L'Alessandro

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L'Alessandro is a comedy by Alessandro Piccolomini in five acts. It was written at the beginning of 1544 and was to be premiered during the carnival season of the same year. The earliest documented performance took place during Carnival in Bologna in 1545, the same year that L'Alessandro was first published as a book.

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First prologue

The first prologue is the prologue that was performed at the first performance. The group of actors and authors of the Intronati has apparently fallen apart from their audience, which consists mainly of women, which is due to the fact that the latter began to enjoy rough jokes and no longer appreciated the comedies of the Intronati. This aberration of taste by women had robbed Siena of its good reputation with its (allegedly) particularly beautiful and virtuous women. The Intronati have therefore made it their task to curb this tendency. Accordingly, comedy is useful (the usefulness of plays was also extolled in Trissino's La Sophonisba [1515]). The fathers should learn from the play, for example, to be lenient towards their sons, while the sons should be obedient and respectful towards their fathers; the elderly get rid of their greed and be polite to young people. Young people, on the other hand, should not sacrifice their honor and their lives because of their passions, especially love; women adorn themselves with chastity and courtesy. As in Machiavelli's Mandragola (1518) and Pietro Aretino's first version of La Cortigiana (1524), possible criticism from some “pedants” is encountered - but not in terms of content. Instead, it tries to expose the critics for their hypocrisy. Apparently, in the increasingly counter-Reformation mood, there is considerable pressure being exerted on comedy poets, since Piccolomini lets the actor in the prologue argue against the edification through prayers within the comedy. In contrast to angels, humans are created out of earth and therefore cannot spend their whole life in the contemplation of God without being physically harmed. The spirit must recover from the view of God. Comedies are ideally suited for this kind of relaxation. The mere fact that there were several dozen of the potential critics of the comedy among the audience and not, as might actually be expected, indulging in their piety in the church, confirms that they are hypocrites. These hypocrites had caused great damage to some women, as some women had now started to blame the Intronati for not donating their income to a friar. The prologue does not leave the friars in good shape either, especially since comedy is praised as being more useful than their “drivel” of sermons. What applies to the hypocrites also applies to the bigots, who, by their presence, have shown how serious they are by rejecting comedy. The name of the comedy is also introduced. Why the comedy is named after a person who appears relatively rarely in it will be clarified elsewhere (which, however, does not happen). The comedy is harmless, but love appears in it. If this is already too much for you, you should go better. The fact that the plot in L'Alessandro revolves around love is justified by the fact that love is one of the highest gifts of human beings and that human beings no longer exist without it. Since those asked to leave remained (they could just as well have left - the lecturer may reserve the right to adapt one or the other passage to the situation), they would also expose themselves to the ridiculous. In addition to the above, the comedy has another benefit, namely that it shows that love is not possible for everyone among young people and old people, but also among children who got it with their mother's milk. Finally, L'Alessandro is summarized in advance for a better understanding of the plot: The place of the plot is Pisa. The house of Vincezio Pisano is in Pisa. In his house, next to his son Cornelio, lives a certain Aloisio, who, however, wears women's robes and claims to be Vincenzio's niece Lampridia. Lucrezia, on the other hand, lives under the name Fortunio with a certain Monsignor Flisco. Why Aloisio and Lucrezia lived with a false identity at Vincenzio and Fisco, respectively, should only be answered in the course of the comedy. The house of a certain Gostanzo Naspis, whose daughter is loved by Cornelio, is also on the stage. A certain captain is also introduced. The lecturer of the prologue leaves to make way for Vincenzio and a doctor from Sicily who has been appointed to Pisa.

