the misadventures of two lovers who were
continually frustrated in their desire for
marriage and respectability. The plays,
known ascanovacci, were frequently inter-
rupted by music, dancing, magic acts, jug-
gling, and acrobatics. The characters and
plot devices endured in many later forms
of art, from serious opera to pantomime
and Punch and Judy puppet shows.
The characters and plot of commedia
dell’art often revolve around the Innamo-
rati or Lovers, whose romance sparks
much of the plot. Arlecchino (Harlequin)
is a crafty and untrustworthy servant, who
is constantly scheming to take advantage
of the other characters. A pair of noisy
sticks that he carries around the set gave
rise to the expression “slapstick,” meaning
rough physical comedy. Brighella, a ser-
vant or innkeeper, is free with advice to
the lovers of the play, and is also skilled at
the arts of magic and fortunetelling. Il
Capitano represents authority, a man with
an impressive and courageous front who is
in fact a cowardly incompetent. Il Dottore,
the doctor, makes a show of his scientific
knowledge, but like Il Capitano he always
suffers a comeuppance at the end of the
play. The rich miser, Pantalone, acts the
aristocrat, and wears an impressive suit of
clothes as well as a prominent money belt.
He lords it over the other characters but is
quite fearful of losing his money as well as
his position. Zanni, a slow and stupid ser-
vant, is a buffoon who would rather sleep
than work and who has few redeeming
qualities.
The characters of commedia dell’arte
had particular clothing, gestures, speech,
and movement. Their masks evoked their
inner characters as well, with Pantalone
sporting the long hooked nose of a miser
and Zunni the simple unadorned white
robes of a servant. Some actors gained in-
ternational renown for their skill at por-
traying stock characters and improvising
dialogue, and the most prestigious com-
media troupes were invited to royal and
aristocratic courts for command perfor-
mances. The plays were not high drama or
serious theater, but rather popular enter-
tainment that drew laughs with bawdy rep-
artee and noisy pratfalls. During the Re-
naissance it spread to northern Europe,
where the characters were adapted to local
tastes. Commedia dell’arte troupes roamed
until the tradition began to die out in the
eighteenth century.confraternities ....................................
The confraternity was an organization of
the Christian faithful who did not belong
to the church, but who banded together in
order to live by Christian precepts and
doctrine. The confraternities met for wor-
ship, for the instruction of the public and
the young, for performing works of char-
ity and visiting the sick, for organizing
public processions, for the patronage of
writers and artists, and for the celebration
of weddings, funerals, and other impor-
tant events. In some towns, a majority of
men and many women belonged to a con-
fraternity. By some estimates as many as
one out of every five city-dwellers during
the Renaissance belonged to such a group.
Confraternities were most popular in
Catholic Europe; Protestantism rejected
the practice of confraternities and their
adherence to traditional Catholic doc-
trines. Confraternities originated modern
charities and the system of public welfare
in Europe, on the basis of religious belief
and worship, and also played a role in the
reforms of the church hierarchy.
The confraternities originated in the
Middle Ages, when the religious orders al-
lowed lay people to join them as auxiliaryconfraternities