La Calandria

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La Calandria is a comedy in five acts by Bernardo Dovizi da Bibbiena , which premiered on February 6, 1513 at the court of Urbino . It is one of the most important comedies of the 16th century.

content

prolog

Similar to Ludovico Ariosto's La Cassaria (1508), questions of style are first clarified in order to anticipate possible criticism. The attention of viewers is drawn to the fact that La Calandria is a modern comedy; H. A comedy that is neither in verse (but in prose) nor in Latin (but in volgare ). The linguistic innovation is justified by the fact that

  • new things are more enjoyable than conventional ones,
  • as large an audience as possible should be addressed and, in contrast to volgare, not everyone understands Latin,
  • the volgare is a 'natural' one, i.e. H. acted by God-given language, which is in no way inferior to Latin, Greek and Hebrew, provided that the language is honed to the same extent as one once did with the aforementioned languages,
  • anyone who values ​​other languages ​​more than their own, is an enemy to themselves.

The unbelievable stupidity of the protagonist Calandro is defended in the prologue against possible accusations of lack of credibility. For justification, reference is made to a certain Martino da Amelia who is considered extremely stupid. Finally, La Calandria will be defended against possible allegations of plagiarism. The intention of the author is to measure himself against Plautus , but not to “copy” him. This is the reason why nothing is lacking in La Calandria that is already laid out in Plautus' comedies.

Plot (argomento)

In this section the prehistory of the comedy is presented. Demetrio from Methoni is the father of twins, the boy Lidio and the girl Santilla, both are confusingly similar. The father dies when the children are six years old. When the Turks conquer and pillage Methoni (around 1500), Santilla is brought to safety by her nurse and her servant Fannio. Since fugitive women left to their own devices are completely disenfranchised and Santilla's twin brother is believed to be dead, the nurse and Fannio disguise her as a man and call her Lidio. On the run, the three are captured and taken to Constantinople. Perillo, a wealthy Florentine merchant, buys the three out and brings them to his home in Rome. One day, however, Perillo decides to marry the supposed Lidio with his daughter. The real Lidio, however, fled from Methoni to Florence with his servant Fessenio . At the age of 17 he too traveled to Rome. There he and Fulvia fall in love. To visit Fulvia, Lidio has to dress up as a woman. After numerous mix-ups, Lidio and Santilla recognize each other. The audience is warned not to confuse Lidio and Santilla, since they are both of the same stature, wear the same clothes, and speak and gesticulate in the same way. Finally, a swipe at Rome: The audience shouldn't be surprised that all the Romans performing can suddenly be seen on the stage at home. This is not due to any magic or witchcraft, but to the fact that the stage and the background are Rome. The once so great Rome now fits easily into any city.

first act

When Lidio learns that his sister Santilla survived the escape from the Turks, he lets a search for her. Finally he finds out that she lives in Italy and has been looking for her in Rome for four months. While looking for his sister he met and fell in love with Fulvia, the wife of the extremely wealthy but equally simple-minded Calandro, although pecuniary interests certainly also play a role. At noon he visits her disguised as Santilla so that he can have fun with her without blame. To prevent the love affair from being exposed, Lidio pretends to want to leave, probably without having discussed this with Fulvia, because she is consumed with love for him at this news. Since she believes she has to dissuade Lidio from his supposed plan, she orders the charlatan Ruffo, who is considered to be a magician, to hex him and make her submissive in this way. If Ruffo succeeds, she will reward him generously. Since Ruffo is known to Santilla, who pretends to be Lidio, without knowing her true identity, he thinks that fulfilling her request is child's play. Meanwhile, during the numerous visits of Lidio, disguised as Santilla, Calandro fell madly in love with his alter ego . Fessenio, who now also works as a servant to Calandro, promises his master to bring him together with "Santilla" (actually Lidio).

Second act

Santilla, posing as Lidio, is in a delicate situation. On the one hand, the male identity saved her life, on the other hand, Perillo, her master, found in her such a good and honest person that he now intends to marry her off to his daughter Verginia and thus make her his heir. The wedding should take place the next day or in two days. Fulvia sees "Lidio", d. H. Santilla disguised as Lidio on the street and sends her servant Samia to her. Since Santilla knows neither Fulvia nor Samia, she is extremely harsh towards Samia. After Samia has left, Santilla meets Ruffo, who tries to win her or "him" for his project. Santilla is interested because Perillo, who may be looking for her, will not suspect her in Fulvia's house and she can buy herself free from Perillo with the hush money that Fulvia will pay her for the adultery. In the meantime, Fessenio submits his plans to Calandro. In order not to be discovered, Calandro should get into a safe. It would become “Santilla” in the vault, i. H. to Lidio disguised as Santilla. Fessenio, in turn, tells Lidio that he should wait for Calandro as a woman dressed up in his house. When it comes to sexual intercourse, Lidio should close the windows and darken the room. A prostitute would then lie down with Calandro. Meanwhile, Calandro goes to a certain Menicuccio who has the safe.

