London, 1733. (Three Centuries of
Drama: English Drama. 1701-1750. New York, Readex
Microprint Corporation.)
Cibber, Colley. Woman*s Wit. London, 1697. (Three Cen
turies of Drama: English Drama, 1642-1700. New York,
Readex Microprint Corporation.)
_____________ . Xerxes. London, 1699. (Three Centuries
of Drama: English Drama, 1642-1700. New York, Readex
Microprint Corporation.)
Cobb, James. Doctor and the Apothecary. London, 1788.
(Three Centuries of Drama: English Drama. 1751-1800.
New York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
Cobb, Thomas. Dido and Aeneas: or. Harlequin a Butler.
. . . London, 1779. (Three Centuries of Drama:
English Drama, 1751“1800. New York, Readex Micro
print Corporation.)
Coffey, Charles. The Devil to Pay. London, 1732. (Three
Centuries of Drama: English Drama, 1701-1750. New
York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
______________ . The Merry Cobbler or, The Second Part of
The Devil to Pay. London. 1735. (Three Centuries of
Drama: English Drama, 1701-1750. New York, Readex
Microprint Corporation.)
Cokain, Sir Aston. Dramatic Works, ed. James Maidment,
and W. H. Logan. London, 1874.
________________ . . Obstinate Lady. London, 1658. (Three
Centuries of Drama: English Drama. 1642-1700. New
York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
________________ . Trappolin Creduto Principe. London,
1658. (Three Centuries of Drama: English Drama,, 1642-
1700. New York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
Colman, George (The Elder). The Portrait. London, 1770.
(Three Centuries of Drama: English Drama. 1751-1800.
New York,' Readex Microprint Corporation.)
188
Colman, George (The Elder). Tit for Tat. London, 1786.
(Three Centuries of Drama: English Drama. 1731-1800.
New York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
Colman, George (The Elder), and David Garrick. The
Clandestine Marriage. London, 1766. (Three Cen
turies of Drama; English Drama, 1751-1800. New York,
Readex Microprint Corporation.)
Congreve, William. Comedies. ed. Joseph Wood Krutch. New
York, 1932.
Cooke, Thomas, and John Mottley. Penelope. London, 1728.
(Three Centuries of Drama; English Drama, 1701-1750.
New York,. Readex Microprint Corporation.)
Cumberland, Richard. Fashionable Lover. London, 1772.
(Three Centuries of Drama: English Drama. 1751-1800.
New York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
Cupid and Psyche: or, Colombine-Courtezan. Anon. London,
1734. (Three Centuries of Drama: English Drama. 1701-
1750. New York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
Dennis, John. A Plot and No Plot. London, 1697. (Three
Centuries of Drama: English Drama, 1642-1700. New
York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
Dibdin, Charles. Harlequin Free Mason. London, 1780.
(Three Centuries of Drama; English Drama. 1751-1800.
New York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
_____ . Harlequin Touchstone. London, 1789.
(Three Centuries of Drama: English Drama, 1751-1800.
New York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
_____________ _. The Wedding Ring. London, 1773. (Three
Centuries of Drama: English Drama. 1751-1800. New
York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
Dibdin, Thomas John. Magic Oak, or Harlequin Woodcutter.
London, 1799. (Three Centuries of Drama: English
Drama, 1751-1800. New York, Readex Microprint Cor
poration. )
189
Dibdin, Thomas John. The Volcano, or The Rival Harlequins.
London, 1799. (Three Centuries of Drama: English
Drama, 1751-1800. New York, Readex Microprint Cor
poration. )
Dido and Aeneas. Anon. London, 1675. (Three Centuries of
Drama: English Drama, 1642-1700. New York, Readex
Microprint Corporation.)
Dodsley, Robert, ed. A Select Collection of Old Plays.
12 vols. London, 1780.
Drury, Robert. Devil of a Duke. London, 1732. (Three
Centuries of Drama: English Drama, 1701-1750. New
York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
Dryden, John. Amphitryon. London, 1690. (Three Centuries
of Drama: English Drama, 1642-1700. New York, Readex
Microprint Corporation.)
___________ . The Assignation. London, 1674. (Three
Centuries of Drama: English Drama, 1642-1700. New
York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
___________ . The Husband His Own Cuckold. London, 1696.
(Three Centuries of Drama: English Drama, 1642-1700.
New York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
■ Marriage A-La-Mode. London, 1673. (Three
Centuries of Drama: English Drama, 1642-1700. New
York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
___________ . Wild Gallant. London, 1669. (Three Cen
turies of Drama: English Drama. 1642-1700. New York,
Readex Microprint Corporation.)
________■ Works, ed. Sir Walter Scott (rev. and cor
rected by George Saintsbury). 18 vols. Edinburgh,
1882-1893.
D'Urfey, Thomas. Dido and Aeneas: or Harlequin a Butler.
. . . London, 1727. (Three Centuries of Drama:
English Drama, 1701-1750. New York, Readex Micro
print Corporation.)
D'Urfey, Thomas. Marriage-Hater. London, 1692. (Three
Centuries of Drama: English. Drama, 1642-1700. New
York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
' ___________- . Rise and Fall of Massaniello. London,
1700. (Three Centuries of Drama: English Drama, 1642-
1700. New York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
An Exact Description of . ♦ . Harlequin Doctor Faustus ♦ . .
and the Necromancer. Anon. London, 1724. (Three
Centuries of Drama: English Drama, 1701-1750. New
York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
Feigned Astrologer. Anon. London, 1668. (Three Centuries
of Drama: English Drama, 1642-1700. New York, Readex
Microprint Corporation.)
Fielding, Henry. Complete Works, ed. William Ernest
Henley. 16 vols. London, 1903.
Foot, Samuel. Devil Upon Two Sticks. London, 1778.
(Three Centuries of Drama; English Drama, 1751-1800.
New York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
_. The Lvar. London, 1764. (Three Centuries
of Drama: English Drama, 1751-1800. New York, Readex
Microprint Corporation.)
_. The Nabob. London, 1778. (Three Centuries
of Drama; English Drama. 1751-1800. New York, Micro
print Corporation.)
Garrick, David. Harlequin*s Invasion. London, 1759.
(Three Centuries of Drama; English Drama. 1751-1800.
New York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
_____________. The Male-Coquette. London, 1757. (Three
Centuries of Drama: English Drama. 1751-1800. New
York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
. ______. Miss in Her Teens. London, 1746. (Three
Centuries of Drama: English Drama. 1751-1800. New
York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
191
Garrick, David. A Peep Behind the Curtain. London, 1767.
(Three Centuries of Drama: English Drama. 1751-1800.
New York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
Gay, John. The Beggar’s Opera. New York* 1922.
Gherardi, Evariste. Le The&tre italien. 6 vols.
Amsterdam, 1701.
Goldoni, Carlo. Commedie scelte, ed. Adolfo Padovan.
Milano, 1926.
The Servant of Two Masters (II Servitore
di due padroni): A Comedy, trans. Edward J. Dent.
Cambridge [England], 1952.
Griffith, Elizabeth. School for Rakes. London, 1789.
(Three Centuries of Drama: English Drama, 1751-1800.
New York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
___________ ___. The Times. London, 1780. (Three
Centuries of Drama: English Drama, 1751-1800. New
York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
Harlequin Chaplet. Anon. London, 1789. (Three Centuries
of Drama: English Drama, 1751-1800. New York, Readex
Microprint Corporation.)
Harlequin Doctor Faustus. Anon. London, 1724. (Three
Centuries of Drama: English Drama, 1701-1750. New
York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
Harlequin Faustus. Anon. London, 1792. (Three Centuries
of Drama: English Drama, 1751-1800. New York, Readex
Microprint Corporation.)
Harlequin Peasant. Anon. London, 1793. (Three Centuries
of Drama; English Drama. 1751-1800. New York, Readex
Microprint Corporation.)
Harlequin Sorcerer. Anon. London, 1753. (Three Centuries
of Drama; English Drama. 1751-1800. New York, Readex
Microprint Corporation.)
192
Harlequin Student: or, The Fall of Pantomime. Anon.
London, 1741. (Three Centuries of Drama: English
Drama. 1701-1750. New York, Readex Microprint Cor
poration. )
The Harlequins. Anon. London, 1753. (Three Centuries of
Drama; English Drama, 1751-1800. New York, Readex
Microprint Corporation.)
Harlequin's Tour. Anon. London, 1800. (Three Centuries
. of Drama: English Drama, 1751-1800. New York, Readex
Microprint Corporation.)
Hippolyte, Parigot, ed. TheStre choisi des auteurs
comiques. Paris, 1932.
Holcroft, Thomas. Knave, or Not? London, 1798. (Three
Centuries of Drama: English Drama, 1751-1800. New
York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
School for Arrogance. London, 1791.
(Three Centuries of Drama: English Drama, 1751-1800.
New York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
Hoole, John. Uninhabited Island. London, 1800. (Three
Centuries of Drama: English Drama, 1751-1800. New
York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
Hughes, Leo, and A. H. Scouten, eds. Ten English Farces.
Austin, Texas, 1948.
Inchbald, Mrs. [Elizabeth]. The English Theatre: or.
A Collection of Plays. 25 vols. London, 1808.
Jephson, Robert. Count of Narbonne. London, 1781. (Three
Centuries of Drama: English Drama, 1751-1800. New
York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
______________ . The Hotel. London, 1810. (Three Cen
turies of Drama: English Drama. 1751-1800. New York,
Readex Microprint Corporation.)
Johnson, Charles. Village Opera. London, 1729. (Three
Centuries of Drama: English Drama, 1701-1750. New
York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
193
The Judgment of Paris: or. The Triumph of Beauty. Anon.
London, 1731. (Three Centuries of Drama: English
Drama. 1701-1750. New York, Readex Microprint
Corporation.)
Kelly, Hugh. School for Wives. London, 1774. (Three
Centuries of Drama: English Drama, 1751-1800. New
York, Readex Microprint Corporation..)
King, Thomas. Wit*s Last Stake. London, 1768. (Three
Centuries of Drama: English Drama, 1751-1800. New
York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
Lacy, John. Acting Plays, ed. Thomas Hailes Lacy. London,
1901.
_________ . Dramatic Works, ed. James Maidment, and
W. H. Logan. London, 1875.
_________ . Dumb Lady. London, 1672. (Three Centuries of
Drama: English Drama, 1642-1700. New York, Readex
Microprint Corporation.)
_________ . Sauny the Scott. London, 1698. (Three Cen
turies of Drama: English Drama, 1642-1700. New York,
Readex Microprint Corporation.)
Le Sage, Alain Rene. TheStre. Paris, 1911.
Lun [pseud?]. The Beggar's Pantomime, or The Contending
Colombines. London, 1736. (Three Centuries of
Drama: English Drama, 1701-1750. New York, Readex
Microprint Corporation.)
Marivaux, Pierre-Carlet de Chamblain de. TheStre complet,
ed. Jean Fournier, and Maurice Bastide. 2 vols.
Paris, 1946.
Mistaken Husband. Anon. London, 1675. (Three Centuries
of Drama: English Drama, 1642-1700. New York, Readex
Microprint Corporation.)
Moliere, Jean-Baptiste Poquelin. Plays ... in French,
ed. A. R. Waller. 8 vols. Edinburgh, 1926.
194
Morgan, A. E., ed. English Plays: 1660-1820. New York,
1935.
Motteux, Peter Anthony. Love's a Jest. London, 1696.
(Three Centuries of Drama: English Drama. 1642-1700.
New York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
____________________Loves of Mars and Venus. London,
1696. (Three Centuries of Drama: English Drama,
1642-1700. New York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
_____________________ . The Novelty. London, 1697.
(Three Centuries of Drama: English Drama. 1642-1700.
New York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
Murphy, Arthur. All in the Wrong. London, 1761. (Three
Centuries of Drama: English Drama, 1751-1800. New
York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
_____________ . The Desert Island. London, 1760. (Three
Centuries of Drama: English Drama, 1751-1800. New
York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
_____________ . Know Your Own Mind. London, 1778. (Three
Centuries of Drama; English Drama. 1751-1800. New
York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
_____________. School for Guardians. London, 1767.
(Three Centuries of Drama: English Drama, 1751-1800.
New York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
_____________ . The Way to Keep Him. London, 1760.
(Three Centuries of Drama: English Drama, 1751-1800.
New York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
O’Keefe, John. Friar Bacon, or Harlequin’s Adventures.
London, 1783. (Three Centuries of Drama: English
Drama, 1751-1800. New York, Readex Microprint Cor
poration. )
________. Harlequin Teague. London, 1782. (Three
Centuries of Drama: English Drama, 1751-1800. New
York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
195
Oldmixon, John. Anollo Turn'd Stroller. London, 1787.
(Three Centuries of Drama: English Drama. 1751-1800.
New York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
Otway, Thomas. Works. 3 vols. London, 1768.
Pandolfi, Vito. La Commedia dell'arte. 5 vols. Florence,
1957-1959.
Pepys, Samuel. Diary and Correspondence, ed. Richard, Lord
Braybrooke, and the Rev. Mynors Bright. 6 vols.