Second prologue

The second prologue does not, as one might initially assume, follow the first prologue, but replaces it. It was specially written for the second performance of L'Alessandro . In contrast to the first prologue, it explains why this only refers to women. This is not because the audience is predominantly male, but because only women in the audience are addressed. The second performance takes place at the request of the women. There is also talk of the indolence of the young courtiers towards the young ladies, which the Intronati displeased, especially since this behavior caused great excitement in the rest of the audience. Apparently the young women are supposed to punish the boisterous behavior of the young men by depriving them of love. The audience's criticism had been taken into account in the new performance, but the right was reserved to only accept reasonable criticism. “Pedantic” criticism, however, was ignored. Pedants include critics who do not know Plautus . In addition, the group of critics reviled as pedants is accused of being unable to even spell the word “comedy”. The comedy is more important than the tragedy. Some of the criticisms expressed by pedants are given beforehand (they are not to be repeated here in detail). Paradoxically, the objectionable lack of the elements listed by the critics (such as the pedant) means to a certain extent an emancipation of the Plautus previously mentioned as a model. In addition, the speaker of the prologue distances himself from Aretino. Instead of sticking to Aretino (who was probably the benchmark for good comedies at the time), the critics for rhetorical and poetological matters should better apprentice to a certain Boezio (Callimaco from Machiavelli's Mandragola was also an apprentice to a certain Boezio or Buezio went). Comedies are a mirror of society, in which the general vices are revealed, which in turn serves to avoid them in the future. The fact that the criticism of the comedy is too severe for some is due to the fact that it makes one's own vices unbearable. The best treatment for large or heavy wounds, however, is as painful as possible. People who did not lead a vicious life, on the other hand, would have recognized the usefulness of comedy. Another point of criticism is that the comedy is performed several times (which may not have been common at the time). Terence is cited as a counter-argument , who had to perform his comedies several times in ancient Rome so that they would come into their own. As in the first prologue, the plot is summarized at the end for a better understanding of the plot and the stage set is explained, and the lecturer - as in the first prologue - gives way to Vincezio and a doctor from Sicily who has been appointed to Pisa.

first act

Messer Fabrizio is an old student friend of Vincenzio. Now that Messer Fabrizio has been called to Pisa, Vincenzio hopes that he will help him to dissuade his only son, Cornelio, from his dissolute life. Cornelio, who was once considered a particularly hard-working student, fell in love with a woman, has since neglected his studies and devotes himself to the joys of life. Fabrizio suggests Vincenzio to marry his son to a woman so that he can relax again. Vicenzio replies that he had tried to marry his son to the daughter of a certain Gostanzo, but that Gostanzo did not want to know about it. Da Vincenzo complains about his son's lot, Fabrizio tells him the story of his daughter Lucrezia. Fabrizio was said to have been expelled from Sicily or banned from Sicily in 1533 for reasons that are not specified (probably because the public is expected to know about it). He entrusted his daughter Lucrezia to his brother. In 1537 an uprising took place in Sicily, in which the brother Fabrizios took part. After the suppression of the uprising, the brother and the daughter Fabrizios had to leave Sicily. Fabrizio has had no news from the two since then. At the end of the conversation, both see Gostanzo. Vincezio learns from Gostanzo that he fell in love again at the age of 65 - with the wife of Capitano Malagigis. In the course of the conversation, Vincenzio asks Gostanzo Lucilla to marry Cornelio. Gostanzo refuses. Meanwhile, Lampridia and her servant Niccoletta go to a nun who is said to have news from Sicily. Lampridia has been living with Vincenzio disguised as a woman for seven years. On the way to becoming a nun, Lampridia Niccoletta tells her life story. Lampridia's father was a rebel and had to leave Sicily. Lampridia was disguised as a woman for her protection. When Lampridia's father died in France, he gave Lampridia into the care of a certain Bellisario. Bellisario had known that Lampridia was actually a man, but had refrained from revealing Vincenzio Lampridia's true identity. Lampridia wistfully remembers her or his lover Lucrezia, whom she or he had to leave behind in France. Now a certain Fortunio, a stranger, Lampridia, is courting. Lampridia likes to flirt with him because Fortunio is somewhat similar to her or his Lucrezia. Cornelio, on the other hand, lets a certain Querciuola mediate between him and his beloved - but initially without success. When Cornelio gave Lucilla a gift, her reaction was extremely positive. In a letter she expresses interest in visiting Cornelios. However, Cornelio had to make sure that her father was out of the house and then came from the back of the house, where he could climb up to the window bars of her room with a ladder unobserved. It is easy for Querciuola to distract Gostanzo, as he also mediates between Gostanzo and his adored one. Meanwhile, Cornelio will get a rope ladder and consult with Alessandro. At the same time, Capitano Malagigi and his servant Fagiuolo go again to the Duke, to whom he has been invited for lunch.