Third act

While Calandro is in the safe, Fessenio meets with the prostitute and the porter. Fessenio had told the porter that there were valuable goods in the safe. When the safe is brought to Lidio's house, the four are stopped by customs officers. In order to still be able to carry out his plan, Fessenio tells the customs officers that the corpse of a plague patient is in the safe and is about to be thrown into a nearby river. As Calandro begins to stir and complain about this claim, all except Fessenio and Calandro run away in horror. Now Fessenio Calandro has the safe carried to Lidio as camouflage. Since Calandro is not in the vault, he will see Lidio or Santilla in daylight. Lidio or "Santilla" will therefore have to put up with a few kisses from Calandro, which, according to Fessenio, is not that bad, since afterwards Lidio would like Fulvia's kisses all the more. In the event that Calandro and Santilla had intercourse, the prostitute would enter Lidio's house through the back entrance. Samia tells her mistress about her encounter with "Lidio" (actually Santilla). "Lidios" behavior is interpreted as contempt for Fulvia. Ruffo's magic, Fulvia concludes, had no effect. In desperation, she decides to go to Lidio disguised as a man in order to soften his heart through her complaints. However, Fulvia catches her husband having sex with the prostitute. She justifies her disguise as a man with her chastity. She didn't want to attract the men's looks. Fessenio, who did the prank with Calandro et al. a. had hatched up to convict him of adultery, is touched by the determination with which Fulvia loves Lidio, and promises her that Lidio will visit her shortly. However, Fulvia doesn't seem to want to take any chances and sends Samia to Ruffo. He in turn sends her to "Lidio" (actually Santilla), who is more friendly towards her because of the admonitions Ruffo and Fannio (Fannio already knows Samia from - where from, is not revealed in the comedy). "Lidio" learns from Samia that "he" should dress up as a woman and go to Fulvia, which "this" also does. So that Santilla's identity remains undetected, Fannio claims to Ruffo that “Lidio” is a hermaphrodite. Lidio, disguised as a woman, and Santilla arrive at Fulvia's and Calandro's house almost at the same time. Calandro sees Lidio and pursues him. While Lidio is fleeing home to go to his lover again in new clothes, Santilla can enter Fulvia's house unobserved.

Fourth act

In the meantime, Fulvia had sexual intercourse with "Lidio" and discovered that she was female. Ruffo reassures her that he can turn Lidio or his ghost into a man. Lidio or his ghost appeared as a woman because Fulvia asked him to do so. Ruffo in turn sends "Lidio" to Fulvia again. This time, since he was supposedly a hermaphrodite, he should use his male gender. When Fannio and Santilla are alone, Fannio explains his plan to his mistress. Both would wear the same (male) clothes when they went to Fulvia. Before that, Ruffo has Samia deliver a letter to her mistress, in which he promises her that Lidio or his ghost will appear this time with a male member. Samia meets Fessenio on the way home and reads him from the letter. Fessenio believes it is a miracle because, judging by the letter, Fulvia said with her own hand that Lidio is female.