London, 1875-1879.
Perseus and Andromeda, with The Rape of Columbine: or The
Flying Lovers. Anon. London, 1728. (Three Centuries
of Drama; English Drama, 1701-1750. New York, Readex
Microprint Corporation.)
Ralph, James. The Astrologer. London, 1744. (Three Cen
turies of Drama: English Drama, 1701-1750. New York,
Readex Microprint Corporation.)
____________. Fashionable Lady. London, 1730. (Three
Centuries of Drama: English Drama. 1701-1750. New
York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
Ravenscroft, Edward. Careless Lovers. London, 1673.
(Three Centuries of Drama: English Drama, 1642-1700. .
New York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
__________________ . The Citizen Turned Gentleman.
London, 1672. (Three Centuries of Drama: English
Drama, 1642-1700. New York, Readex Microprint Cor
poration. )
__________________ . Dame Dobson. London, 1684. (Three
Centuries of Drama: English Drama. 1642-1700. New
York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
Italian Husband. London, 1698.
(Three Centuries of Drama: English Drama, 1642-1700.
New York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
196
Ravenscroft, Edward. King Edgar and Alfreda. London,
1677. (Three Centuries of Drama: English Drama. 1642-
1700. New York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
__________________ . Scaramouch A Philosopher. London,
1677. (Three Centuries of Drama: English Drama,
1642-1700. New York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
A Select Collection of Farces. 6 vols. Edinburgh, 1786-
1788.
Settle,. Elkanah. The Siege of Troy. London, 1708. (Three
Centuries of Drama: English Drama, 1701-1750. New
York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
Sheridan, Thomas. Brave Irishman. Edinburgh, 1755.
(Three Centuries of Drama: English Drama, 1751-1800.
New York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
The Siege and Surrender of Mons. Anon. London, 1691.
(Three Centuries of Drama: English Drama, 1642-1700.
New York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
Tate, Nahum. Brutus of Alba. London, 1678. (Three Cen
turies of Drama: English Drama, 1642-1700. New York,
Readex Microprint Corporation.)
__________ . Cuckold's Haven. London, 1685. (Three Cen
turies of Drama: English Drama, 1642-1700. New York,
Readex Microprint Corporation.)
__________ . The Island Princess. London, 1687. (Three
Centuries of Drama: English Drama, 1642-1700. New
York, Readex Microprint Corporation.)
The Virgin Unmasked. Anon. London, 1786. (Three Cen
turies of Drama: English Drama, 1751-1800. New York,
Readex Microprint Corporation.)
Secondary Sources
Abrams, M. H. The Mirror and the Lamp: Romantic Theory and
the Critical Tradition. New York, 1953.
197
Ashton, H. Mo Here. New York, 1930.
_________. A Preface to Moliere. New York, 1927.
Attinger, Gustave. L’Esprit de la commedia dell*arte dans
le theatre francais. Paris, 1950.
Avery, Emmett L. "Foreign Performers in the London
Theaters in the Early Eighteenth Century," Philo
logical Quarterly, 16:105-123, April, 1937.
Avery, Emmett L., and A. H. Scouten. "A Tentative Calendar
of Daily Theatrical Performances in London, 1700-1701
to 1704-1705," PMLA, 58:114-180, March, 1948.
Bader, A. L. "The Modena Troupe in England," Modem
Language Notes, 50:367-69, June, 1935.
Baker, H. Barton. History of the English Stage and Its
Famous Players (1576-1903). London, 1904.
Barton, Margaret. Garrick. London, 1948.
Bateson, F. W. English Comic Drama, 1700-1750. Oxford,
1929.
Beniamin, Matilde Pasqua. "The Italian Sources of
Moliere’s L’Etourdi." Unpublished master’s thesis.
University of Southern California, 1924.
Bergson, Henri. "Laughter" in Comedy. New York, 1956.
Boswell, Eleanore. The Restoration Court Stage. Cam
bridge, Massachusetts, 1932.
Brown, H. F. Inglesi e scozzesi all* Uhiversita di Padova.
Firenze, 1925.
Burke, Kenneth. The Philosophy of Literary Form; Studies
in Symbolic Action. New York, 1957.
Campardon, Emile. Les Cornediens du roi de la troupe
italienne. 2 vols. Paris, 1880.
198
Cibber, Theophilus. The Lives and Characters or the Most
Eminent Actors and Actresses. London, 1753.
Clinton-Baddeley, V. C. The Burlesque Tradition in the
English Theatre After 1660. London, 1952.
Cooper, Martin. Opera Comique. London, 1949.
Cross, Wilbur. The History of Henry Fielding. 3 vols.
New Haven, Connecticut, 1918.
D’Auriac, Eugene. Theatre de la Folre. Paris, 1878.
Dibdin, Charles. Professional and Literary Memoirs, ed.
George Speaight. London, 1956.
Drack, Maurice. Le The&tre de la Folre; la Comedie
Italienne et 1*Opera-Comique. Paris, 1889.
Duchartre, Pierre Louis. The Italian Comedy, trans.
Randolph T. Weaver. New York, 1929.
Dunbar, Howard H. The Dramatic Career of Arthur Murphy.
New York, 1946.
Evelyn, John. Diary, ed. E. S. de Beer. 6 vols. Oxford,
1955.
Fergusson, Francis. The Idea of a Theater. Garden City,
New York, 1955.
Fletcher, Ifan Kyrle. "Italian Comedians in England in the
17th Century," Theatre Notebook. 8:86-91, July-
September, 1954.
Foumel, Victor. Les Contemporains de Moliere. 2 vols.
Paris, 1863.
Frazer, Sir James G. The New Golden Bough, abr. Theodore
H. Gaster. New York, 1959.
Frye, Northrop. Anatomy of Criticism. Princeton, New
Jersey, 1957.
199
Gagey, Edward McAdoo. Ballad Opera. New York, 1937.
Garrick, David. Journal, ed. George Winchester Stone.
Nfew York, 1939.
Gassner, John. Masters of the Drama. New York, 1940.
Genest, John. Some Accounts of the English Stage from the
Restoration in 1660"1830. 10 vols. Bath, 1832.
Grove, Sir George, ed. A Dictionary of Music and Musi
cians. 9 vols. London, 1954.
Hartnell, Phyllis. The Oxford Companion to the Theatre.
London, 1951.
Hastings, Charles. The Theatre: Its Development in France
and England, and a History of Its Greek and Latin
Origins. London, 1902.
Hazlitt, William. Complete Works, ed. P. P. Howe, after
ed. of A. R. Waller, and Arnold Glover. 21 vols.
London [1930-1934].
Herrick, Marvin G. Italian Comedy in the Renaissance.
Urbana, Illinois, 1960.
Hom-Mbntval, M. "French Troupes in England During the
Restoration," Theatre Notebook. 7:81-82, July-
Septemher, 1953.
Hughes, Leo. A Century of English Farce. Princeton, New
Jersey, 1956.
________ . "The Early Career of Farce in the Theatrical
Vocabulary," University of Texas Studies in English,
no. 4026, July 1940.
Hyman, Stanley Edgar. The Armed Vision. New York, 1955.
Iacuzzi, Alfred. The European Vogue of Favart. New York,
1932.
Kennard, Joseph Spencer. Goldoni and the Venice of His
Time. New York, 1920.
200
Kennard, Joseph Spencer. The Italian Theater. 2 vols.
New York, 1932.
____________________ . Masks and Marionettes. New York,
1935.
Kidson, Frank. The Beggar’s Opera; Its Predecessors and
Successors. Cambridge [England], 1922.
Kinne, Willard Austin. Revivals and Importations of French
Comedies in England: 1749-1800. New York, 1939.
Kitchin, George. A Survey of Burlesque and Parody in
English. Edinburgh, 1931.
Klemm, Werner. Die Englische Farce im 19. Jahrhundert.
Bern, 1946.
Kronenberger, Louis. The Thread of Laughter. New York,
1952.
Lancaster, Henry Carrington. A History of French Dramatic
Literature in the Seventeenth Century. 5 vols.
Baltimore, Maryland, 1929-1942.
__________________________ . Sunset: A History of Parisian
Drama in the Last Years of Louis XIV, 1701-1715.
Baltimore, Maryland, 1945.
Lawrence, W. J. "Early French Players in England,"
Anglia, 32:61-89, 1909.
Lea, K. M. Italian Popular Comedy, 2 vols. Oxford, 1934.
Lee, Vernon. Studies of the Eighteenth Century in Italy.
London, 1907.
Lewis, Wyndham D. B. Moliere: The Comic Mask. London,
1959.
Lintilhac, Henry Carrington. Histoire generale du theatre
en France. 6 vols. Paris, 1908.
Loftis, John. Comedy and Society from Congreve to Field
ing. Stanford, California, 1959.
201
MAntzius, Karl. A History of Theatrical Art in Ancient
and Modern Times. 6 vols. London, 1903-1921.
Marshall, Roderick. Italy in English Literature, 1755-
1815. New York, 1934.
Matthews, Brander. The Development of the Drama. New
York, 1924.
________________ . Moliere: His Life and His Works. New
York, 1916.
. A Study of the Drama. Boston, 1910.
Matthews, Brander, and Paul Robert Lieder, eds. The Chief
British Dramatists. Boston, 1924.
McKee, Kenneth N. The Theater of Marivaux. New York,
1958.
Melese, Pierre. Le Theatre et le public a Paris sous
Louis XIV, 1659-1715. Paris, 1934.
Michaut, Gustave. La Jeunesse de Moliere. Paris, 1922.
Miles, Dudley Howe. The Influence of Moliere on Restora
tion Comedy. New York, 1910.
Moland, Louis. Moliere et la Comedie Italienne. Paris,
1867.
Moore, Robert Etheridge. Hogarth's Literary Relationships.
Minneapolis, 1948.
Nicoll, Allardyce. British Drarea. London, 1949.
. A History of Early Eighteenth-Century
Drama, 1700-1750. Cambridge [England}, 1929.
_________________. A History of English Drama, 1660-1900.
6 vols. Cambridge [England], 1955.
. * A History of Restoration Drama, 1600-
1700. Cambridge [England], 1923.
202
Nicoll, Allardyce. "Italian Opera in England/' Anglia.
46:257-81, 1922.
' _____________. Masks. Mimes and Miracles. London,
1931.
________________ . The Theory of Drama. New York, 1931.
________________ . World Drama. London, 1949.
Niklaus, Thelma. Harlequin Phoenix. London, 1956.
Norris, E. T. "The Original of Ravenscroft's Anatomist,"
Modem Language Notes, 46:522-26, December 1931.
Oman, Carola. David Garrick. London, 1958.
Peake, Richard Brinsley. Memoirs of the Colman Family.
London, 1841.
Peterson, Martin Severin. Robert Jephson (1736-1803): A
Study of His Life and Works. University of Nebraska
Studies in Language, Literature, and Criticism,
no. 11, 1930.
Riccoboni, Luigi. Histoire du theatre italien. 2 vols.
Paris, 1730-1731.
_______________ . An Historical and Critical Account of
the Theatres in Europe. London, 1741.
Robertson, J. G. Studies in the Genesis of Romantic. Theory
in the Eighteenth Century. Cambridge [England], 1923.
Rosenfeld, Sybil. Foreign Theatrical Companies in Great
Britain in the 17th and 18th Centuries. London, 1955.
_______________ . "Shepherd's Market Theatre and May Fair
Wells," Theatre Notebook. 5:89-92, July-September,
1951.
__________ . Strolling Players and Drama in the
Provinces, 1660-1765. Cambridge [England], 1939.
203
Sand, Maurice. Masques et buffons. comedie italienne.
2 vols. Paris, 1860.
Schultz, William Eben. Gay* s Beggar*s Opera: Its Content,
History, and Influence. New Haven, Connecticut,
1923.
Schwartz, I. A. The Comnedia Dell* Arte and Its Influence
on French Comedy in the Seventeenth Century. New
York, 1933.
Scouten, A. H. "An Italian Source for Nahum Tate's Defense
of Farce," Italica, 27:238-39, September, 1950.
Sherbum, George. The Restoration and Eighteenth Century,
1660-1789. New York, 1948.
Smith, Winifred. Italian Actors of the Renaissance. New
York, 1930.
Stein, Elizabeth P. David Garrick, Dramatist. New York,
1938.
Summers, Montague. A Bibliography of the Restoration
Drama. London, 1934.
________________ . The Playhouse of Pepys. New York,
1935.
Wellek, Rene, and Austin Warren. Theory of Literature.
New York, 1942.
APPENDICES
APPENDIX A
FIVE TYPICAL SCENARIOS FROM THE COMMEDIA DELL* ARTE
A. IL CREDUTO PRENCIPE--Princ., Vitt.a, Angel.,
Brun., Triv., Mago, Diam., Magn., Dott., corte, spin.,
Gabinetto, sbirri, messo. --Intricate vicende ed equivoci
causati da Triv. che per opera di un Mago ha preso le
fattezze del princ.; per merito suo Vitt.a e Brtm. si
sposeranno; il vero Princ. informato delle nozze, li con-
danna a morte, ma il mago svela che Brun. non e schiavo,
bensi fratello di Angel, moglie del Princ., e la sentenza
e sospesa; divertenti le situazioni del Magn. e del Dott.
continuamente mandati in carcere dal falso Princ. e con-
tinuamente liberati dal vero. (v. Nap. I, 11; Nap. II,
48 e 49; Bartoli 14.)
A. Il Creduto Principe (The Supposed Prince)
Characters: Prince Vittoria, Angelica, Brunetto, Trivel-
lino, Magician Diamantina, Magnifico, Doctor, Spinetta,
Baginetto, Constabulary, Court, Messenger. --Entangled
206
vicissitudes and equivocations caused by Trivellino, who
through the work of a Magician assumes the features of the
prince; by his action Vittoria and Brunetto marry; the true
Prince, informed of the marriage, condemns them to death,
but the Magician reveals that Brunetto is not a slave, but
the brother of Angelica, wife of the Prince, and the sen
tence is suspended; amusing situations of Magnifico and the
Doctor. Continual imprisonments made by the fake Prince
and continual liberations by the true (Prince).*-
B. NUOVO FINTO PRINCIPE--Re di Tabarca, Inf., Or.,
Tart., Dott., Cov., Pule., Ros., Pasc., il mago, 2 spiriti,
villani, falsari. --Il mago, bandito injustamente dalla
corte del Re di Tabarca, fa si che mo spirito tramutato in
Pule, tenti di violare 1* Inf. Ne segue un processo al
falso Pule.; il mago lo interrompe con terremoti e fiamme.
Poi lo stesso mago traveste Pule., da re; di qui molti
equivoci al ritorao del vero re. Infine il mago rivela i
suoi incantesimi, e viene perdonato; 1' Inf. sposa Or.,
Rivelatosi re di Sardegna in incognito. (v. Cas. 4186, 20;
Nap. II, 48-49.)
1Pandolfi, V, 283.
207
B. Nuovo Finto Principe (New Feigned Prince)
Characters: The King of Tabarca, Infanta, Orazio, Tar-
taglia, Doctor, Coviello, Pulcinella, Rosetta, Pascariello,
the magician, two spirits, peasants. --The magician,
