Commedia Dell'Arte: Difference between revisions

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* '''[[Official Couple|The Lovers]]''' (''innamorati'')

** '''The Guy''' (''innamorato''): Never masked; not especially well-developed as a character, since his only function is to be in love. His name is usually Lelio, Leandro, or Claudio. Generally in love with himself, and [[In Love With Love|with the idea of being in love]], and with the ''innamorata''; if anyone gets any [[Character Development]], it will be him learning to reverse that order.

** '''The Girl''' (''innamorata''): Never masked; not especially well-developed as a character, since her only function is to be in love. Will have a [[Pimped Out Dress]]. Has a good chance of being named Isabella. Generally in love with herself, and [[In Love With Love|with the idea of being in love]], and with the ''innamorato''; if anyone gets any [[Character Development]], it will be her learning to reverse that order.

** '''The Girl''' (''innamorata''): Never masked; not especially well-developed as a character, since her only function is to be in love. Will have a [[Pimped-Out Dress]]. Has a good chance of being named Isabella. Generally in love with herself, and [[In Love With Love|with the idea of being in love]], and with the ''innamorato''; if anyone gets any [[Character Development]], it will be her learning to reverse that order.

* '''[[Adults Are Useless|The Old People]]''' (''vecchi'') [[Parental Marriage Veto|get in the way of the lovers' happiness]]; often, two of them (usually the Doctor and Pantalone) are the lovers' respective fathers. The ''innamorato'' 's father may want to marry the ''innamorata'' himself.

** '''[[Miles Gloriosus|The Captain]]''' (''il Capitano''): Blowhard, [[Casanova Wannabe|thinks he's God's gift to women]], will turn out to have [[Feet of Clay]]. Often serves as the [[Romantic False Lead]]. If the ''innamorato'' 's biggest rival for the ''innamorata'' 's hand isn't his own father, it's this guy. Typically a disliked foreigner, often from Spain (as Spain, the superpower of the time, held political sway over Italy). Usually has an [[Overly Long Name]] (very common in Spanish nobility). A variant is Scaramuccia.

** '''The Doctor''' (''il Dottore''): No, (probably) not [[Doctor Who (TV)|that Doctor.]] Often an [[Absent Minded Professor]] type; often the father of one of the ''innamorati''. If he's the father of the ''innamorata'', then he will rarely have much plot relevance, and will just sort of hang around and be funny. A parody of the Bolognese laureate intellectual (Bologna has one of the world's oldest universities). Mostly portrayed as a doctor in law, usually intersperses his lines with [[Canis Latinicus|dog Latin]] and mangled renditions of commonplace Latin sayings for comical effect. Sometimes a [[Know Nothing Know It All]].

** '''The Doctor''' (''il Dottore''): No, (probably) not [[Doctor Who (TV)|that Doctor.]] Often an [[Absent-Minded Professor]] type; often the father of one of the ''innamorati''. If he's the father of the ''innamorata'', then he will rarely have much plot relevance, and will just sort of hang around and be funny. A parody of the Bolognese laureate intellectual (Bologna has one of the world's oldest universities). Mostly portrayed as a doctor in law, usually intersperses his lines with [[Canis Latinicus|dog Latin]] and mangled renditions of commonplace Latin sayings for comical effect. Sometimes a [[Know-Nothing Know-It-All]].

** '''Pantalone''': Often the father of the other ''innamorato/a''. [[Greed|Rich and miserly.]] Keeps propositioning Colombina, the [[Dirty Old Man]]. Is also a [[Bad Boss]] to Arlechino. Sometimes an [[Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist]]. Based primarily on the stereotype of the rich Venetian merchant. Has a peculiar, shuffling walk, because he's always wearing Turkish sandals.

** '''Tartaglia''': Defined by his [[Porky Pig Pronunciation|terrible stutter]]; is often [[Blind Without Em|blind as a bat]] as well. Often a priest, whose main role is to conduct whatever marriages happen at the end.

** '''Tartaglia''': Defined by his [[Porky Pig Pronunciation|terrible stutter]]; is often [[Blind Without'Em|blind as a bat]] as well. Often a priest, whose main role is to conduct whatever marriages happen at the end.

* '''The Servants/Commoners''' (''zanni'', from whom we get the word "[[Zany Scheme|zany]]") Frequently the ones to ensure the marriages, as you can't count on the lovers being able to pull it off.

** '''Arlecchino''' (''Harlequin''): Cheeky but loyal servant to Pantalone or the Doctor; audience favorite; usually drives the action. Can [[No Fourth Wall|interact with the audience.]] Forms a [[Beta Couple]] with Colombina. Often a [[Big Eater]] or [[Lovable Coward]], and tends to suffer [[Amusing Injuries]]. Although can also appear as an intelligent and/or amoral trickster. May also be a [[Bumbling Sidekick]]. Wears bells on his hat, and an outfit covered in red and black diamonds, and carries the original [[Slapstick|slap-stick]]. Known for acrobatic movements on stage. Varients include: Trivelino/Trivelin, Truffa/Truffaldin/Truffaldino, Guazetto, Zaccagnino, and Bagatino.