Fifth act

When Samia is supposed to hand over the money to Lidio after receiving Ruffo's letter, she meets Lidio, disguised as a woman, and Santilla at the same time. Since Samia cannot decide which of the two is the real Lidio, she decides to return to her mistress. While Lidio makes his way to Fulvia, Santilla waits for Fannio. Fessenio, who is near her, hears her complaints about the threatened plan. By cursing her past and naming her place of birth, Santilla believes that she sees Lidio transformed into a woman by Ruffo. When Fessenio approaches Santilla, addresses her as her master and, since Santilla does not recognize him as his servant, reveals further details about his identity and his master, Santilla gradually realizes that Fessenio is the servant of her brother, who was believed to be dead. Lidio, who saw Fulvia Fessenio on the way, calls him over. Based on certain characteristics, Fessenio recognizes that he is his real master and wishes him luck with his project. While Lidio continues on his way to Fulvia, Fessenio returns to Santilla and Fannio. Santilla and Fannio, who has since joined, reveal their true identity to him. After this recognition scene Samia rushes over and reports that the Calandros brothers had seen Fulvia together with Lidio and were again looking for Calandro and Fulvia's brothers to expose Fulvia. Fulvia did not flee because she believed she could turn Lidio into a woman in time with the help of Ruffo's magic. Since the Calandro brothers could arrive at any time with Calandro and the Fulvias brothers, Fessenio devises the following plan: Santilla or "Lidio" should dress in Fannio's robes and Fannio in turn in "Lidio's" robes. The progress of the plan becomes clear through the plot: While Fannio waits for the outcome of the events, Fessenio leads Santilla or “Lidio” to Fulvia's house and smuggles it through a window into the room in which Fulvia and Lidio disguised as a woman are located. Santilla exchanges Fannio's clothes with Lidio. She herself puts on Lidio's women's robes. After the swap, Lidio leaves the room through the window. Then Calandro and his relatives and by-laws arrive. The revelation of the Calandros brothers dissolves in favor. Santilla will be given a friendly goodbye after her gender has been determined. After leaving Fulvia's house, she inquires about her brother. Santilla identifies himself to Lidio and introduces him to Fannio, whom Lidio remembers in no time. Fessenio, in turn, reveals to Fulvia the true identity of "Lidios", d. H. Santillas. The resemblance suits Fulvia because, on the one hand, she can marry off her son Flaminio to Santilla and, on the other hand, Lidio can visit her undiscovered and have fun with her. Fannio recommends Lidio to marry Verginia, the daughter of Santilla's lord, Perillo. This is how Lidio and Santilla can get rich. In the end, Fessenio turns to the audience: Lidio and Verginia's wedding won't take place until the next day. If you still want to see this, stay seated, the rest should leave the theater, as nothing else will happen on the stage in the near future.

people

  • Fessenio , servants of Lidios and Calandros
  • Polinico , Lidio's tutor
  • Lidio , brother of Santilla
  • Calandro , Fulvia's wealthy husband
  • Samia , servant of Fulvias and Calandros
  • Ruffo , magician
  • Santilla , sister of Lidios
  • Fannio , servant of Santilla
  • Fulvia , Calandro's wife
  • other people: the prostitute , the porter , the tax collector

Further information

  • The Questione della lingua of the prologue is similarly found in the prologue of La Cassaria (Prologue)
  • The reference to Plautus is reminiscent of the reference to Plautus and Terence in the prologue of I Suppositi (Prologue)
  • Lidio's pretended departure is reminiscent of Lucranio's pretended departure from La Cassaria (first act, scene 1)
  • In contrast to the Italian predecessors, the lover is socially lower than the beloved (first act, scene 2)
  • La Calandria is the only drama Bibbiena has ever written.
  • As in La Cassaria, there are subtle allusions to the farm or even to individual relatives. The court is ironically denounced its feminization (first act, scene 2)
  • While Raphael's student Girolamo Genga was responsible for setting the stage for the premiere in Urbino, Baldassare Peruzzi created the setting for two further performances in Rome.
  • The reason for the premiere of La Calandria was not only the carnival celebrations of 1513, but also the acquisition of Pesaro .
  • The prologue to La Calandria was written by Baldassare Castiglione . There is also a prologue by Bibbiena, but it was never performed.
  • According to Mario Baratto, some elements of Bibbiena's La Calandria later became an integral part of the Commedia dell'arte . This includes u. a. the motif of the old man in love and his cunning, inventive servant, embodied here by Calandro and Fessenio.

Literary role models

Ancient Roman Literature

Plautus

  • In both La Calandria and Plautus ' Menaechmi (2nd century BC), twins are the protagonists of a comedy made up of mistakes. In Bibbiena's comedy, however, the twins are of different sexes.
  • Bacchides (also 2nd century BC)
  • Casina

Italian literature

In addition to Plautus' Menaechmi , Boccaccio's Decamerone (~ 1349–1353) is the main source of inspiration for Bibbiena's La Calandria .