banished unjustly from the court of the King of Tabarca,
alters Pulcinella*s character in an attempt to violate the
Infanta. There follows a prosecution of the false Pulci
nella; the magician interrupts with earthquakes and flames.
Then the same magician disguises Pulcinella as the King;
there follow many equivocations at the return of the real
King. Finally the magician reveals his enchantments, and
is pardoned; the Infanta marries Orazio, who is discovered
2
to be the King of Sardenia in disguise.
C. IL FINTO PRINCIPE— Princ. di Toscana, Floral.,
Dott., Pasc., Brunetto, Pule., Pimp., Cov., due demoni.
— Floral, sorella del Princ., fa imprigionare lo schiavo
Brunetto perche questi non osa corrispondere il suo amore.
Un mago trasforma Pule, in Princ. e lo mette al suo posto
in assenza di quello; II falso Princ. fa scarcerare
Brunetto e lo fa sposare con Floral. Ritoma il vero
2Pandolfi, V, 325-26.
208
princ., e fa scarcerare il Dott. e Pasc. e imprigionare
Brunetto. Infine Pule, riesce a far credere a tutti che
il vero principe sia un impostore, e ne ordina 1* impic-
cagione. Sopraggiunge il mago che tocca Pule, con la verga
e gli rida il suo aspetto naturale. (v. Cas. 4186, 20
Nap. I, 11 e II, 49; Gueullette.)
C. Il Finto Principe (The Feigned Prince)[11
Characters: Prince of Tuscani, Floralba, Doctor, Pascari-
ello, Brunetto, Pulcinella, Pimpinella, Coviello, two
demons. — Floralba, the Prince's sister, has the slave
Brunetto imprisoned because he dare not reciprocate her
love. A magician transforms Pulcinella into the Prince and
puts him in the real Prince's place in his absence. The
false Prince has Brunetto freed and has him marry Floralba.
The real Prince returns and frees the Doctor and Pascari-
ello from Prison and imprisons Brunetto. Finally Pulci
nella manages to have everyone believe that the real Prince
is an impostor, and he orders him to be hanged. At this
point the magician touches Pulcinella with his magic rod.
3
Pulcinella resumes his natural features.
3Pandolfi, V, 352.
209
D. IL FINTO PRINCIPE--Princ., Ltic.a, Ard., Pan., Ub.,
Stop., Brun., Cap., Co., Col., Dott., Negr. — Intrigatis-
simo intreccio di personaggi apparenti, arresti scambiati,
equivoci d’ogni genere. Dopo che tutti hanno un po*
burlato e sono stati burlati, finisce in allegria con le
nozze di Brun. (Principe di Transilvania) con Luc.a.
(v. Nap. I, 11 e II, 48-49; Cas. 4186 n. 20.)
D. II Finto Principe (The Feigned Prince)[2]
Characters: Prince, Lucinda, Ardelia, Pandolfo, Ubaldo,
Stopino, Brunetto, Captain, Cola, Doctor, Negromante.
--Highly intriguing plot of transformed characters, ex
changed arrests, equivocations of every kind. After all
have tricked a bit and have been, in turn, tricked, the
drama ends in great mirth with the marriage of Brunetto
(in reality the Prince of Transilvania) and Lucinda.^
E. IL FINTO RE-~Gismondo re di Danimarca, Magn.,
Tart., Pule., Pasqua., Giang., mago, due demoni. — Pule.,
in assenza del Re che e andato alia guerra, ne assume le
sembianza per opera di un mago. Tomato il vero Re, viene
4Pandolfi, V, 321
210
creduto un impostore e messo in carcere. Quando 11 Mago
fa rlprendere a Pule, le sue sembianze, tuttl rimangono
confusi e non sanno chi sla 11 vero Re. Xnfine 11 mago
stesso spiega 11 suo gioco. (v. Nap. 11, 48.)
E. Il Finto Re (The Feigned King). Characters:
Gismondo, King of Denmark, Magnifico, Tartaglia, Pulci-
nilla, Pasquarello, Giangurgolo, a magician, two demons.
--Pulcinella, in the absence of the King who has gone to
%
war, has himself transformed into the King's image by a
magician. When the real King returns, he is believed to
be an impostor and is put in prison. When the magician
causes Pulcinella to assume his natural features, everyone
remains confused and no one knows who really is the King.
Finally the magician himself explains his joke. * *
5Pandolfi, V, 353.
APPENDIX B
THE RELATIONSHIP OF RAVENSCROFT'S
THE ANATOMIST TO HAUTEROCHE'S
CRISPIN MEDECIN
Ravenscroft
Act I: The argument between Martin and Old
Gerald:
MARTIN. You are resolv’d Sir, to Marry you say?
OLD GERALD. I am; and to that end, I have sent my Son to
the University, to mind his Study, and be out of the way.
MARTIN. May I, Sir, be so bold, to ask the Ladies name,
you intend to make your Wife?
OLD GERALD. Madam Angelica the Doctor's Daughter.
MARTIN. Sure, Sir, you’re not in earnest, she's not above
fifteen; that Match Sir, would be fitter for your Son.
OLD GERALD. My Son? I don't intend that he shall Marry
yet, these seven years.
MARTIN. But Sir, consider well before you Marry.
OLD GERALD. I have thought enough, she’s handsome, young,
and sprightly.
MARTIN. But these are qualities will not agree with an
old man's constitution.
211
212
OLD GERALD. Old! Coxcomb: I an’t so old.
MARTIN. No Sir., if you had been contemporary with the
Patriarchs, you had been counted now a very youth, but in
this short-liv’d age we live in, Sir, you are, as one may
say, worn to the stumps.
OLD GERALD. Hold your prating; Threescore is mans ripe
Age.
MARTIN. Yes, and his rotten Age too; but you, if I mis
take not, are threescore and ten.
OLD GERALD. No more of Age: 'Tis a thing never to be
inquired into, but when you are buying Horses.
MARTIN. How? Not in Marriage Sir.
OLD GERALD. Not if a man be very rich.
MARTIN. Can you believe Sir, the old Doctor her Father,
and the Gentlewoman her Mother, who is a notable wise
governing Woman, will bestow their Daughter, and their only
Heir, upon a man so old, where there’s no hopes of Grand
Children to inherit what they have, without an Act of
Parliament to enable him.
OLD GERALD. Hold your tongue I say; you are my Servant,
not my Councellor I take it Sir; this is my own concern;
when I am Married, I doubt not but I shall behave my self,
as a married man ought.
MARTIN. But if the Doctor won't consent to it.
OLD GERALD. That I am sure of, he has promis’d me, and
he's a man of his word.
MARTIN. That indeed is something: but Sir> you know the
Wife there wears the Breeches; and if the grey Mare be
the better Horse, you’ll find it difficult to bestride
the Filly.
OLD GERALD. I know she is a little domineering; and I
know too that Mr. Doctor is a Wise Man; his gravity and
213
prudence, will manage her well enough; he who can cure mad
folks, scorns to be Wife-ridden.
MARTIN. Many have try'd in vain; a man sometimes may
sooner break his own heart, than his Wife’s will. But
see Sir, here’s the Doctor.
Hauteroche
MARIN. Quoy, Monsieur? vous voulez vouz remarier, dites-
vous?
LISIDOR. Ouy, Ouy, je veux me remarier; et pour cet effet
j'ay envoye mon fils a Bourges, sous pretexted'etudier
encore quelque temps la jurisprudence.
MARIN. Suffit; mais peut-on vous demander comment se
nomme celle que vous voulez epouser?
LISIDOR. C'est Alcine.
MARIN. Quoy! la fille de Monsier le medecin Mirobolan?
LISIDOR. Ouy.
MARIN. Vous vous raillez, Monsieur: cette fille n’a
pas plus de dixhuit ans, et seroit plus propre pour
Monsieur vostre fils que pour vous.
LISIDOR. Ne ne veux pas que mon fils se marie de trois
ou quatre ans.
MARIN. Mais, Monsieur, pensez-vous bien a ce que vous
faites, quand vous formez le dessein d*epouser Alcine?
LISIDOR. Comment! si j'y pense? Ouy, Ouy, j’y pense
fortement. Elle est belle; elle est sage, elle est
jeune, elle est spirituelle; enfin, elle a des qualitez
qui ne sont pas a mepriser.
MARIN. He, ce sont toutes ces belles qualitez qui deroient
vous empescher d’y songer; car, h . dire le vray., toutes ces
choses ne s'accordent gueres bien avec un vieillard.
214
LISIDOR. He, je ne suis point tant vieux.
MARIN. Non dk: si nous etions au temps au les homines
vivoient sept ou huit cens ans, vous ne seriez encore
qu'un jeunne adolescent; mais dans celuy ou nous sommes,
je vous tiens fort avance dans la carriere.
LISIDOR. Mais soixante ans...
MARIN. Ma foy, a n'en point mentir, je crois que vous
en avez pour le moins douze ou quatorze de plus; car je
me souviens que 1*autre jour le bonhomme Pyrante, beuvant
avec vous le petit coup, disoit qu'il en avoit soixante
et six, que vous etiez en philosophie qu'il n'etoit
encore qu'en conquieme; et qu'k la tragedie du college
il jouoit le Cupidon, quand vous representiez 1’emper-
eur.
LISIDOR. II ne scait ce qu'il dit Ik-dessus: il est de
ces gens qui se veulent faire plus vieux qu'ils ne sont.
MARIN. Laissons l'kge a part; aussi bien, consne on dit,
il n'est que pour les chevaux, Monsier. Mais parlons un
peu de vostre marriage. Croyez-vous que Monsier Miro-
bolan et Feliante, sa femme, vous accordent leur fille,
n'ayant que cet enfant-la? Quand on nTa quTune fille
unique, et qu'on la marie, c'est dans I’esperance de
voir naistre de petits poupons; mais, a ne rien deguiser,
si vous l’epousez, ils courent risque de v’avoir jamais
cette joye, a moins que la Cour des Aydes...Vous m’enten-
dez.
LISIDOR. Ce n’est pas lk ton affaire, et je s^ais bien
ce que je fais. Quand elle sera ma femme, nous ferons
tout ce qu’il faudra faire.
MARIN. Ma foy, je doute qu'elle la soit jamais.
LISIDOR. Et moy, j’en suis fort asseure. Mirobolan est
un homme de parole: il me l’a promise, de luy a moy.
MARIN. C'est quelque chose que cela; mais vous s?avez
que Feliante est une maistresse femme, et, si je ne me
trompe, elle a la mine de porter le haut-de-chausses.
215
LISIDOR. Je seals qu'elle est un peu fiere, mais les
avantages que je feray a sa fille adouciront cette fierte;
et puis, un mary est toujours le maistre de sa fenane.
MARIN. Toujours? Ma foy, j'en vols beaucoup qui n’en
demeurent pas dfaccord, et qui voudroient de tout leur
cocur que vous eussiez dit vray. Mais voilh Monsier
Mirobolan qui sort de chez luy.
Ravenscroft
Act I: Crispin and Martin confront Old Gerald
with the dunning letter from Young Gerald:
CRISPtN. 0 Sir, your Servant: I am glad I have found you.
Good morrow Martin.
MARTIN. Good morrow Crispin.
OLD GERALD. What cause brings you to Town?
CRISPIN. Your Son, my Master, sent me in all haste.
OLD GERALD. For what?
CRISPIN. That Letter will inform you.
OLD GERALD (reads). Honoured Father, Hoping you are in
good health, as I am, thanks be to God, at the present
writing hereof; This is tCL let you understand that all
try Money’s gone, and my Cloaths worn so bare, that you
may, as the saying is, see my Breech thro my Pocket-
holes.
MARTIN. A fine Epistle.
OLD GERALD. This is not my Sons stile, nor is‘t his hand:
This is some Roguery of yours Sirrah.
CRISPIN. To tell you the plain truth, Sir, I lost I know
not how, my Masters Letter on the Road; and baiting at
a little Village, it happened to be the Sextons house, who
216
sold a Cup of notable good Ale: There I got him to write
this Letter for me. I know my Master sent for Money, and
Cloaths, pray read the rest.
OLD GERALD. No, I have read enough.
MARTIN. You dictated this letter to the Sexton, Crispin.
CRISPIN. I did so? what of that?
MARTIN. Nothing, but that the stile is very eloquent.
CRISPIN. I think so: I have not been at the University
with my Master 4 months, for nothing.
OLD GERALD. Has my Son spent all his Money in so short a
time? he has been prodigal.
CRISPIN. He could not help it; he was forc'd to treat
at his first coming, Sir: I shall be his Steward for the
future, and manage matters better.
OLD GERALD. Look you do. I have some business now, about
an hour hence come home to me. Follow me Martin.
Hauteroche
CRISPIN: Ah! Monsieur, serviteur. Bonjour, Marin.
MARIN. Bonjour.
LISIDOR. Qui t'amene en cette ville?
CRISPIN. C'est Monsieur vostre fils, qui m’y a envoye
en diligence. Aussi je n'ay et6 que huit jours a venir
de Bourges a Paris.
MARIN. La diligence est grande, et tu devrois avoir une
charge de messager k pied.
LISIDOR. Pourquoy t'a-t-il envoye?
CRISPIN. Monsieur, voicy une lettre qui vous dira tout.
217
LISIDOR lit:
Monsieur mon Pkre, on me voit le cQ de tous les costez,
je prie Dieu qu'ainsi soit de rous. Autre chose je
ne vous puis manader, sinon que je vous prie...
Ce n'est pas lk le style ni l'ecriture de mon fils. Est-
ce que tu te railles de moy?
CRISPIN. Non, Monsier, mais je vous demande excuse. Vous
s^aurez que j'ay perdu en cliemin la lettre de mon maistre,
et que j'ay fait ecrire celle-la dans un village par un
paisan; mais enfin je s?ais bien qu'il vous demande de
1'argent, et qu'il vous dit que ses habits ne valent plus
rien. Lisez le reste de cette lettre.
LISIDOR. He, je suis satisfait de ce que j'en ay lu.
MARIN. Est-ce toy qui l'as dictee au paisan?
CRISPIN. Ouy da, c'est moy; qu'en veux-tu dire?
MARIN. Rien, sinon qu'ella est bien imaginee.
CRISPIN. Tu fais toujours le beau diseur et le grand
esprit; mais, morbleu, apprens que j'en spais plus que
toy.
MARIN. Ho, je n'en doute pas.
CRISPIN. Morbleu, veux-tu te battre a coups de poing?
Tu verras si...
LISIDOR. Qu'on se taise l'un et 1'autre.
CRISPIN. Mais aussi, Monsieur, il fait toujours l'entendu,
et croit qu'on n'est pas aussi habile homme que luy.
MARIN. Ah! je te le ckde.
LISIDOR. Encore une fois, qu'on se taise. Mais, Crispin,
depuis quatre mois a t-il dissipe son argent et ses
habits, comme tu dis?
CRISPIN. Ouy, Monsier. Si cela n'etoit pas, je ne voud-
rois pas vous le dire.
218
LISIDOR. II va un peu bien vite. Mais va te reposer au
logis, je te parleray tantost; j'ay k present une affaire
qui me presse. Allons, suis-moy, Marin.
Ravenscroft
Act II: The arrival of the body:
BEATRICE. Here, Sir, here.