Second act

Fortunio doesn't know that Lampridia is actually her beloved Aloisio. She has a remorse because she believes she has fallen in love with a woman, but also because she believes that she is doing Aloisio injustice through her love. Both Aloiso and Lucrezia / Fortunio come from the same town in Sicily. Aloisio had to leave the same with his father because of participating in an uprising after its suppression. Fortunio, in turn, was carried off the island by his uncle dressed as a man. Subsequently, both came under the control of Turkish pirates. Fortunio fell in love with Lampridia because Lampridia looks very similar to her Aloisio. The servant Lampridias mediates between her mistress and Fortunio. Since all attempts have so far failed to make Lampridia Fortunio inclined, Niccoletta would like to make one last attempt to soften Lampridia after all. She assumes that Lampridia is the kind of woman who only agrees to a love affair if you touch her without being asked. To this end, she wants to secretly bring Fortunio to Lampridia's room at night. There Fortuno should then rape them in their sleep. Fortunio asks Niccoletta to think about it. While the captain Malagigi dines with the duke (or in reality with his cellar master?), Fagiuolo talk to Ruzza, a servant of Gostanzo. Fagiuolo reveals to Ruzza that he is having an affair with Brigida, his master's wife. Ruzza then reveals to Fagiuolo that Gostanzo is madly in love with the same woman. Ruzza and Fagiuola talk for a while when Querciuola finally joins them. Querciuola learns from Fagiuolo that Malgigi and the Duke will ride to Lucca. Querciuola passes this news on to Gostanzo. While Malagigi was on the way, Gostanzo should go to Brigida disguised as a locksmith, so as not to arouse suspicion, and let her call her from her window (as agreed with Querciuola). In the meantime, Lampridia / Aloisio learned from the nun from Sicily that she would soon be unable to reveal her identity because her captors had been murdered and the arrest warrant against her family had been revoked. She will therefore reveal her true identity in two or three days. Cornelio learns from Querciola that Gostanzo, as Malagigi is on his way to Lucca, will smuggle himself into Malagigi's house disguised as a locksmith in order to have fun with his wife. Querciuola intends to lock Malagigi's front door behind Gostanzo and if he is looking for her in Brigida's room, to lock Gostanzo there. Brigida will climb into a neighbor's house via a balcony and spend the whole day there. When they unlocked Gostanzo again, they would tell him that this was done solely for his protection, since a brother Brigidas had unexpectedly appeared and they wanted to prevent him from catching both of them red-handed in the house. After the conversation, Querciuola goes out to disguise Gostanzo as a locksmith. Cornelio should not leave his house so that he could let him know if they had locked Gostanzo in Malagigi's house.

Third act

After Querciuola disguises Gostanzo as a locksmith, everything initially goes according to plan: Gostanzo loudly offers his service as a locksmith, is called into the house by Brigida and locked up by Querciuola. Querciuola then goes to Cornelio and Alessandro, who is with him, to let them know that the air is clean. Meanwhile, Gostanzo, imprisoned in Brigida's house, goes in search of Brigida. Behind Gostanzo's house, Alessandro holds the ladder to Lucilla's window, but admonishes Cornelio to change his mind. But all the "clever" words are of no use. Cornelio sticks to his decision. With Alessandro's intercession, Cornelio managed to persuade Lucilla to let him into the house so that they could talk to one another personally without being separated from one another by a window grille. The hunt that Captain Malagigi wanted to go on with the Duke has meanwhile been called off. Malagigi is on his way home with his servant and finally discovers that the door to his house is locked. He unlocks the door and enters his house with the suspicion that his wife is up to dishonest things. Querciuola is present, notices this and fears that Gostanzo is in danger. Gostanzo is lucky that Malagigi didn't recognize him and goes home after having a verbal rub.

