Commedia Dell'arte Essay Example

As the Middle Ages in Europe were coming to an end, a new era had begun to emerge, the Renaissance. The Renaissance had been a period of enlightenment where the philosophical and artistic ideas of Ancient Greece and Rome came to resurface. This change had begun in Italy, the heart of what used to be the Roman Empire. Since Italy had many artifacts that remained from the fallen empire, it had easily given artists a steppingstone for their work. Additionally, Italy’s location gave way to trading these ideas around Europe and began to enlighten those in other parts of Europe. Through the Renaissance, Italy was able to give birth to Commedia dell’arte. Commedia dell’arte was an art form that had emerged around the 16th century when the Italian Renaissance had reached its peak. It consisted of troupes that would travel around Europe and perform improvisational comedic routines known as “lazzi.” Along with the routines, Commedia dell’arte also had a set of stock characters that would stay consistent with the traveling troupes even though they wouldn’t necessarily work together. 

In Commedia dell’arte there are four stock character groups. The first group is Zanni, these are the clowns and/or servants. One common character is named Arlecchino also known as Harlequin. This character is characterized as being quick on their feet, as they had to make appearances and disappearances in order to fulfill their practical jokes. In present day, we have actually seen this character show up in comic books and movies under DC Comics, most notably known as Harley Quinn. The creators had indeed taken inspiration from Commedia when making the character. The next character group are known as Vecchi. These are the wealthy old men/masters who tend to be selfish. The primary characters of this group are Pantalone, Il Capitano, and Il Dottore. They are all full of themselves who only care about money and their main goal is to make sure that the innamorati (a pair of lovers) are kept apart. Although they are part of the same group each character plays a different role in how they interfere with the lovers. Pantalone tends to be the father who tries to keep his child away from their lover. One way would be by hiring Il Capitano to protect his child from any potential suitor. In present day, we can actually see Pantalone through Mr. Krabs in Spongebob Squarepants. Mr. Krabs is obsessed with money and doesn’t care for his workers. Mr. Krabs is the definition of greed in the cartoon. Lastly, the following character group are the innamorati. These are the lovers, and the scenarios would always revolve around them in some way. They would usually be over the top of the love that they would have for each other, but it would be genuine emotions. Since there was always some type of obstacle, usually caused by the Vecchi, the Zanni characters would be the ones to help them. The comedy bit of the innamorati is that they are so full of themselves and their love that they are always dramatic about even the smallest of things. If a bug was in between the lovers, they would cry and wonder why the universe has separated and it is up to the zanni to take away the bug to “reunite” the lovers. We are able to see to see the innamorati through Romeo and Juliet. They are a prime example of two people who are over the top of their new founded love that would go to the ends to be with each other. Though their death probably could’ve been avoided, it furthers the idea that they are a version of the innamorati. It is important to note that the Vecchi and Zanni wear half masks, while the Innamorati and certain servants do not. The masks would also differ in characteristics depending on who the character was, and it would stay consistent amongst the different traveling troupes.