DOCTOR. See all things are in order here in my laboratory.
Many Virtuosi will be here, to see my curious Dissection,
and hear the lecture I intend to read on a dead Body, which
every moment I expect to be sent in from the place of
Execution.
BEATRICE. Why do you choose this back Apartment at the
end of the Garden? You us'd to do it in the Great Hall
formerly.
DOCTOR. My Wife will have it so, and that's enough; the
body may be brought in privately, at that back door, for
so I order'd it: Besides, the wrangling disputations of
self-conceited, obstinate Physicians, who come to see
my operation, will at this distance less disturb the
Neighborhood: they will maintain their notions with more
noise, than Betters in a Cock-pit.
BEATRICE. 'Tis observ'd you Doctors rarely agree in your
opinions, Sir, which makes some affirm, Physick itself is
a very uncertain Science.
DOCTOR. That's true; but yet the fault's not in the Art.
Hauteroche
MIROBOLAN. Dorine, Dorine, hoik, Dorine?
DORINE, sortant. Monsieur?
MIROBOLAN. Qu’on fasse ajuster cette salle proprement,
afin d'y bien recevoir tous ceux qui me feront l'honneur
219
de se trouver & la dissection du corps que me doit envoyer
le maistre des hautes oevres.
DORINE. Mais, Monsieur, pourquoy choisir cet apparte-
ment? Les autres fois, vous les fistes dans 1*autre
logis.
MIROBOLAN. II est vray, mais ma femme a voulu que je
prisse ce logis de derriere, afin que celuy de devant fust
plus libre. Je trouvre qu'elle a grande raison.
DORINE. En verite, Monsieur, tous tant que vous estes
de medecins, vous n*estes gueres d'accord ensemble;
vostre science est bien incertaine, et vous y estes les
premiers trompes.
MIROBOLAN. Cela arrive quelquefois, mais ce n’est pas
la faute de la medecine.
Ravenscroft
Act II: Crispin's "prescription" of the pillsr
WOMAN. My lady her lost her little lap dog, which she
lov'd better than any Relation in the World. She lays
the fault on me, and grieves and takes on as if 'twere
her only child. I fear she'll grow distracted if we find
it not. Now, Sir, knowing that you are not only a learned
Fhysition, but that you understand astrology and the
like--
SIMON. Why then, I question you, an't please ye, whether
Alice Draper, a young Maid in our Town, that I love, has
that love for me again as she pretends to have. Because
there is an arch Attorney's Clark, that is often in her
Company, and I don't know--
Hauteroche
LISE. Monsieur, vous scaurez ma maistresse a perdu un
petit chien qu'elle aime eperduement, qu'elle s'en deses-
p&re, et qu'elle en met la faute sur moy. Ou, comme on
220
m'a dit que vous scavez l'art de deviner aussi bien que
la medecinne...
GRAND*SIMON. Vous scaurez done que j'aime tine fille dans
notre village; or, comme il y a un certain drdle qui va
quelquefois chez elle, je voudrois bien scavoir de vous
si elle m'aime comme elle dit, et si je l'epouseray;
car, a vous dire la verite, je m’en defie,.
Ravenscroft
Act II: The discussion of pills between Crispin
and the doctor:
DOCTOR. Stay a little, I'le give you his Case in two
words. You must know, my Patient, Sir, has labour'd many
months first under a Tertian, then under a Quartan, and
now *tis turn'd to a Quotidian: The Fever we have pretty
well abated, yet after all,--besides a great disposition
he has to sleep, which very much fatigues him, — that which
he spits from him, is very white— now, Sir, in my judgment
that's an ill symptom, for a Pituita alba acqua intercutem
supervenit, says Hipocrates, and this you know well enough,
the Greeks call Leucophelgmateia--so then according to
Hipocrates, this white spitting of Pituita alba is an
evident sign, that the Hydropsie, or Dropsie will succeed.
Now, Sir, what say you is the most soveraign Remedy to be
given in this Case to hinder this evil consequence?
CRISPIN. Why, Sir, I must tell you— but to what purpose?
you have no need of my opinion, you are a man famous for
understanding— so that--and as it were--in fine, I will not
speak one word more to this purpose.
CRISPIN. 0 you mistake me, Sir. I don't advise you,
Sir, to give him Pills. I only mention'd, Sir, a dose of
Pills which I had took my self this morning, Sir, which
have not yet done working, and force me to leave you
something abrubtly, Sir.
221
Hauteroche
M1R0B0LAN. J’auray fait en peu de paroles. Vous sqaurez
que ce malade a eu la fievre quarte, tierce et continue;
enfln nous l'avons tire de Ik. Mais 11 luy reste une
chose qul m'inquiete grandement pour luy; car, outre une
grande insomnie, qul le fatigue beaucoup, ce qu'il crache
est extremement blanc, et c'est a mon sens un trks-mauvais
signe, parce que a pituita alba, aqua inter cutem super-
venlt, nous dit Hypocrate; et c'est, comme vous s$avez,
ce que les Grecs appellent leucophgmatia. Si done, seton
Hypocrate, cette pituite blanche est un signe evident que
l'hydropisie doit survenir, que croirez-vous qu'll faudroit
luy donner .de plus souverain, pour empescher que cet
accident ne luy survint?
CRISPIN. Vous n'avez pas besoin de conseil: vous estes
un homme qul...ouy...car...enfin je ne dis rien.
CRISPIN. Ho, je ne dis pas cela; je dis...que des pil
lules que j'ay prises ce matin m'obligent k vous quitter
au plus tost.
Ravenscroft
Act II: Young Gerald sends Crispin back to the
/
doctor's house:
CRISPIN. Well, Sir, what think you now of my Adventures?
YOUNG GERALD. Why truly, they were extraordinary.
CRISPIN. A dead man--a Doctor— an Astrologer.
YOUNG GERALD. You made your way thro many difficulties,
but for my sake, you must once more go to the Doctor'.s
House.
CRISPIN. Who, I, Sir?
YOUNG GERALD. Yes.
222
CRISPIN. I beg your pardon. What to be dissected, carv'd
artifically Limb after Limb. No, Sir, I'le have no more
Dissection, Amputation, nor Incision. You may go, and
venture your self, Sir, if you please.
YOUNG GERALD. Should I go, and be seen there by the
Doctor, I ruine our design, and lose my Mistress; he'll
tell my Father that I am in Town. You run no hazard, for
he knows not you.
CRISPIN. No hazard! call you it, I hazard my Legs, Arms,
Veins, Arteries, and Muscles; and in the Doctor's gibber
ish, I hazard Incision, Dissection, Amputation, and Cir
culation, thro the Systole and Diastole. Why, Sir, in
such a case, a Physitian cuts up a man with as little
remorse, as a Hangman carves a Traytor.
YOUNG GERALD. For all that, you must venture your pretious
self once more. When I get my Mistress, I'le make thee
ample satisfaction.
Hauteroche
CRISPIN. Eh bien, Monsieur, que dites-vous de mes aven-
tures?
GERALDE. Je dis qu'elles sont particulieres.
CRISPIN. Pendu, medecin, des cordes, des bistouris, des
cloux, des pillules, des...parbleu, en voila tres-bien.
GERALDE. II est vray qu'en voila beaucoup; mais il faut
que tu retoumes encore au logis de Monsieur Mirobolan.
CRISPIN. Moy, Monsier?
GERALDE. Ouy, toy-mesine.
CRISPIN. Parbleu, je ne veux point aller me faire
bistouriser, ou bien recevoir quelques coups de baston;
vous y pouvez aller vous-mesme.
223
GERALDE. II est vray que je le puis; mais je crains, en
y allant, de ruiner mon amour; car si Monsieur Mirobolan
venoit a me rencontrer, il ne manqueroit pas d’avertir
mon pere des choses qui se passent. Pour toy, tu ne
hazardes rien: il ne te connoist pas.
CRISPIN. Je hazarde mon dos, mes bras, mes jambes, mon
corps; car, de la maniere que j'ay oliy parler Monsieur
Mirobolan de cloux, de cordes, de bistouris, un medecin
n'a non plus de pitie d*un honrne qu'un avocat d'un ecu.
GERALDE. II £aut pourtant, mon cher Crispin, y retouraer
encore une fois; aussi, tu dois croire que quand je seray
en pouvoir, je reconnoistray tous les bons services que
tu me rends.
APPENDIX C
THE RELATIONSHIP OF MRS. BEHNfS THE EMPEROR OF THE MOON
TO FATOUVILLE' S ARLEQUIN EMPEREUR DANS LA LUNE
Mrs. Behn's "Scene de la fille de chambre":
DOCTOR. What Noise, what Out-cry, what Tumult’s this?
HARLEQUIN. Ha,--the Doctor!--What shall I do?--(Gets to
the Door, SCARAMOUCH pulls her in.)
DOCTOR. A woman!--some Bawd I am sure--Woman, what’s
your Business here?— ha--
HARLEQUIN. I came, an't like your seigniorship, to Madam
the Govemante here, to serve her in the Quality of a
Fille de Chambre, to the young Ladies.
DOCTOR. A Fille de Chambre! ’tis so, a she-Pimp,--
HARLEQUIN. Ah Seignior--(Makes his little dapper Leg
instead of a Courtsie.)
DOCTOR. How now, what do you mock me?
HARLEQUIN. Oh, Seignior!-- (Gets nearer the door.)
MOPSOPHIL. Stay, stay, Mistriss. And what Service are you
able to do the Seigniors Daughters?
HARLEQUIN. Is this Seignior Doctor Baliardo, Madam?
MOPSOPHIL. Yes.
HARLEQUIN. Oh! He's a very handsome Gentleman--indeed--
224
225
DOCTOR. Ay, ay, what Service can you do, Mistriss?
HARLEQUIN. Why, Seignior, I can tye a Crevat the best
of any Person in Naples, and I can comb a Periwig--and
I can--
DOCTOR. Very proper Service for young Ladies; you I
believe, have been Fille de Chambre to some young
Cavaliers.
HARLEQUIN. Most true, Seignior, why shouTd not the Cava
liers keep Filles de Chambre, as well as great Ladies
Valets de Chambre?
DOCTOR. (aside) Indeed 'tis equally reasonable.--'Tis
a Bawd--But have you never serv'd Ladies?
HARLEQUIN. Oh yes! I serv'd a Parson's Wife.
DOCTOR. Is that a great Lady?
HARLEQUIN. Ay surely, Sir, what is she else? for she
wore her Mantoes of Brokad de or, Petticoats lac'd up to
the Gathers, her Points, her Patches, Paints and Perfumes,
and sate in the uppermost Place in the Church too.
MOPSOPHIL. But have you never serv'd Countesses and
Dutchesses?
HARLEQUIN. Oh, yes, Madam! the last I serv'd, was an
Aldermans Wife in the City.
MOPSOPHIL. Was that a Countess or a Dutchess?
HARLEQUIN. Ay, certainly--for they have all the Money;
and then for Cloaths, Jewels, and rich Furniture, and
eating, they outdo the very Vice-Reigne her self.
Fatouville
PIERROT. Bon jour, ma Mie.
226
ARLEQUIN. On m'a dit, Madame, que vous aviez besoin
d'une femme de chambre. Je venois pour vous offeir mes
services, & ssavoir si je vous serois agreable.
PIERROT. D'ou sortez-vous, ma Mie?
ARLEQUIN. Pour le present, Madame, je sors de chez la
femme d'un Partisan, qui est la Maitresse du monde la
plus difficile a servir. Je ne pense pas qu'en trois
ans que j’ay este avec elle, je l'aye vu aller une seule
fois a la Garde-robbe.
PIERROT. Ne pas aller a la. Garde-robbe! Tu te moques,
ma Mie.
ARLEQUIN. Il n’est rien de si vrai, Madame. Elle fai-
soit dans sa chambre. C'est elle qui en a amene la mode.
PIERROT. Qui en amene la mode!
ARLEQUIN. Oh oh, je vous etonnerois bien davantage si
je vous disois qu'elle alloit toutes les semaihes une
fois aux Etuves, & que son Mary n'a jamais eu le credit de
luy faire oster ses gans quand elle se couche. C'est une
femme extrement propre. Elle n'auroit pas souffert pour,
un Empire, que son Mary, au retour d'un voyage d'un an,
1'eUt baisee a la jou6, de peur de defleurir son tein. Je
vous dis que c'est vine femme merveilleusement propre.
PIERROT. Et tu appelles cela proprete, ma Mie?
ARLEQUIN. Je le croi, vraiment, que c'est proprete.
PIERROT. Comment done as-tu te resoudre a quitter une
femme si propre?
ARLEQUIN. A vous dire vray, j'en ay bien cu du regret.
Mais comme on vouloit m’assujettir a blanchir trois grands
Gars de Commis qui estoient chez nous, & qui sous pre-
texte de me demander leur linge, venoient toujours
batifoler autour de moy. Vous seavez, Madame, qu'on n'a
rien de si cher que l'honneur. A cet'heure, ces fripon-
niers-la me tenoient de certains propos. Enfin tant y
a que pour bien des raisons j'en ay voulu sortir.
227
PIERROT. N'est-ce point aussi que les Commis t'ont
voulu mettre dans leurs interests?
ARLEQUIN. Des Commis, Madame, des Commis! Vous direz
tout ce qu'il vous plaira: mais une jeune fille comme
moy n'est pas un gibier a Commis. Si j'avois voulu
prater l'oreille aux somettes, il hantoit peut-estre
chez nous d'aussi beau monde qu'en aucune maison de Paris.
Mais graces au Ciel, les hommes ne m'ont jamais tentee.
PIERROT. Mais dis-moy, ma bonne, n'as-tu jamais servi
des gens de qualite?
ARLEQUIN. Est-il gens de plus grande qualite que les
Partisans?
PIERROT. Je ne te dis pas que non. Mais je te demande
si tu n'as point servi des gens de la Cour.
ARLEQUIN. QuVentendez*-vous, Madame, par des gens de la
Cour?
PIERROT. J'entends des Comtesses, des Marquises, des
Duchesses.
ARLEQUIN. Oh, si ce n'est que cela, je n'ay jamais fait
d'autre metier en toute ma vie. J'ai servi aussi un
Commandeur dont j'etois femme de chambre. C'estoit une
bonne condition, celle-lh, si elle eust dure.
PIERROT. Femme de chambre d'un Commandeur! voici bien
autre chose.
ARLEQUIN. Et pourquoy non: Madame? Les Dames ont bien
des valets de chambre.
PIERROT. Elle a raison. Cette fille-la me plaist fort.
Dis-moy, au Mie, ne spais-tu pas blanchir?
ARLEQUIN. Ouy, Madame. Je coSffe, je blanchis, je brode
un peu, je fais de la paste pour les mains, je spay faire
des jupes, je donne le bon air aux manteaux, je donne
aussi fort bien les remedes; enfinje puis me vanter de
228
s$avoir faire aussi adroitement qu'une autre tout ce qu'il
y aura a faire aupres d'une jolie femne comne vous,.
Madame.
PIERROT. Mais ne spais-tu point aussi...Ik...faire un
peu de Ponmade pour le visage?
ARLEQUIN. Bon, c'est ou je triomphe; & la Cometesse que
j'ay servi vous en diroit bien des nouvelles. Trois mois
apres que je l'eus quittee, elle estoit vieillie de
vingt-quatre ans. Je luy ay use plus de deux cent pots