Fourth act

In the meantime, Gostanzo saw Lucilla and a man hugging tightly through a crack in the wall in his study. He is outraged about this, especially since he promised Lucilla to a certain Lonardo, who has now been in Rome for two months. Despite all admonitions, he has the lovers locked in their room and goes to the Duke to report them both. When Querciuola, who followed all events attentively, learns of Gostanzo's visit to the Duke, he first goes to Vincenzio so that he can stop Gostanzo. Messer Fabrizio, the scholar who was called to Pisa from Sicily, recognizes his compatriot Messer Lucrezio on the street after a scholarly dispute. Lucrezio is looking for Aloisio and is now in the process of giving up this (similar to Site's search for Nina in Ruzante's La Piovana [1533]) and returning to Sicily. The conversation between the two shows that Fabrizio was the father of Fortunios the Elder. H. Lucrezias is. After the uprising in 1537, he entrusted his daughter to his brother Lodovico and has not heard anything new from them since. Lucrezio, in turn, is the uncle of Aloisios or Lampridias. Lucrezio's brother Francesco and his son Aloisio were accused of being ringleaders and consequently had to leave Sicily. Lucrezio knows that Aloisio left Sicily in women's clothing in order to remain anonymous. He also knows that Francesco died in France. Since then, however, he has had no news from Aloisio, who is now Lucrezio's only surviving relative, which is why he will be the sole heir to the entire family estate. In the meantime Querciuola was able to somehow free Cornelio from Gostanzo's house. There was no sexual intercourse between Cornelio and Lucilla because Lucilla did not want to and Cornelio respected this. The conversation between Cornelio and Querciuola also shows that Lucilla is not married to Lonardo. Gostanzo only gave him the promise to marry Lucilla (the Italian word maritare is (deliberately) misleading, as it can mean both “to marry” and “to marry” in the sense of “to make a marriage promise”. This is where the misunderstanding becomes dissolved in the sense of "giving the marriage vows"). Lucilla did not consent to the marriage. Brigida, who is in the house of one of her neighbors, in order to be able to make her contribution to the prank against Gostanzo, is now supposed to help Cornelio and Lucilla out of a jam. Disguised as a man, she should go over the liter into Lucilla's room and in this way expose Gostanzo to ridicule. Brigida should justify her disguise as a man with the fact that she wanted to attack Gostanzo in his bed that night. Since Gostanzo is not particularly clever and is deeply in love with her, he will do everything for her. Fortunio, d. H. Lucrezia, as Niccoletta had said, sneaked into Lampridia's (i.e. Aloisios) bedroom at night and caressed it while she was asleep. She found that Lampridia was actually a man. Change of scene: The captain Malgigi and his servant Fagiuolo are looking for Brigida, because Malagigi wants to take revenge on her for her alleged crime (Malagigi alleges that his wife is having a secret affair with the locksmith).

Fifth act

Scene 1-3

Gostanzo learns from Vincenzio that his son Cornelio is the one who "violated" his adopted daughter. No matter how urgently Vincenzio Gostanzo implores not to seek revenge - Gostanzo cannot be softened. In the meantime, Querciuola has succeeded in smuggling Brigida into Lucilla's room and Cornelio out. To the astonishment of Gostanzo and Vincenzo, Cornelio found himself with Alessandro. Gostanzo annoys the Duke because there was not a man in Lucilla's room, but Brigida disguised as a man. As Lucilla behaved unexpectedly chaste and virtuous towards Cornelio, he wants to marry his beloved and urges Vincenzio to stand up for him. Vincenzio, however, refuses, because he considers his son's infatuation to be a cricket and he feels reviled by Gostanzo's intransigence towards him. Meanwhile, the captain Malagigi and his servant Fagiuolo are still looking for Brigida. They learn from a little boy that Brigida was staying with a woman named Piera and was finally brought to Ruzza's house in men's clothing by a stranger to lock her in a room. Malagigi tells the boy to call two armed men to Gostanzo's house. When Malagigi and Fagiuolo are in front of Gostanzo's house and both Gostanzo and Ruzza are not intimidated by Malagigi's threats, but rather act aggressively towards him and his servant, the former are discouraged and turn around. Back at home, Malagigi wants to vent his anger on his wife who has also returned home, but she can talk her way out. Brigida also pretends that she doesn't know anything about the "locksmith" who is said to have been locked in her house and suspects that the locksmith was actually a thief. She also manages to deny that she disguised herself as a man, showing Malagigi that in his madness he is more willing to believe a ten-year-old than her. Fortunately, the little boy himself, who is brought in by Brigida, cannot remember her exactly.

