Many of William Shakespeare’s plays represent some of the elements of Commedia Dell’ Arte, a term that can be understood as a variety of stock characters that reveal certain behaviors, such as greedy, boastful, meddling, or violent. In some of his comedies, he incorporated aspects of these comedy traits which include, The Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest, and The Merchant of Venice. Likewise, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, one of Shakespeare’s most recognized plays, some of the characters also reveal hints of Commedia Dell’ Arte. The terms of the three main groups of Commedia Dell’ Arte include vecchi, innamorati, and zanni.
Vecchi can be identified as the masters and noblemen of the play. Theseus, the duke of Athens, Oberon, the king of the Fairies, and Egeus, Hermia’s father all fit the roles of vecchi because they all hold higher positions than the other characters in the tale. Oberon’s character can be defined as pantalone, one of the subgroups of vecchi because he is greedy and lustful. Oberon desires to obtain Titania’s “little changeling boy/ To be [his] henchman” (2.1.43), so he is willing to go to great lengths to do that. Because of Oberon’s stingy attempt, many of the characters are greatly affected during the process.
Innamorati is a Commedia Dell’ Arte term that represents the young lovers in the play. Hermia, Lysander, Helena, and Demetrius experience a complicated love situation which happens to be altered by the wishes of Oberon during his attempt to steal Titania’s changeling boy. The play begins with Hermia and Lysander in love with each other; however, Egeus, Hermia’s father wishes for her to marry Demetrius, the man Helen loves who does not love her back. Hermia is left with few choices—she is told that she must either “die the death, or to abjure/ Forever the society of men” (1.1.11). The four lovers have their feeling altered by one of Oberon’s jester servants named Robin Goodfellow, which relates to the next main term.
Zanni is a term connected to Robin’s character because he serves Oberon by fetching a flower which is referred to as “love-in-idleness…[where] the juice of it on sleeping eyelids laid/ Will make or man or woman madly dote/ Upon the next live creature that it sees” (2.1.45). Robin is perhaps the most interesting character in the tale because he plays such a large role in the metamorphosis that arouses the actual comedy. Robin’s character also falls into the subgroup of arlecchino because he serves as a prankster for Oberon, the pantalone. As Robin attempts to transform the lovers, and Bottom, he makes a mistake and transforms Lysander by mistake instead of Demetrious, the intended target. Unfortunately, his mistake causes Lysander fall in love with Helen. Eventually Robin causes Demetrious to fall in love with Helen as well. Clearly Robin is the most important character because his actions cause so much confusion and the awkward situations that take place, which arouses the amusement of Shakespeare’s play. Luckily, robin corrects his mistake, transforming the lovers desires to Oberon’s intended state.
Although all the characters in Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream do not reveal aspects of Commedia Dell’ Arte, some of the characters do represent at least one of the three main groups which include vecchi, innamorati, and zanni.
Works Cited
Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night’s Deam (Folger Shakespeare Library). Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine Eds. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 1993.
Vecchi can be identified as the masters and noblemen of the play. Theseus, the duke of Athens, Oberon, the king of the Fairies, and Egeus, Hermia’s father all fit the roles of vecchi because they all hold higher positions than the other characters in the tale. Oberon’s character can be defined as pantalone, one of the subgroups of vecchi because he is greedy and lustful. Oberon desires to obtain Titania’s “little changeling boy/ To be [his] henchman” (2.1.43), so he is willing to go to great lengths to do that. Because of Oberon’s stingy attempt, many of the characters are greatly affected during the process.
Innamorati is a Commedia Dell’ Arte term that represents the young lovers in the play. Hermia, Lysander, Helena, and Demetrius experience a complicated love situation which happens to be altered by the wishes of Oberon during his attempt to steal Titania’s changeling boy. The play begins with Hermia and Lysander in love with each other; however, Egeus, Hermia’s father wishes for her to marry Demetrius, the man Helen loves who does not love her back. Hermia is left with few choices—she is told that she must either “die the death, or to abjure/ Forever the society of men” (1.1.11). The four lovers have their feeling altered by one of Oberon’s jester servants named Robin Goodfellow, which relates to the next main term.
Zanni is a term connected to Robin’s character because he serves Oberon by fetching a flower which is referred to as “love-in-idleness…[where] the juice of it on sleeping eyelids laid/ Will make or man or woman madly dote/ Upon the next live creature that it sees” (2.1.45). Robin is perhaps the most interesting character in the tale because he plays such a large role in the metamorphosis that arouses the actual comedy. Robin’s character also falls into the subgroup of arlecchino because he serves as a prankster for Oberon, the pantalone. As Robin attempts to transform the lovers, and Bottom, he makes a mistake and transforms Lysander by mistake instead of Demetrious, the intended target. Unfortunately, his mistake causes Lysander fall in love with Helen. Eventually Robin causes Demetrious to fall in love with Helen as well. Clearly Robin is the most important character because his actions cause so much confusion and the awkward situations that take place, which arouses the amusement of Shakespeare’s play. Luckily, robin corrects his mistake, transforming the lovers desires to Oberon’s intended state.
Although all the characters in Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream do not reveal aspects of Commedia Dell’ Arte, some of the characters do represent at least one of the three main groups which include vecchi, innamorati, and zanni.
Works Cited
Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night’s Deam (Folger Shakespeare Library). Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine Eds. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 1993.