de pommades sur son corps: & k la fin je luy ay rendu
le cuir aussi uni qu'une glace. Si j'avois l'honneur de
vous panser seulement quinze jours, vdtre Mazy ne vous
reconnoitroit plus, Vraiment, vraiment, j'ay remis sur
pied des teints bien plus endiablez que le vdtre. Pour .
faire quelque chose de bien, il faudra recrepir ce visage-
lk d'un bout a 1'autre. Apres cela vous charmerez tout
Paris.
PIERROT. La folle! AX lex, vous demeurer a mon service.
ARLEQUIN. A l'egard des gages, Madame, je vous croy
raisonnable.
PIERROT. Allez, allez, vous ne vous plaindrez pas de moy.
ARLEQUIN. Vous donnez du vin, apparement?
PIERROT. Du vin! Mais les filles n'en boivent point.
ARLEQUIN. Cela est vray, Madame. C'est que je suis fort
delicate. Je mange fort peu: mais je boy beaucoup.
PIERROT. Et bien, je vous contenteray.
ARLEQUIN. Qu'est-ce que c'est que cela, Madame? Quels
vilains bras sont-ce la? Ils sont tous velus. Il faut
arracher ce vilain poil-la.
PIERROT en criant. Ah, Ah.
229
t ■
Mrs. Behn's "Scene de l'ambassade, et du voyage
dans 1* empire de la lune":
DOCTOR. Ha, — Ambassador from the Emperor of the Moon—
(Pulls off his hat.)
SCARAMOUCH. Ay, Sir, thereupon I laugh’d, thereupon he
grew angry,— 1 laugh'd at his Resentment, and thereupon
we drew--and this was the high Quarrel, Sir.
DOCTOR.. Hum,--Ambassador from the Moon. (Pauses.)
SCARAMOUCH. I have brought you off, manage him as well
as you can.
HARLEQUIN. (Aside.) Brought me off, yes, out of the
Frying-Pan into the Fire.--Why, how the Devil shall I act
an Ambassador?
DOCTOR.' It must be so, for how shou’d either of these
know I expected that Honour? (He addresses him with pro
found Civility to HARLEQUIN.) Sir, if the Figure you
make, approaching so near ours of this World, have made us
commit any indecent Indignity to your high Character, you
ought to pardon the Frailty of our Mortal Education and
Ignorance, having never before been blest with the Descen-
tion of any from your World.--
HARLEQUIN. (Aside.) What the Devil shall I say now?--
I confess I am as you see by my Garb, Sir, a little
Incognito, because the Publick Message I bring, is very
private--which is, that the mighty Iredonozar, Emperor of
the Moon--with his most worthy Brother the Prince of
Thunderland, intend to Sup with you to Night— Therefore
be sure you get good Wine— Tho* by the way let me tell
you, ’tis for the Sake of your Fair Daughter.
SCARAMOUCH. I’ll leave the Rogue to his own Management.—
I presume by your whispering, Sir, you wou’d be private
and humbly begging Pardon, take my Leave. Exit.
HARLEQUIN. You have it Friend. Does your Neece and
Daughter Drink, Sir?
230
DOCTOR. Drink, Sir?
HARLEQUIN. Ay, Sir, Drink hard.
DOCTOR. Do the Women of your World drink hard, Sir?
HARLEQUIN. According to their Quality, Sir, more or less;
the greater the Quality, the more Profuse the Quantity.
DOCTOR- Why that’s just as ’tis here; but your Men of
Quality, your Statesmen, Sir, I presume they are Sober,
Learned and Wise.
HARLEQUIN. Faith, no, Sir, but they are, for the most
part, what's as good very Proud, and promising, Sir, most
liberal of their Word to every fauning Suiter, to purchase
the state of long Attendance, and cringing as they pass;
but the Devil of a Performance, without you get the Knack
of bribing in the right Place and Time; but yet they all
defy it, Sir.--
DOCTOR. Just, just as *tis here.— But pray sir, How do
these Great Men live with their Wives?
HARLEQUIN. Most Nobly, Sir, My Lord keeps his Coach, my
Lady, hers; my Lord his Bed, my Lady hers; and very rarely
see one another, unless they chance to meet in a Visit,
in the Park, the Mall, the Tour, or at the Bassett-Table,
where they civilly Salute and part, he to his Mistriss
she to play.
DOCTOR. Good lackl just as 'tis here.
HARLEQUIN.--Where, if she chance to lose her Money, rather
than give out, she borrows of the next Amorous Coxcomb,
who, from that Minute, hopes, and is sure to be paid again
one way or other, the next kind Opportunity.
DOCTOR.--Just as ’tis here.
HARLEQUIN. As for the young Fellows that have Money, they
have no Mercy upon their own Persons, but wearing Nature
off as fast as they can, Swear, and Whore, and Drink,
231
and Borrow as long as any rooking Citizen will lend, till
having dearly purchased the Heroick Title of a Bully or
a Sharper, they live pity'd of their Friends, and despis'd
by their Whores, and depart this Transitory World, diverse
and sundry ways.
DOCTOR. Just, just, as 'tis here.
HARLEQUIN. As for the Citizen, Sir, the Courtier lies
with his Wife, he, in revenge, Cheats him of his Estate,
till Rich enough to marry his Daughter to a Courtier,
again give him all--unless his Wives Over-Gallantry break
him; and thus the World runs round. — -
DOCTOR. The very same 'tis here.— Is there no preferment,
Sir, for Men of Parts and Merit?
HARLEQUIN. Parts and Merit! What's that? a Livery, or
the handsome tying a Crevat, for the great Men prefer none
but their Footmen and Vallets.
DOCTOR. By my troth, just as 'tis here.--Sir, I find you
are a Person of most profound Intelligence— under Favour,
Sir,— Are you a Native of the Moon or this World?—
HARLEQUIN. The Devils in him for hard Questions.— I am
a Neapolitan, Sir.
DOCTOR. Sir, I Honour you; good luck, my Countryman, How
got you to the Region of the Moon, Sir?
HARLEQUIN. — A plaguy inquisitive old Fool--Why, Sir,—
Pox on't, what shall I say?--I being-one day in a musing
Melancholy, walking by the Seaside--there arose, Sir, a
great Mist, by the Sims exhaling of the Vapours of the
Earth, Sir.
DOCTOR. Right, Sir.
HARLEQUIN. In this Fog or Mist, Sir, I was exhaled.
DOCTOR. The Exhalations of the Sun, draw you to the Moon,
Sir?
232
HARLEQUIN. I am condemn’d to the Blanket again.— I say,
Sir, I was exhal’d up, but in my way--being too heavy,
was dropt into the Sea.
DOCTOR. How, Sir, into the Sea?
HARLEQUIN. The Sea, Sir, where the Emperors Fisher'-man . .
casting his Nets, drew me up, and took me for a strange
and monstrous Fish, Sir,— and as such, presented me to
his Mightiness,— who going to have me Spitchcock’d for
his own eating.--
DOCTOR. How, Sir, eating.—
HARLEQUIN. What did me I, Sir, (Life being sweet) but fell
on my Knees, and besought his Gloriousness not to eat me,
for I was no Fish but a Man; he ask’d me of what Country,
I told him of Naples; whereupon the Emperor overjoy’d ask’d
me if I knew that most Reverend and most Learned Doctor
Baliardo, and his fair Daughter. I told him I did: where
upon he made me his Bed-fellow, and the Confident to his
Amour to Seigniora Elaria.
Fatouville
ARLEQUIN feignant d’estre essoufle, & courant d’un coste
du TheStre A 1’autre. Eh quelqu’un par charite, ne
pourroit-il point m’apprendre ou demeure le Docteur
Grazian Balouard? (II porte sa main a sa bouche, & contre-
fait la Trompette.) Pu, pu, pu. A quinze sols le Docteur
Grazian Balouard.
LE DOCTEUR A part. Que veut dire cecy? (Vers Arleqiiin)
Le Socteur Grazian Balouard. Le voicy, Monsieur. Que
luy voulez-vous?
ARLEQUIN. Ah, Monsieur, soyez le bien trouve. Faites-
moy bien des complimens, & bien des reverences. Je suis
Ambassadeur Extraordinaire, envoye par l’Empereur du
Monde de la Lune, pour vous demander Isabelle en mariage.
LE DOCTEUR. A d’autres, A d’autres, mon amy! Je ne
donne pas si aisement dans le panneau. Dans la Lune un
Empereur!
233
ARLEQUIN. Ouy, ma foy un Empereur, & un Empereur de
qualite: il est noble comme le Roy.
LE DOCTEUR k part. Cela pourroit pourtant bien estre:
puisque la Lune est un Monde comme le not re, apparemment
qu'il ya quelqu'un pour la gouveraer. (Vers Arlequin.)
Mais, mon amy, estes-vous de ce pays'la, vous?
ARLEQUIN. Non, Monsieur, je ne suis ny de ce pays'la,
ny de ce pays-cy. Je suis. Italien d'ltalie, pour vous
rendre mes services, ne natif de la ville de Prato,
l'une des plus charmantes de toute la Toscane.
LE DOCTEUR. Mais comment avez-vous done fait pour monter
a 1'Empire de la Lune?
ARLEQUIN. Je mien vais vous le dire. Nous avions fait une
partie trois de mes Amis & moy, pour aller manger tine Oye
a Vaugirard. Je fus depute par la compagnie pour aller
acheter! 'Oye. Je me transportay a la Vallee de Misere.
J'y fis mon achat, je m'acheminay vers le lieu du rendez
vous. Lorsque je fus arrive dans la Flaine de Vaugirard,
voila six Vautours affamez qui se ruent sur mon Oye, &
qui I'enlevent. Moy qui craignois de la perde, je la
tenois ferme par le col, de maniere qu'a mesure que les
Vautours enlevoient l'Oye, ils m'enlevoient aussi avec
elle. Quand nous fumes bien haut, un nouveau Regiment de
Vautours venant au secours des premiers, se jette aussi a
corps perdu sur mon Oye, & dans le moment nous fait perdre
k elle & a moy la veuS de toutes les plus hautes Montagnes,
6c de tous les plus hauts Clochers. Moy cependant toujours
obstine comme un Diable a ne point l&cher prise; jusqu'a
ce que le col de mon Oye manque, 6c je tombe dans un Lac.
Des Pescheurs y avoient heureusement tendu des filets, j'y
tombay dedans. Les Pescheurs me tirerent hors de l'eau,
6c me prenent pour un Poisson de consequence, me char-
gerent sur leurs epaules, 6c m'apporterent en present k
Monsieur 1’Empereur. On me met d'abord parterre, 6c
Monsieur 1'Empereur avec toute sa Cour m’environne. On
dit: Quel Poisson est-ce lk? Monsieur 1'Empereur repond:
Je croy que c'est un Enchois. Pardonnez-moy, Monseigneur,
(reprend un gros Seigneur qui faisoit I’homme d’esprit),
c'est plutost un Crapeau. Enfin dit Monsieur 1'Empereur,
Qu'on n'aille frire ce Poisson-la tel qu'il soit. Quand
234
j’entendis qu’on m'alloit frire, je commence a crier:
Mais, Monseigneur...Comment; dit-il, est-ce que les
Poissons parlent? Toutes les fois qu’on veut nous frire,
nous avons le privilege de nous plaindre, Monseigneur.
Je luy dis comme je n'estois pas un Poisson, & de quelle
maniere j'estois arrive a 1*Empire de la Lune. II me
demanda aussi-tost: Connois-tu le Docteur Grazian
Balouard? Ouy, Monseigneur. Connois-tu Isabelle sa Fille?
Ouy, Monseigneur, et bien je veux que tu me serves d'Am-
bassadeur, & que tu ailles la luy demander en mariage de
ma part. Je luy repondis: Mais, Monseigneur, je ne
pourray jamais trouver le chemin de m'en retoumer, car
je ne ssay pas par ou je suis venu. Que cela ne t'embar-
asse point, ajoufca-t-il; je t'envoyeray a Paris dans tine
influence que j'y envoye, chargee de Rhumatifimes, de
Catharres, de Fluxions sur la Poitrine, & d'autres petites
bagatelles de cette nature-la. Mais Monseigneur, luy
dis-je alors, que ferez-vous du Docteur Grazian Balouard,
car c'est tin homme de merite, un homme qui a etudie,
qui spait la Rhetorique, la Philosophie, 1'Orthographe.
Ho! ho! me repondit-il, le Docteur! Je luy garde une des
meilleures places de mon Empire.
LE DOCTEUR. Est-il bien possible? Vous a-t'il dit ce que
c'est?
ARLEQUIN. Vraiment ouy, il dit qu'il y a environ quinze
jours que dans les douze Signes du Zodiaque le Scorpion
est mort, il veut vous mettre a sa place, Monsieur.
LE DOCTEUR. Moy, a la place du Scorpion! Monsieur 1'
Empereur se mocque.
ARLEQUIN. Non, la peste m'etouffe. Comment Diable!
Vous serez un des douze premiers de ce pays-la.
LE DOCTEUR. Je ne me soucie pas de tant d'honneur. Mais,
dites-moy, la Ville ou demeure 1'Empereur, est-elle
belle?
ARLEQUIN. C'est une des plus belles Ville du Monde, belle,
bienfaite, d’une belle taille, d’un beau tein...
235
LE DOCTEUR. La Ville d'un beau tein! Et les maisons,
Monsieur, comment sont-elles bSties? Sont-elles comme
les ndtres?
ARLEQUIN. Non, car les maisons de ce pays-la sont meublees
par dehors, & par dedans il n'y a rien. Les toits de
chaque maison sont faits de Reglisse, & quand il pleut,
il pleut de la Ptisanne par toute la Ville.
LE DOCTEUR. Voilk qui est bien commode pour les malades!
ARLEQUIN. Le Palais de 1* Empereur est fait de Cristal
mineral; les Colomnes du Portail de Tabac en Corde.
ARLEQUIN. Comme ainsi soit, Docteur, que la Lune & 1*amour
ont ete de tout temps les ressorts principaux qui meuvent
la teste des femmes, & quelquefois aussi celles des hommes,
d'ou il arrive que 1’amour produit souvent le Mariage, &
le Mariage produit presque toujours le Croissant; c'est ce
qui m’a fait descendre de mon Empire icy-bas, pour vous
demander Isabelle en mariage; esperant sous votre bon
plaisir d'en faire bien-tost une pleine Lune, & ne doutant
pas que par la suite de ce Mariage il n'en sorte une couvee
de petits Croissans. Quel bonheur pour un Medecin, d*avoir
engendre la Sultane de mon Empire!
LE DOCTEUR. Seigneur, vdtre Hautesse a bien de la bonte
de venir de si loin faire infuser des Empereurs dans ma
famille. J'accepte cet honneur avez beaucoup de joye.
Mais comme ma vieillesse ne me permet pas de suivre ma
fille dans 1*Empire de la Lune, oseray-je, demander a
vdtre Hautesse de quelle humeur sont ses Sujets?
ARLEQUIN. Mes Sufets? Ils sont quasi sans defaut, parce
qu'il n'y a que 1'interest & 1'ambition qui les gouver-
nent.
COLOMBINE. C'est tout comme icy.
ARLEQUIN. Chacun tSche de s'etablir du mieux qu'il peut
aux depens d'autruy' & la plus grande vertu dans mon
Empire, c'est d*avoir beaucoup de bien.
LE DOCTEUR. C'est tout comme icy.
236
ARLEQUIN. Croiriez-vous que dans mes Estats il n’y a
point de Bourreaux?
COLUMBINE. Comment, Seigneur, vous ne faites point punir
les coupables?
ARLEQUIN. Malepeste, fort severement. Mais au lieu de
les faire expedier en un quart d’heure dans une Place
