Commedia Dell Arte Research Paper

Commedia dell’Arte is a form of theatre known as Italian comedy. It is a humorous theatrical presentation performed by professional players who traveled in troupes throughout Italy in the 16th century. (About.com). This was a popular form of entertainment in the time of the renaissance. At the time, a majority of the theatre plays were very classical, but Commedia dell’Arte was very loud, energetic, and funny. According to a man named Jeff from math.bu.edu, who has been part of Commedia dell’Arte troupe says it is when you “improvise an entire performance from stage directions like "Pedrolino and Oratio enter and do something funny" or, our own personal favorite, "Everyone comes on stage and everything is resolved happily".” Commedia dell’Arte consists performers called stock characters. According to dictionary.com, stock characters are characters that are quickly recognized and accepted by the reader or viewer and requiring no development by the writer. In Commedia dell’Arte, there are 13 stock characters, 10 are men, and 3 are woman. This was a change in the normal “all male actors” phase in theatre at the time. All according to About.com, Some of these characters were Arlecchino, the most famous. He was an acrobat and a
wit, childlike and amorous. He wore a cat–like mask and motley colored clothes and usually carried a bat or wooden sword with him. Brighella, Arlecchino 's friend, was more a sophisticated, cowardly villain who would do anything for money. Il Capitano was a bold, swaggering, and cowardly and represent a professtional soldier. Il Dottore was the model of learning—pompous and fraudulent. Pantalone represented a Venetian merchant, rich and retired, mean and miserly, with a young wife or an adventurous daughter. Pedrolino was a white–faced, moon–struck dreamer and the forerunner of today 's clown. Pulcinella, as seen in the English Punch and Judy shows, was a dwarfish humpback with a crooked nose, the cruel bachelor who chased pretty girls. Scarramuccia, dressed in black and carrying a pointed sword, was the Robin Hood of his day. The handsome Inamorato went by many names. He wore no mask and had to be eloquent in order to speak the love declamations. The Inamorata was his female counterpart; Isabella Andreini was the most famous. Her servant, usually called Columbina, was the beloved of Harlequin. Witty, bright, and given to intrigue, she developed into such characters as Harlequine and Pierrette. La Ruffiana was an old woman, either the mother or a village gossip, who thwarted the lovers. Cantarina and Ballerina often took part in the comedy, but for the most part their job was to sing, dance, or play music. These characters created many archetypes we know and think about today. There were a few other minor characters that were involved in Commedia dell’Arte. Each characters came on stage with a kind of lazzi, business that was easily recognizable. According to theatrehistory.com, Conventional plot lines were written on themes of adultery, jealousy, old age and love. Many of the basic plot elements can be traced back to the Roman comedies of Plautus and Terence. Since the productions were improvised, dialogue and action could easily be changed to satirize local scandals, current events, or regional tastes, while still using old jokes and punch lines. Characters were identified by costumes, masks, and props, such as a type of baton known as a slapstick. This was called a slapstick because they were ‘two sticks tied together, which made a great noise on impact.”(About.com). Nowadays, slapstick is known a form of with a lot of violence and pain. Also, according to About.com, Music and dance was always part of Commedia dell’Arte and certain characters would dance or sing more than others. The costumes and mask were unique in Commedia dell’Arte.
Each character would have a specific outfit to help the audience identify who they were. Costumes consisted of loose fitting closes, tight fitting clothes and many colors to create an elaborate look. In commedia dell’Arte, the colors of the costumes would also represent mood and social class. Each character had a, individual mask that would also make it easy to figure out who each character was. The masks would also, “limit the view of the actors, making them snake their head from side to side to see what was going on. The characters all had characteristics that governed the way they moved and this would directly affect the way they did things on the stage.”(
http://www.usq.edu.au). Commedia dell’Arte made a major influence on theatre today. It can be found in English Pantomime and the English Harlequinade. It also developed many archetypes for characters such as a clown and a harlequin. “While to be true Commedia the actors improvise around a pre-determined plot using stock characters as a guide, the works of several playwrights have been influenced by Commedia dell 'arte if not directly featuring it. Prominent examples include Servant of Two Masters written in 1743 by Carlo Goldoni and The Tempest written by William Shakespeare.”(Theatrehisotory.com). Also, like stated before, it also became the origin for slapstick comedy. Overall Commedia dell’Arte created a new type of comedy during the Renaissance, and like many things during that time, it inspired many with its characters and ideas.

Work Cited
"Commedia Dell Arte." University of Southern Queensland. Web. 30 Nov. 2011. <http://www.usq.edu.au/artsworx/schoolresources/androclesandthelion/commedia>.
"Commedia Dell 'Arte - Italian Comedy." Italian Language - Learn Italian - About Italian Language - Learn to Speak Italian. Web. 30 Nov. 2011. <http://italian.about.com/library/weekly/aa110800a.htm>.
"The Commedia Dell 'arte." TheatreHistory.com. Web. 30 Nov. 2011. <http://www.theatrehistory.com/italian/commedia_dell_arte_001.html>.
"Commedia Dell 'arte." Web. 30 Nov. 2011. <http://math.bu.edu/people/jeffs/commedia.html>.