A Foreword to Molière’s “Psyché”

01 Sunday Sep 2019

Posted by michelinewalker in Comedy, Commedia dell'arte, Fêtes galantes

Tags

Apuleius, commedia dell'arte, Così van tutte, Fêtes galantes, Figaro, Molière, Mozart, Psyché, Tragédie-ballet, zanni

2019-02_Dance-zanni-Jacques-Callot-1100x722

Zanni (arte2000.it.zanni)

I wish to thank all of you for the comments you have written. The invitation to rate my posts is proof that people are reading my posts, including moliéristes. It’s a forum, not an arena.

As you know, I was ready to write my book during a forthcoming sabbatical, but I was assigned the preparation of new courses, one of which was Animals in Literature. It took away my sabbatical. I’m not writing my book online, but I am reading Molière and sharing this endeavour with my WordPress colleagues.

I realize that students can get information from my posts and other online sources. That’s fine. They may quote me, acknowledging their source, and posts can be republished. If writing my book proves impossible, I will nevertheless have discussed Molière publicly for a brief period of time and in a manner that introduces Molière to the general public. Quoting Molière in French and English is time consuming, but it is an imperative.

Crispin et Scapin par Honoré Daumier, 1865 (WikiArt.org)

comedy-scene-scene-from-molière.jpg!Large

Comedy Scene from Molière by Honoré Daumier (WikiArt.org)

Les Fourberies de Scapin

My Pléiade edition of Molière was published in 1956. It is an old edition that does not contain the lines where Scapin tells Argante that he himself, Argante, will not break Octave’s marriage because he loves his son. However, these lines are part of the editor’s Notes et Variantes. Occasionally, Molière recycled parts of his comedies. These were his. The conversation I quoted is all but repeated in Le Malade imaginaire. The editors of the 1682 edition of the complete works of Molière excluded that part of the conversation. But the Molière 21‘s editors of the Pléiade 2010 edition have re-entered the relevant dialogue in the latest Pléiade edition, which we are using.

In Les Fourberies de Scapin, Molière juxtaposed the power of fathers and a father’s love. This juxtaposition is essential to an understanding of the play. Molière knew that there were forced marriages. Octave barely believes that his father will let him marry Géronte’s daughter Hyacinte. So, Molière also knew that fathers loved their sons and that this love was more powerful than tradition: parents choosing their children’s spouse. Molière used a subtle path, a kind destiny. Our fathers, Argante and Géronte, had chosen to marry their sons to the women their sons love, one of whom, Octave, has already married Hyacinte.

Scapin and the innamorati

Scapin is a zanni, a valet in the service of Octave and, by the same token, in the service of the innamorati, the young couple(s). In the eighteenth century zanni became more daring. Beaumarchais wrote the Figaro Trilogy. His Marriage of Figaro would inspire Mozart and Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was transformed into a beloved opera: Le nozze di Figaro (K. 492, 1786). As well, Antoine Watteau painted ethereal fêtes galantes that are inextricably associated to the commedia dell’arte. Pierrot emerges: the sad clown.

More importantly, how does one cease discussing love? Love is une constante. Le Roman de la Rose was an apex in the treatment of courtly love. The eighteenth century also brought Marivaux. His play, Le Jeu de l’amour et du hasard, was performed by the Comédie-Italienne, on 23 January 1730. We need also mention Mozart/Da Ponte’s Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti (K. 588, 1790), a charming love story. It is rooted in the Decameron.

Cupid and Psyche by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (Wikipedia)

Psyché

Our next play is Molière’s Psyché, which he wrote in collaboration with the legendary Pierre Corneille. It is a tragi-comédie in verse and a tragédie-ballet. Its composer is Jean-Baptiste Lully and its choreographer, Pierre Beauchamp. Psyché was first performed at the Théâtre des Tuileries, on 17 January 1671.

I wrote posts on 2^nd century Apuleius’ Golden Ass. It contains the Tale of Cupid and Psyche, a “digression.” Apuleius had read Ovid’s (20 March 43 BCE – 17/18 CE) Metamorphoses, an extremely influential work. Transformations have long fascinated human beings. Icarus wanted to fly. In 1886, Robert Louis Stevenson published The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and, in 1915, Franz Kafka published The Metamorphosis. We do have the loup garou (the werewolf).

Psyche is a mythical figure.

RELATED ARTICLES

Fêtes galantes & Galanterie (25 April 2016)
Beaumarchais’ Trilogy: The Guilty Mother (18 July 2014)
The Figaro Trilogy (14 July 2014)
Cupid and Psyche and Magical Realism (7 August 2013)
Apuleius’ Cupid and Psyche (4 August 2013)

Sources and Resources

Zanni: an Antique Mask of the Commedia dell’arte
Così fan tutte (Britannica)
Soave sia il vento (lyrics), a WordPress site
The featured image is by Adolphe Lalauze (théâtre-documentation.com)
Wikipedia
Britannica

Love to everyone 💕

Soave sia il vento (May the wind blow gently…)
Susan Chilcott (Fiordiligi) & Susan Graham (Dorabella)
Mozart Così fan tutte

Pierrot with Guitar by Honoré Daumier, 1869 (WikiArt.org)

Bergamo: Arlecchino & Brighella

23 Wednesday Jul 2014

Posted by michelinewalker in Art, Comedy, Commedia dell'arte, France, Italy, Music