publique, je les bailie a tuer aux Medecins, qui les sont
mourir aussi cruellement que leurs malades.
COLUMBINE. Quoy, Seigneur, la~haut les Medecins tuent
aussi le monde? Monsieur, c’est tout comme icy.
ISABELLE. Et dans votre Empire, Seigneur, ya-t-il de
beaux Esprits?
ARLEQUIN. C'en est la source. Il y a plus de soixante
& dix ans que l'on travaille apres un Dictionaire, qui
ne sera pas encore acheve de deux siecles.
COLUMBINE. C’est tout comme icy. Et dans votre Empire,
Seigneur, fait-on bonne Justice?
ARLEQUIN. On l'y fait h . peindre.
ISABELLE. Et les Juges, Seigneur, ne s'y laissent-ils
point un peu corrompre?
ARLEQUIN. Les Femmes, comme ailleurs, les sollicitent.
On leur fait par fois quelques presens. Mais a cela pres,
tout s'y passe dans l’ordre.
LE DOCTEUR. C’est tout comme icy. Seigneur, dans votre
Empire, les Maris sont-ils commodes?
ARLEQUIN. La mode nous en est venufi presque aussi-tost
qu'en France. Dans les commencemens on avoit un peu de
peine a s’y accoutumer; mais presentement tout le monde
s'en fait honneur.
COLUMBINE. C’est tout comme icy. Et les Usuriers,
Seigneur, y font-ils bien leurs affaires?
237
ARLEQUIN. Fy, au Diable, je he souffre point de ces
canailles’lk. Ce sont des Pestes k qui on ne fait' jamais
de quartier. Mais dans mes grandes Villes il y a
d’honnestes gens fort accommodez, qui prestent sur de la
vaisselle d’argent aux enfans de famille au denier quatre,
quand ils ne trouvent point a placer leur argent au denier
trois.
ISABELLE. C'est tout comme icy. Et les Femmes sont-
elles heureuses, Seigneur, dans vdtre Empire?
ARLEQUIN. Cela ne se peut pas comprendre. Ce sont elles
qui manient tout 1'argent, & qui font toute la depense.
Le6 Maris n'ont d'autre soin que de faire payer les
revenus, & reparer les maisons.
CQLOMBINE. C'est tout comme icy.
ARLEQUIN. Jamais nos Femmes ne se levent qu* apres midy.
Elles sont regulierement trois heures k leur Toilette;
ensuite elles montent en Carosse, & se font mener a la
Cornedie, a 1'Opera, ou a la promenade. De-Ik elles vont
souper chez quelque ami choisi. Apres le souper on jouS,
ou l'on court le Bal, selon les saisons; & puis sur les
quatre ou cinq heures apres Minuit, les Femmes se viennent
coucher dans un Appartement separe de celuy du Mary; en
telle sorte qu'un pauvre Diable d*homme est quelque-
fois six semaines sans rencontrer sa femme dans sa maison;
& vous le voyez courir les ruBs k pied, pendant que Madame
se sert du Carosse pour ses plaisirs.
TOUS ensemble. C'est tout comme icy.
APPENDIX D
THE RELATIONSHIP OF MOLIERE AND HAUTEROCHE
TO THE COMMEDIA DELL*ARTE
Moliere's Le Medecin volant, Nicoll tells us in World
Drama,” "is clearly based on the style of the coramedia
dell*arte." In this play, as in Hauteroche*s, a pretended
doctor appears. Gorgibus, father of Lucile, does not wish
his daughter to marry Valere; the young man's servant,
Sganarelle (played by Moliere himself), thereupon disguises
himself as a doctor. Despite his ridiculous chatter, he
succeeds in deceiving Gorgibus and in uniting the lovers.
Gorgibus greets him:
Gorgibus: Doctor, I am your very humble servant.
I sent for you to come and see my daughter who is
ill; I put all my hopes in you.
Sganarelle: Hippocrates says, and Galen, too, with
strong reasoning, argues, that a person does not
feel well when he is ill. You are right to put all
your hopes in me, for I am the greatest, the clever
est, the wisest doctor in the vegetable, animal, and
mineral faculty.
1P. 318.
238
239
Gorgibus: I am delighted to hear it.
Sganarelle: Do not imagine that I am an ordinary
doctor, a common doctor. All other doctors cotv-
pared to me are abortions. I possess wonderful
talents; I am a master of many secrets. Salamec,
Salamec. "Hast thou courage, Rodrigo?" Signior,
si; Signor, non. Per omnia saecula saeculorum.
Still, let us see a little. [Feels Gorgibus'
pulse]
Sabine: Eh! He is not the patient; it is his
daughter who is ill.
Sganarelle: It does not matter: the blood of the
father and that of the daughter are the same; and
by the deterioration of the blood of the father, I
can know the illness of the daughter.
Gorgibus: Ah' doctor, I am greatly afraid that my
daughter will die.
Sganarelle: S'death! She must not! She must not
indeed have the pleasure of dying before she has
the doctor's prescription.
Duchartre, in The Italian Comedy, quotes many of the
speeches of the Doctor in the Italian commedia dell'arte.
I have selected one to compare with Sganarelle*s tirade
above:
Yes, sir, I practise medicine out of pure love for
it. I nurse, I purge, I sound, I operate, I saw,
I cup, I snip, I slash, I smash, I split, I break,
I extract, and tear, and cut, and dislocate, I
dissect, and trim, and slice, and, of course, I
show no quarter. ... I am not only an avalanche
of medicine, but the bane of all maladies whatso
ever. I exterminate all fevers and chills, the
itch, gravel, measles, the plague, ringworm, gout,
240
apoplexy, erysipelas, rheumatism, pleurisy, catarrh,
both wind-colic and ordinary colic, without count
ing those serious and light illnesses which bear
the same name. In short, I wage such cruel and
relentless warfare against all forms of illness that
when I see a disorder becoming ineradicable in a
patient I even go so far as to kill the patient in
order to relieve him of his disorder (p. 203).
The title of,,Moliere*s farce, Le Medecin volant, stems from
the intricate deception of Sganarelle who is forced to im
personate not only the doctor, but also his own supposed
twin brother (like the doubling in commedia)— all of which
necessitates his flying on and off the stage in disguise.
It is a trick which all the leading English farceurs found
highly successful on the stage.
The similarity between Molihre*s scene above and
Hauteroche*s is easy to see. In his discussion of the
"Influences Indirectes Du Theatre-Italien," Gustave
Attinger says of Hauteroche:
Encore tin acteur que Hauteroche et meme excellent,
puisqu’h la mort de Floridor il se vit confier par
Moliere le r6le d*orateur, qu*on ne reservait qu*aux
premiers acteurs. Encore un imitateur de Moliere
(le meilleur avant Regnard), mais du Molihre far
ceur, du Moliere italien. Aucune tentative de
renouveller la comedie, il prend son bien ou il le
trouve et conserve trop souvent l*empreinte de ses
sources.^
2L*Esprit de la Commedia Dell*Arte dans le The&tre
Francais (Paris, 1950), p. 222.
241
Both Attlnger and Schwartz agree that of the many Italian
scenarl which Moliere and Hauteroche may have seen, the
one known as Medico volante probably influenced them
more than any other. Because the scholars, Bartoli“ ' and
Gueulette,^ had remarked its importance, Pandolfi selected
and reproduced the scenario of Medico volante from
Gherardi's valuable work Le Theatre italien. My transla
tion follows:
Medico volante— Tartaglia, Celia, Rosetta, Lelio,
Daviello, Doctor, Isabella, Orazio, Lutio, Pulci-
nella. --Pulcinella, to favor the issue of Orazio
and Celia, disguises himself as a doctor and visits
Celia, who feigns illness. In his fear of being
discovered by Lelio, who wishes to marry Celia, and
by the girl’s father Tartaglia, he invents the
existence of a twin brother (the doctor’s) and im
personates both the doctor and his twin brother— at
one time impersonating the doctor, at another the
doctor’s supposed twin brother. At the end of the
play he makes his deceptions known and the marriage
plans of Lelio are frustrated.
I include here the Italian original for comparison:
MEDICO.VOLANTE— Tart., C.a, Ros., Lei., Cov.,
Dott., Is., Or., Lut., Pule.--Pule., per favorire
il felice esito dell’amore di Or. e di C.a,
3
See Scenari inediti della conanedia dell’arte
contributo all storia dell teatro popolare italiano
(Firenze, 1880).
^See Nouveau Theatre Italien (Paris, 1881).
242
travestito da medico va a visitare C.a che si finge
malata. Per timore di esseire scoperto da Lei.
pretendente di C.a, e da Tart., inventa l'esistenza
di \m fratello del medico, che e in disaccordo con
Lei., e si finge ora l’uno ora l'altro dei due
fratelli. Alla fine la finizione si scopre. e il-
matrimonio di Lei. va a monte. ,
What Attinger says is pertinent here, for he clarifies not
only Hauterochefs dependence on Moliere, but the heavy
dependence of a number of French writers on the Italian
commedia dell*arte:
Son absence de genie empeche Hauteroche de
suivre Moliere sur sa voie originale; prive de ce
regard aigu qui fouille au centre des personnages,
Hauteroche s'arrSte au comique immediat et facile.
Mais il se plait aussi h encadrer ses scenes a
effet dans des intrigues dont il s’attarde a tracer
les lignes. Moliere s'etait debarrase bien vite de
ce souci; son disciple, egalement sur ce point,
resfe fidele a la tradition italienne.
A des degres divers, ces quatre auteurs [Moliere,
Hauteroche, Boursault, and Rosimond et Nanteuil]
semblent s'etre souvenus de l'ltalie; souvent meme
des spectacles de la troupe italienne. Ce serait
peu de chose si, dans les demieres decades du
siecle, quelques auteurs, apres avoir travaille
pour les Italiens, n’avaient pas passe au TheStre-
Francais. Ainsi, 1*emprise Italienne devient plus
manifeste et atteint cette fois le repertoire du
^Pandolfi, V, 335.
Attinger, p. 227.
243
Moland’s study, Moliere et la Comedie italienne, is
a detailed discussion of a number of Moliere*s plays which
have the theme of the "pretending doctor," similar to the
one in his Le Medecin volant, and which reveal the sus
tained influence of the Italian commedia dell*arte. In
addition to Le Medecin volant, he treats L*Amour Medecin,
L'Etourdi, Le Mariage force, L*Avare, and Le Medecin malgre
lui. I have already discussed Le Medecin volant; I shall
now deal with Le Medecin malgre lui.
In Le Medecin malgre lui (1666), the comic situation
is set up when a woodcutter, Sganarelle, is mistakenly
forced to act as a physician. At the beginning he is
cudgelled into his profession, but as he proceeds he finds
that he has the audacity necessary to carry off the trick,
and decides that doctoring is better than woodcutting.
Like his counterpart, the Italian Dottore of the commedia
dell’arte, Sganarelle discusses glibly all matters of
medicine, physiology, anatomy, etc., all interspersed with
convincing citations in macaronic Latin. When Sganarelle
is talking with his patient’s (Lucinde) father, Geronte,
who seeks to know the cause of her malady, he asks him if
he understands Latin. Geronte says "no" and the scene
proceeds as follows:
244
Sganarelle [with enthusiasm]. Cabriciss, arci
thuram, catalamatus, singulariter, nominativo, haec
musa, the muse, bonus, bona, bonum. Deus sanctus,
est-ne oratio latinas? Etram. Yes. Quare? Why?
Quia substantivo, et adjectivum, concordat in
generi numerum et casus.
Geronte. Ah, that I had studied Latin!
Sganarelle. Now, these vapors of which I have been
speaking to you, in passing from the left side
where the liver is, to the right side where the
heart is, it happens that the lungs, which we call
in Latin army an, communicating with the brain, which
we call in Greek nasmus, by the means of the con
cave vein, which we call in Hebrew cubile, meets on
its way the said vapors, which fill the ventricles
of the omoplate; and as the said vapors ...
Having assisted Leandre (Lucinde's sweetheart), dis
guised as his apothecary, to elope with Lucinde, Dr.
Sganarelle stirs Geronte to seek vengeance. It is appro
priate at this point to mention that this situation, lovers
brought together in spite of the girl’s father's opposi
tion, is very common in the commedia dell'arte repertory.
In Arlequin Empereur dans la Lune. for example, Sganarelle
is handed over to the law and is saved only when Leandre
reappears and announces that he has just inherited a rich
uncle's fortune. This is another very common commedia
dell*arte denouement,7 and the farce ends with a final shot
7Compare, for example, Il Creduto Principe. Nuovo
Finito Principe, Il Finito Principe [2], and the many other
245
at the faculty of Medicine:
Sganarelle [to Leandre]: Very well. I forgive you
all these drubbings in consideration of the dignity
you've raised me to. [The Dottore in the commedia
dell'arte is continually threatened with physical
blows.] But prepare yourself henceforth to treat a
man of my consequence with great respect. Remember
that the wrath of a doctor is more to be feared
than you'd believe.
Undoubtedly Moliere enjoyed every moment of this preposter
ous, irresistible vaudeville. The Faculty of Medicine
could now nurse a fresh and ingenious insult--the spectacle
of a drunken, ignorant lout of a peasant demonstrating to
the vulgar that given a black gown and a pointed hat, any
body could be a doctor.
scenari containing similar situations in Pandolfi's col
lection and in that of Gherardi.
APPENDIX E
THE RELATIONSHIP OF REGNARD TO THE COMMEDIA DELL*ARTE
Jean-Fran^ois Regnard (1655-1709) was called the
"apostle of broad laughter" in French comedy.^ But it was
by writing for the Comedie-Italienne that Regnard received
his apprenticeship. He found himself quite at home on the
stage of the Italians, and the plays he wrote for them
have all the flavor and gaiety of the commedia dell'arte.
The opportunity for exercising his talent for the composi
tion of clever, witty scenes was excellent preparation for
the masterpieces of satire and sparkling Italian wit that
