644 linda l. carroll
in a manifestation of how divided public opinion was between realism
and fantasy, the Gazzetta Veneta, produced by Carlo’s older brother gasp-
aro, reviewed favorably goldoni’s I rusteghi [Cranky Old Men; 1760], which
deals with the bourgeoisie. the elder gozzi’s emphasis on realism would
also give life to two other gazettes, the Mondo morale [Moral World] and
the Osservatore Veneto [The Veneto Observer], from 1761 to 1762. unlike
the periodical publications of Milan that dedicated much space to inter-
national political news, gozzi’s dealt with local daily events that often
resembled the plots of plays, their approach remaining superficial.46
goldoni’s brilliant 1761–62 season, which included the Villeggiatura
[Country Vacation] trilogy, Sior Todaro Brontolon [Mr. Ted the Grouch],
Baruffe ciozote [Chioggian Brawls], and Una delle ultime sere di Carnevale
[One of the Last Evenings of Carnival], was insufficient to stave off mount-
ing criticism. Patrician resentment of the importance of the popular
classes in his plays was fanned by Carlo gozzi’s criticism that he lacked
culture and elegance and that his plays would precipitate a decline in
public morals, among other things inciting the popular classes to prey
upon the patriciate. though still under contract to the san Luca, goldoni
departed for Paris in 1762. he sent a few plays that Vendramin staged and
wrote a few plays in French, most notably L’éventail (1763) rewritten as Il
ventaglio [The Fan; 1765] and Bourru bienfaisant [The Kindly Curmudgeon;
1771]. however, his creative vein was stifled by the French preference for
the Commedia dell’arte that he had rejected. the chief fruit of his time
in Paris was his memoir.
Literature, Theater and Publishing in the Final Years of the Republic
Pietro Chiari left Venice in the same year as goldoni. the less popular
Carlo gozzi continued his nostalgic tales of exotic and hierarchical
empires and kingdoms where magic reigned, although within a decade or
so of goldoni’s departure the old-line theatrical productions had ceased.
the realistic strain in Venetian culture was maintained by journalists,
including Luisa bergalli and elisabetta Caminer turra, who continued her
father’s Europa letteraria [Literary Europe] and founded her own Giornale
46 Pullini, “il teatro fra polemica e costume,” p. 281; guido santato, “Cultura e letteratura
dell’illuminismo,” in borsellino and Pedullà, eds., Il secolo riformatore, pp. 406–09; and see,
for example, the episode of the seamstress’s faked dowry at the date of 13 February, 1760
in gasparo gozzi, La “Gazzetta Veneta” per la prima volta riprodotta nella sua letteraria
integrità, ed. antonio Zardo (Florence, 1915), pp. 14–15.