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Beaumarchais, Bergamo, birthplace of Harlequin and Brighella, comédie italienne in France, Figaro, Marivaux, Maurice Sand, OnkleJoe

Brighella
OnkleJoe, 2012

The Power of One Character

The character featured above is Brighella. As we know, Beaumarchais‘ Figaro is the culmination of the commedia dell’arte‘s Brighella. However, as Figaro, Brighella is no longer a “thief, a bully, and an intriguer.”[i] He is a clever and relatively good zanni, but he nevertheless wrestles Susanna away from Count Almaviva and becomes a national hero. Interestingly, although a bevy of French Enlightenment philosophes, from Montesquieu, to Voltaire, Diderot, Jean le Rond d’Alembert, Rousseau, etc. wrote thousands of pages on the societal ills of l’Ancien Régime, Figaro, one fictional character, drove the message home.

To what extent the Count had a droit du seigneur, i.e. the right to be the first man to sleep with the bride, we cannot know. The Church was very powerful, so I doubt very much that this “right” was listed in law books. It may have been a case of entitlement.

About Bergamo…

Bergamo: Arlecchino and Brighella

Bergamo: the Birthplace of Harlequin and Brighella

Brighella‘s importance is due not only to the role he ends up playing in France, as Figaro, but he is also connected to Bergamo, an area of current Northern Italy located near Milan. Bergamo is the birthplace of Arlecchino (Arlequin, Harlequin) and Brighella. Similarly, French dramatist Beaumarchais’ plays are the birthplace of a French Brighella, our Figaro, who differs from the commedia dell’arte‘s Brighella, but not that much.

Bergamo remembered: Debussy and Fauré

Which takes us to music. I will mention two composers. The first is Claude Debussy (22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918), who composed the lovely Suite bergamasque. The second, in alphabetical order, is Gabriel Fauré’s (12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924), the composer of Masques et Bergamasques. These are compositions inspired by the commedia dell’arte and written not long before Picasso started to paint Arlequins and guitars, or related instruments. The influence of the commedia dell’arte on French dramatists, comedians, artists and composers is considerable.

The Comédie italienne in France

In fact, France long had both its Comédie française and its Comédie italienne (until the second half of the nineteenth century). Italian comedians were driven out of France in 1697, because of a play entitled La Fausse [false] Prude. This play was offensive to Louis XIV‘s second wife, Madame de Maintenon. However, the Italians were soon recalled (in 1716). The plays of Marivaux (4 February 1688 – 12 February 1763) and Beaumarchais (24 January 1732 – 18 May 1799) are eloquent testimonials concerning the commedia dell’arte‘s influence on the history of French theatre.

Brighella’s Appearance and Gait

Brighella’s “wears a white shirt, black pants with a green tassel hanging from the side, a white cap, a belt with a purse, and a dagger.” His mask “is accented with a hooked nose, fleshy cheeks, and large eyebrows. He conveys a cynical-mawkish appearance.” (See Brighella.) He is a first among zanni and is never outdone. Zanni may originate in the lower classes, but without zanni, there may not be a happy ending to comedy. Brighella is smarter than Arlecchino (see Brighella, Wikipedia).

Distinguishing commedia dell’arte characters from one another includes the manner in which they move, which indicates they were professionals actors.

“Brighella’s weight is placed on a bent leg. The other is extended, lightly touching the ground. His elbows are up with his hands spread out. Whether or not he is moving, his feet are constantly moving, dancing back and forth. Like Arlecchino, his back is curved at the lumbar region. When Brighella walks, his head stays in place, but his legs come up to the side and his torso sways from side to side. It is a very soft walk, similar to tip-toeing, the difference being that his legs are spread.” (See Brighella.)

Brighella by Maurice Sand (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Brighella’s Legacy

Wikipedia lists the names of characters modelled on Brighella. It’s impressive. By and large, Brighella’s descendants are gentler than their ancestor. The list includes Scapino, Mezzetino, Mascarille, Sganarelle, Turlupin, Figaro, etc. Brighella-Sganarelle is Leporello in Mozart’s Don Giovanni (K 527).

Molière (1722 – 1673) was both an actor and a dramatist. He therefore played the following Brighella associated roles:

Mascarille (Les Précieuses ridicules), 1659;
Sganarelle (Sganarelle ou le Cocu imaginaire and Dom Juan), 1660 (both);
Scapino (Les Fourberies [deceits] de Scapin), 1671.

Conclusion

There is conflicting information regarding Brighella. According to some sources, he is a villain who fizzles out. Yet, if Figaro is heir to Brighella, he is clever and swift, but he is not a villain. It could be that Watteau‘s Fêtes galantes depictions of figures from the commedia dell’arte transformed Brighella and that the comédie larmoyante (the tearful comedy) and bourgeois drama reshaped the original Brighella, though not completely. I’ll remember him as an ancestor to Figaro. Mozart’s Nozze di Figaro and Rossini’s Barber of Seville. I suspect figures from the commedia dell’arte will remain a favourite with artists and composers: Debussy, Fauré, Mozart, Rossini…

And we close the commedia dell’arte series. Characters may reappear. They’re everywhere. For quick information, I suggest About.com, listed under sources and resources, below.

My kindest regards to all of you.