he produced later for the Theatre-Francais. In his Italian
manner he surpassed the Italians at their own game. His
Arlequin— and later his Merlin and Crispin--continues the
tradition of the commedia dell*arte, always ready to steal,
lie, or commit any of those scandalous tricks of the
1
Clarence D. Brenner and Nolan A. Goodyear, eds.,
Eighteenth-Century French Plays (New York, 1927), p. 41.
246
247
2
clever valet.
Regnard Is unquestionably the most Important contribu
tor to the Comedie-Italienne. In the famous Gherardi col-
3
lection, which contains all the important plays of the
Comedie-Italienne. Regnard has more plays than any other
contributor. It includes the following pieces written
solely by Regnard: Le Divorce (1688), Arlequin homme a
bonne fortune (1690), Les Filles errantes (1690), La
Coquette (1691), and La Naissance d'Amadis (1694). In
addition, Gherardi includes the following pieces which
Regnard wrote in collaboration with Charles Riviere Du-
fresny (c. 1654-1724): Les Chinois (1692), La Baeuette de
Vulcain (1693), La Foire Saint Germain (1695), and Les
4
Momies d'Egypte (1696). When Regnard began to write for
2
Schwartz, pp. 161-62.
3
Gherardi* s collection contains only the French por
tions of these plays; the Italian portions, the scenes to
be acted by the zanni, do not exist for they were acted
all* improvisio.
4
Like many of the other contributors to the conmedia
dell*arte, Regnard introduced variety by dealing with
classical themes. In Les Momies d*Egypte, for example,
Colombine plays the role of Cleopatra and Arlequin that
of Marc Antony; both characters bring the full commedia
bag of tricks into this satire.
248
the Comedie-Francais he had evolved into an experienced and
highly finished playwright, although he remained "a true
5
son of the commedia dell*arte* in the tradition of
Moliere. For the Comedie-Francaise he wrote La Serenade
(1694), Le Joueur (1696), Le Bal (1696), Le Distrait
(1697), Democrite (1700), Les Folies amoureuses (1704), Le
Menechmes (1705), Le Retour imprevu (1700), Attendez-moi
sous l’orme (1694), and Le Legataire universe1 (1708),
using as his sources both the commedia dell*arte and
Moliere.^
Schwartz, p. 161.
Attinger suggests that Moliere*s influence on Regnard
is especially discernible in the secondary personages that
Regnard borrows from him. He annotates these borrowings
in detail: ”Parti de la meme source que Moliere, Regnard en
est reste aux rapides esquises des Italiens. Ce fait est
d’autant plus typique que les emprunts k Moliere emaillent
son oeuvre. Mais, k y regarder de pres, c*est aux person-
nages secondaires surtout, principalement aux valets, que
Regnard emprunte un mot, me attitude ou un jeu de scene.
Tel discours de Champagne (La Serenade) sur ses demeles
avec la police est tire- des Fourberies. Mascarille, de
L*Etourdi a prete son langage k Hector (Le Joueur). tandis
que le duel entre l*etourderie du maitre et 1*ingeniosite
du valet est repris dans Le Distrait. L*Amour Medecin et
Le Malade imaginaire ont inspire certaines scenes du
Crispin de Folies amoureuses.1 Geronte, le pere du Joueur.
fletrit la conduite de son fils, sur le meme ton que le
pere de Dom Juan. Dans la m£me piece, la comtesse tient de
Belise des Femmes savantes sa manie de se croire irre
sistible” (p. 261).
249
A comparison of any play from Regnardfs Comedie-
Italienne period with one from his Comedie-Francaise period
readily shows that the commedia dell*arte tradition remains
prominent throughout his works. Arlequin homme k bonne
fortune from his Comedie-Italienne repertoire, for example,
contains the typical commedia characters: Harlequin,
Mezzetin, Pierrot, Octave, the Doctor, Isabelle, and Colom-
bine. They are involved in the usual commedia plot which
includes the harsh parent who threatens to marry a daughter
against her wishes, the ineffectual young lover, the clever
valet, the disguise, and the emphasis on the lazzi of the
zanni. Regnard's greatest triumph from his Comedie-
Francaise repertoire is Le Legataire universel, his last
play, Here most of the typical commedia characters have
taken on French names but their characterization remains
the same. Crispin, Geronte, Eraste, Isabelle, and Lisette
find themselves in a plot very much like the one in the
play above from the Comedie-Italienne, including the
hard parent who threatens to marry a daughter against her
wishes, the ineffectual lover, the clever valet (two in
this play), and the disguise theme; however, the emphasis
is no longer on the lazzi, for the characters are now
much more developed. (These changes are discussed in
detail in the section on comedy. See pp. 113-123.)
APPENDIX F
THE RELATIONSHIP OF GOLDONI TO THE CCMMEDIA DELL*ARTE
Among the Italians, Carlo Goldoni (1707-1793) is the
most important writer connected with the modified commedia
dell*arte, for it was Goldoni who poured such fresh con
temporary life into the stock figures of the commedia that
he slowly transfigured them from puppets into men and women
whose parts could no longer be acted with masks. This
writer turned to real life for his inspiration and suc
ceeded in producing plays which the theaters of Europe were
glad to receive.
Goldoni, like his compatriot Gozzi, started his
dramatic career by writing for the players of the commedia
dell*arte; but unlike Gozzi he avoided the fairy-tale
wonders and inclined toward the realistic theater. Despite
his abundant good humor, he was more at home with senti
mental drama than with the buffooneries of the old com
media 1s Pantalone and his companions. Pantalone, who by
tradition was merely senile and lascivious, is transformed
251
by Goldoni into a model of respectability. He is the
typical paterfamilias, the honest merchant, the sensible
citizen. He represents a whole new class of Italians.
Brighella, the country lout from the north, becomes a
devoted servant, a redresser of wrongs, a friend to his
young master. Sometimes he rises to the dignity of an inn
keeper. The Doctor represents the old man of the educated
classes; he is still somewhat pompous, pedantic, and much
given to Latin quotations, but he has become a respected
citizen and a wise father. Arlequin*s pranks are confined
to the background; Rosaura assumes a matronly dignity un
known to Goldoni’s predecessors; and Truffaldino remains
the clever picaresque servant, who now has his master's
welfare at heart. Leandro continues in his usual role--the
honorable lover whose path is strewn with barriers.^"
By 1743 Goldoni had written his first commedia dell*
arte play containing dialogue completely devised by the
author, La Donna di garbo, and the commedia plays that
followed reflect his theater. In La Putta onorata (1748)
^Joseph Spencer Kennard, The Italian Theater (New
York, 1932), II, 105-108. See also, Carlo Goldoni, The
Servant of Two Masters, trans. Edward J. Dent (Cambridge
[England], 1952), pp. v-vii.
the social world of his day form.* a striking background to
the story of a young girl who remains entirely devoted to
the man of her choice, in spite of the evils and decadence
that surround her. The virtue that Goldoni found in the
common people is evident in all his commedia dell’arte
productions. For example, in La Famiglia dellfantiquaro
(1749), which features the new sentimentally drawn Panta
lone, who now often is responsible for a happy ending after
potentially tragic scenes, the action centers on the fate
of Pantalone’s daughter, Doralice, married into a decadent
and impoverished aristocratic family. A tragic end is
prevented, finally, by the common sense and nobility of the
commoner Pantalone. Pantalone similarly prevents II
Giocatore (1750) from ending unhappily. In many instances
Goldoni uses his commedia dell*arte plays to unmask the
cowardice of the nobles. Most of his aristocrats, whether
the dissipated husband, the timid lover, the spendthrift,
the gambler, the cavalier servente, or the wit, are craven
scoundrels who seek their revenge by treachery, frequently
secured with the assistance of some armed lackey. It is
the commoner Pantalone who openly faces his foes and who
caustically ridicules the aristocratic love of duelling
254
by stopping the would-be-hero with his pointed sarcasm.
*
The higher classes are presented as gamblers associated
with sharpers, as borrowers of money without intention of
repaying, and as renegades who would use every means to
cheat the industrious Pantalone out of his dowry to his
daughter. It becomes quite evident, then, that Goldoni has
drastically modified the characters, plots, and themes of
the old commedia dell*arte, and although his rich humor
permeates many of his scenes, the basic theme of his new
commedia pieces remains one of serious import involving a
moral problem.
Goldoni's essential ideas of drama are succinctly
stated in a critical work he presented in 1750, II Teatro
comico, wherein he enumerated the various evils of the
stage as he saw them: the foolish and disrupting liberties
taken by individual performers, the interlarding of im
provised words by the comic players, the introduction of
senseless vulgarity just for the sake of arousing merri
ment, and the lack of moral purpose in contemporary plays.
It becomes obvious that Goldoni, although forced to write
2Kennard, II, 84-92.
j!
255
for actors of the old commedia dell*arte early in his
career, dreamed and worked for a stage in which the drama
tist gave words to the performers, in which the comic
spirit was employed for noble ends, and in which the purely
fantastic was replaced by scenes based on observation of
life.3
3
Nicoll, World Drama, p. 383.
APPENDIX G
THE RELATIONSHIP OF MARIVAUX TO THE
COMMEDIA DELL1 ARTE
Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux (1688-1763)
sought and achieved a new style in comedy; its virtue lies
in its subtlety, and it depends in part upon a reworking of
Racine’s tragic method into comic terms and, to a larger
extent, upon a polished adaptation of the spirit of the old
commedia dell’arte. Marivaux took Racine's themes, which
display a search for a better understanding of mankind,
situated them against the fanciful background of the com
media, used every means to polish and refine his dialogue,
Duchartre writes that "Beneath his [Marivaux] touch
they [the characters of the Italian commedia dell’artel
gained in subtlety and delicacy, and, without losing any of
their original vividness, took on the tone and colours of
the eighteenth century." He continues by saying that "The
French theatre, both at the great Paris fairs [theatres de
la foire] and later at the Opera-Comique, absorbed the
Italian types entirely. Yet they lived on nonetheless as
Jonah is said to have lived inside the whale--very much at -
ease" (The Italian Comedy, trans. Randolph T. Weaver [New
York, 1929], p. 21).
256
and created out of these elements and qualities a new kind
of psychological comedy. Where Racine had concentrated on
the human heart besieged by passions, Marivaux delineated
the faint beginnings of affection in a manner which was
charming, amusing, and sympathetic. His style and method
of approach are discernible in one of his earliest plays,
La Surprise de 1*amour (1722), wherein a group of five
characters is introduced--Lelio, the Countess, Arlequin,
Colombine, and Jacqueline. The play is concerned with the
gradual awakening of a new, and in some ways unwished for,
affection between Lelio and the Countess who, when the play
opens, have both renounced love. Patently, the new genteel
comedy, flowing simultaneously in Italy, France, and
England, has swept the commedia dell*arte along.
Although the pattern varies in other comedies, the new
bourgeois themes completely invade the commedia dell*arte;
this is evident in the following three commedia plays by
Marivaux. In La Double Inconstance (1723), the two main
characters at first think they are in love, but slowly they
discover their error when true love enters their lives.
Arlequin and Silvia, now noble persons sentimentally cast,
are engaged to be married, but the Prince chooses the
258
latter for his bride, and Arlequin discovers that it is
Flavinia whom he really loves. Le Jeu de 1*amour et du
hasard (1730) incorporates the much used commedia device of
masquerading and mistaken identity-'Silvia changes places
with her maid, Lisette, and Dorante with his servant,
Arlequin; but here the resemblances to the old commedia
stop, for Marivaux omits all kinds of coarseness and pre
sents the spectators with many delicate scenes in which
Silvia and Dorante cautiously reveal their emotions and
finally their true persons. Les Fausses Confidences (1737)
is also designed to suit the taste of the new middle-class
audiences. It reveals the method by which impoverished
young Dorante wins the heart of a rich widow. In all three
plays Marivaux modifies the characters, plots, dialogue,
and themes of the old commedia to satisfy the contemporary
demand for plays with a sentimental story and with charac
ters who behave within moral bounds.
Marivaux then, among other contemporaries in France
and Italy, was registering the rapidly changing social
atmosphere of his time, using the reformed spirit of the
commedia dell1arte, a reformation which he helped bring
about, to delineate the new middle-class ideas of the
eighteenth-century French spectator.