Boccaccio

  • The idiot Calandrino, who is the main character in four novels of Boccaccio's Decamerone ( Roman numerals = day, Arabic numerals = novella: VIII, 3; VIII, 7; IX, 3; IX, 5), is the eponym for Bibbiena's comedy.
  • The scene in which Lidio's servant Fessenio Calandro leads into a darkened room where a prostitute is waiting for him instead of his adored Santilla is inspired by the fourth novella of the eighth day in which the widow Piccarda humiliates the voluptuous priest of Fiesole by she leads him into a darkened room where he lies down with her misshapen maid, Ciutazza. Not only is the pastor caught in the act by the bishop, but he is ridiculed all his life for having sex with the ugly maid.
  • Fulvia's disguise as a man to visit her lover Lidio follows a motif that is widespread in the tradition of novelists and humanistic comedy. In the third novella of the second day z. B. the daughter of the King of England goes to Rome disguised as an abbot.
  • Fessenio's imaginative substitution of Lidio for Santilla after Calandro caught his wife in adultery and brought his brothers to punish them both reminiscent of the eighth novella of the seventh day, which speaks of Arriguccio Berlinghieri's jealousy towards his wife. Despite Arriguccio's vigilance, his wife manages to receive her lover in her house while Arriguccio sleeps. One night, however, Arriguccio catches the lover with his wife and pursues them. Out of fear for herself, Arriguccio's wife lets her maid sleep in her bed. Since the lover has apparently run away from Arriguccio, the latter returns home, beats up the maid who is lying in his wife's bed and cuts her hair off. Arriguccio then goes to his wife's brothers with his hair cut off to tell them about their “outrage”. When Arriguccio and his wife's brothers enter his house, they find his wife unscathed at home. This in turn takes this as an opportunity to present her husband as a drunk who may have beaten up a prostitute. Mrs. Arriguccios's brothers beat up his husband. From then on, Arriguccio's wife can meet her lover undisturbed.
  • The way in which Fessenio convinces Calandro that he can die, put in a box and finally rise again in Santilla's arms, is reminiscent of the eighth novella of the third day in which an abbot gives the foolish Ferondo a sleeping potion. After the seemingly dead Ferrondo is publicly buried, the abbot can disguise himself as a ghost, visit his wife and have fun with her. Meanwhile, Ferrondo is held in a cell and made him believe that he is in purgatory.
  • The motif of the lover who is brought to his lover in a chest can also be found in numerous short stories, e.g. B. in the first novella of the ninth day of the Decameron . In it, Madonna Francesca tries to get rid of two annoying wooers by ordering one to bury himself instead of a deceased relative and the other to plunder this very grave. Both wooers follow the instructions of their loved one, but the latter is surprised by the night watchman and leaves the supposed corpse behind.
  • After Fulvia, disguised as a man, goes to Lidios' house to visit and catches her husband with the prostitute, she justifies her disguise towards him with her chastity. As a respectable woman, she did not want to be harassed on the street. In this way she cleverly pulls herself out of the affair. The servant Fessenio, who witnessed this scene, attributes Fulvia's blossoming sagacity to the power of love, which is expressed in his Song of Songs to love and the power it gives to people. We find a similar hymn of praise in the fourth novella of the seventh day of Boccaccio's Decameron , in which Ghita praises the love that (at least for the time being) saved her from her jealous husband Tofano.
  • The complicit relationship between the servant Samia and her mistress Fulvia is reminiscent of the ninth novella of the seventh day. Here the servant Lusca is helping her mistress Lidia with a love affair with a young man.
  • In the scene where Fessenio makes Calandro believe that he can use a spell to take it apart, put it in the chest, and finally take it out of the chest and put it back together again without harming Calandro, Calandro is unable to cast the spell. Fessenio then, in a sense, pulls himself out of the affair by claiming that Calandro had destroyed the spell. This scene is similar to the tenth novella of the ninth day in which Donno Gianni claims he can transform the farmer Pietro da Tresant's wife into a mare. When Donno Gianni wants to attach the "tail" to Pietro's wife's bottom, Pietro steps in, whereupon Gianno accuses him of having ruined the magic.

Ariosto

  • Similar to Ludovico Ariosto in I Suppositi (1509), Bibbiena alludes to the Turkish invasions in Italy in the prehistory of La Calandria .
  • Mario Baratto sees La Calandria in the tradition of I Suppositi . In his opinion, Bibbiena tries to meet or even exceed the demands that Ariosto makes on comedy in general in the prologue of I Suppositi .
  • Criticism of customs officers, which is implicitly formulated in La Calandria in the context of the transport of Calandros in the chest, can also be found in Ariostos I Suppositi , albeit in a different context.
  • As in I Suppositi , a pedant appears in La Calandria : Polinico. In contrast to Ariostos Cleandro, he is not a legal scholar but, similar to the pedant of the Commedia dell'arte, a private teacher who, however, plays a very marginal role.

Further literary models

literature

Text output

  • Bernardo Dovizi da Bibbiena: La Calandria. In: Guido Davico Bonino (ed.): Il teatro italiano II. La commedia del Cinquecento. Tomo primo . Einaudi, Torino (Turin) 1977.
  • Giorgio Padoan (ed.): La calandra; commedia elegantissima per Bernardo Dovizi da Bibbiena. Testo critico annot. a cura di Giorgio Padoan. Padova, Antenore 1985 (Medioevo e umanesimo; 57)

Research literature

Jack D'Amico: Drama and the Court in La "Calandria". In: Theater Journal 43 (1991), pp. 93-106.