Scene 4-5

In the meantime, Gostanzo has learned that Lonardo, to whom he had promised his Lucilla, had been ordained bishop in Rome and is now not interested in marrying her. When Gostanzo suggests to Vincenzo that his Lucilla should be married off to Cornelio after all, Vincenzio puts aside any resentment he harbored against Gostanzo for the shame he had suffered and concludes a kind of marriage contract. Then Vincenzio learns from Cornelio that he caught Lampridia together with Fortunio and locked them both in Lampridia's room. When Vincenzio calls Fortunio to account, he puts his act into perspective by revealing Lampridia's true gender identity. Vincenzio then has Lampridia brought in. Vincenzio Fabrizio calls in as spiritual support, so to speak. Since Fabrizio was found together with Lucrezio, Lucrezio is also part of the party. Lampridia / Aloisio does not deny her / his true gender identity. Lampridia, d. H. Aloisio justifies the maintenance of his fake identity with the danger that he ran against him on the basis of the arrest warrant and with the obedience to Belissario's command not to reveal himself until the situation in Sicily has calmed down again. Since Fortunio, d. H. Lucrezia, who now recognizes her lover based on the life story presented, Lucrezio begins to suspect that Aloisio is the nephew he has been looking for for so long. Despite seeing his relative again, Aloisio is saddened because he was madly in love with a girl named Lucrezia as a child and believes that he will never see her again. This is reason enough for Fortunio to identify himself as Lucrezia - also to the delight of Fabrizio, who finally recognizes his daughter in her. Lucrezia asks her father to be allowed to marry Aloisio. Fabrizio agrees. In view of this joyous recognition scene, Vincenzio invites everyone present to his home. When everyone has entered Vincenzio's house, Querciuola speaks to the audience. This is said to go home, since the wedding will take place in Vincenzio's house. Should one of the women in the audience want to marry, she will find the right husband among the wedding guests (since actors at court were usually noblemen and therefore should have been a good match for the noble women in the audience). Should the women in the audience not be willing to marry, they should at least give a recognizable sign of joy.

people

  • Vincenzio, old man from Pisa
  • Cornelio, young man in love, son of Vincenzio
  • Querciuola, servant of Cornelios
  • Furbetto, Vincenzio's boy
  • Lampridia, ie Aloisio, supposed daughter of Vincenzio
  • Niccoletta, Lampridia's maid
  • Fortunio, that is, Lucrezia, Aloisio's beloved
  • Messer Fabrizio (Mr. Fabrizio), legal scholar
  • Messer Lucrezio (Mr. Lucrezio), Sicilian
  • Gostanzo Naspi, old man in love from Pisa
  • Ruzza, servant of Gostanzo
  • Lucilla, daughter of Gostanzo and adored Cornelios
  • Capitan Malagigi
  • Fagiuolo, Malagigi's servant
  • Brachetto, Malagigis lad
  • Angela, matchmaker
  • Brigida, Mrs. Malagigis
  • Alessandro, friend of Cornelios

Literary influences

Literary role models

Literary works influenced by L'Alessandro

Further information

  • Scene one of the first act, in which Vincenzio, in view of the supposed dissolute life of his son, mourns the good old days and in which Messer Fabrizio replies that the world does not change, but that people perceive the world differently depending on their age, remembers the 1st to 3rd chapters of the first book by Baldassare Castigliones Libro del Cortegiano (1528)
  • The character of the foolish old man in love (like Gostanzo) also appears in other Renaissance comedies: e.g. B. Calandro in Bibbiena's La Calandria or Messer Nicia in Machiavelli's Mandragola
  • The former military leader Capitan Malagigi, boasting of heroic deeds but actually cowardly, recalls the Capitan Tinca in Aretino's La Talanta; the motif of the sword, which had several legendary owners and is counteracted by the story of the sword Fagiuolos (scene six of the fourth act in L'Alessandro ), is a parody of the legendary swords in knight epics and novels, such as B. on the sword Durindana in Ariost's Orlando furioso (1516/32)
  • The motif of gender confusion is predominant in Bibbiena's La Calandria and plays an important role in Aretino's La Talanta (1542) (cf. also stanzas 19–70 of the 25th song, as well as the stanzas 97-108 of the 32nd song of Orlando furioso ), however, L'Alessandro is one of the first modern comedies in which a person affirmatively refers to homosexuality - on the other hand, one of the few comedies of the 16th century in which Platonic love prevails and thus deviates from ancient Roman models such as Terence and Plautus
  • The lock-and-key metaphor inherent in the locksmith is possibly borrowed from Bibbiena's La Calandria (third act, scene ten), as well as the motif of the saying with which the locksmith is supposed to sell his goods, that of the magic spell of the same play by Bibbiena (second act, scene six)

literature

Text output