Linked assets

University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Conceptually similar

PDF

Theological And Dramatic Concepts Of The End Of Man In The Middle Ages

PDF

The Concept Of The 'Mystical Body Of Christ' In Selected Poems By Gerard Manley Hopkins

PDF

A Structural Analysis Of Shakespeare'S Early Comedies

PDF

Variant Forms Of English And Scottish Popular Ballads In America

PDF

The Concept Of Agent Intelligence In Aristotle: A Solution In Accordance With The Traditional Problem Of The One And The Many

PDF

The Good Life: The Development Of A Concept In Smollett'S Novels

PDF

Plutarch On The Glory Of The Athenians: A Reassessment

PDF

Servius' Knowledge Of Juvenal: An Analysis Of The Juvenalian Quotations In Servius' Commentary On Vergil

PDF

An Analysis Of Antithesis As A Basis Of Epic Rhetorical Patterns

PDF

The 'Quomodo' Manuscript: Historical Introduction, Translation, And Critical Apparatus

PDF

The Poetic Styles Of Miguel De Barrios

PDF

The Adjectives Of Donne And Wordsworth: The Key To A Poetic Quality

PDF

William Morris'S Concepts Of Ideal Human Society As Indicated In Public Lectures, 1877-1894 And In Three Prose Romances, 1886-1890

PDF

AN ANALYSIS OF PLUTARCH'S QUOTATIONS FROM EURIPIDES.

PDF

A Historiographic Study Of Plutarch'S 'Tiberius Gracchus'

PDF

Characterization In The Novels Of Samuel Butler (1835-1902)

PDF

A Consideration Of The Criticism Of Swift'S 'Gulliver'S Travels,' 1890 To1960

PDF

The Development Of Method And Meaning In The Fiction Of 'Saki' (H. H. Munro)

PDF

The Dialectics Of Reality In The Fiction Of Robert Penn Warren

PDF

Meredith'S Uses Of Points Of View In "Sandra Belloni" And "Vittoria" (Hisitalian Novels)

Asset Metadata

Creator Cautero, Gerard Salvatore (author)

Core Title Studies In The Influence Of The 'Commedia Dell'Arte' On English Drama: 1605-1800

Degree Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Program English

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Literature, General,OAI-PMH Harvest

Language English

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Advisor Crittenden, Walter M. (committee chair), O'Neil, Edward N. (committee member), Templeman, William D. (committee member)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c18-262405

Unique identifier UC11358813

Identifier 6206045.pdf (filename),usctheses-c18-262405 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier 6206045.pdf

Dmrecord 262405

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Cautero, Gerard Salvatore

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the au...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA