Pantalone
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Pantalone (French: Pantalon) is a stock character that is classified as one of the vecchi (old men) in Commedia dell'arte. He is a miserly and often libidinous character who is portrayed as a Venetian and often speaks in the Venetian dialect.
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[edit] Name
As with the names of many of the characters in Commedia dell'arte, the origins of Pantalone's name are puzzling . The source of the name that is most commonly cited is that it is from the phrase pianta leone or plant the lion. This is a reference to the lion on the crest of Venice and Venice's conquests around the globe where Venetians have literally "planted the lion" flag. Alladyce Nicholl in his Masks, Mimes and Miracles cites two additional Greek sources. Greek author Athenaeus mentions the existence of a clown named πανταλέων or Pantaleon in his Deipnosophistae. Additionally, there is a Greek phrase παντος έλεμων or pantos elemon which may also be a source.
The name Pantalone has provided a source for the English word pantaloons, from the distinctive single-piece breeches worn by the character.[1]
[edit] Lazzi
- Pantalone has a heart attack and his servant attempts to save him by various means.
- Pantalone is knocked over and has to be helped up.
- Pantalone is with Columbina and keeps moving closer and closer to her, Columbina keeps finding excuses to move away until Pantalone falls off the bench. Pantalone is also scared of women and never really gets the chance to get with women.
[edit] References
- ^ Nicholl, Allardyce. Masks, Mimes and Miracles. New York: Cooper Square Publishers, 1963. p. 253
- Notes
- Duchartre, Pierre Louis. translated by Randolph T. Weaver. The Italian Comedy. New York: Dover Publications, 1966. ISBN 0-486-21679-9
- See Angela Carter's 'The Bloody Chamber' (specific short story, Puss in Boots) for another representation of Pantalone. The interpretation renames him as the character 'Pantaloon', but he follows a very similar description and ends up dead.