Giulio Ferroni: I due gemelli greci a Roma. Il doppio e la scena nella "Calandria" del Bibbiena. In: Studi Romani 28.1 (Ja.-Mar 1980), pp. 23–33.

Angela Guidotti: Il doppio gioco della "Calandria". In: MLN 104, 1, Italian Issue (1989), pp. 98-116.

Eberhard Leube: On the structural problem of the "Calandria". In: Italy and the Romania in Humanism and Renaissance. Festschrift for Erich Loos on his 70th birthday. Ed. V. Klaus W. Hempfer / Enrico Straub. Wiesbaden 1983, pp. 122-133.

Ronald L. Martinez: Etruria Triumphant in Rome: Fables of Medici Rule and Bibbiena's "Calandra". In: Renaissance Drama, Vol. 36/37, Italy in the Drama of Europe (2010), pp. 69-98.

Pamela D. Stewart: A Play on Doubles: The "Calandria". In: Modern Language Studies 14, 1 (1984), pp. 22-32.

Jörn Steigerwald: Magic of love and transformation: Bibbiena's "La Calandria". In: Art of Deception - Art of Deception. On the status and significance of aesthetic and demonic illusion in the early modern period (1400–1700) in Italy and France. By Kirsten Dickhaut (ed.). Wiesbaden 2016, pp. 349–372.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. Manfred Brauneck : The world as a stage. History of European Theater. First volume (1993). Stuttgart / Weimar: JW Metzler: 422-423.
  2. ↑ cf. Douglas Radcliff-Umstead: The Birth of Modern Comedy in Renaissance Italy (1969). Chicago / London: The University of Chicago Press: 143.
  3. ↑ cf. Douglas Radcliff-Umstead: The Birth of Modern Comedy in Renaissance Italy (1969). Chicago / London: The University of Chicago Press: 144-145.
  4. ↑ cf. Ettore Bonora: La teoria del teatro negli scrittori del '500. In: Il teatro classico nel '500 (1971). Roma: Accademia degli Lincei: 221.
  5. ↑ cf. Mario Baratto: La commedia del Cinquecento (aspetti e problemi) ( 1975/77 ). Vicenza: Neri Pozza: 95.
  6. ↑ cf. Douglas Radcliff-Umstead: The Birth of Modern Comedy in Renaissance Italy (1969). Chicago / London: The University of Chicago Press: 146
  7. ↑ cf. Dieter Kremers: The Italian Renaissance Comedy and the Commedia dell'Arte. In: August Buck (Ed.): Renaissance and Baroque. Part I (1972). Frankfurt am Main. Academic Publishing Society Athenaion: 318.
  8. ↑ cf. Ettore Bonora: La teoria del teatro negli scrittori del '500. In: Il teatro classico nel '500 (1971). Roma: Accademia degli Lincei: 221.
  9. ↑ cf. Douglas Radcliff-Umstead: The Birth of Modern Comedy in Renaissance Italy (1969). Chicago / London: The University of Chicago Press: 146.
  10. ↑ cf. Mario Baratto: La commedia del Cinquecento (aspetti e problemi) (1975/77). Vicenza: Neri Pozza: 95.
  11. ↑ cf. Douglas Radcliff-Umstead: The Birth of Modern Comedy in Renaissance Italy (1969). Chicago / London: The University of Chicago Press: 146-147.
  12. ↑ cf. Douglas Radcliff-Umstead: The Birth of Modern Comedy in Renaissance Italy (1969). Chicago / London: The University of Chicago Press: 147.
  13. ↑ cf. Douglas Radcliff-Umstead: The Birth of Modern Comedy in Renaissance Italy (1969). Chicago / London: The University of Chicago Press: 147.
  14. ↑ cf. Douglas Radcliff-Umstead: The Birth of Modern Comedy in Renaissance Italy (1969). Chicago / London: The University of Chicago Press: 147-148.
  15. ↑ cf. Douglas Radcliff-Umstead: The Birth of Modern Comedy in Renaissance Italy (1969). Chicago / London: The University of Chicago Press: 148.
  16. ↑ cf. Douglas Radcliff-Umstead: The Birth of Modern Comedy in Renaissance Italy (1969). Chicago / London: The University of Chicago Press: 151.
  17. ↑ cf. Douglas Radcliff-Umstead: The Birth of Modern Comedy in Renaissance Italy (1969). Chicago / London: The University of Chicago Press: 152.
  18. ↑ See Douglas Radcliff-Umstead: The Birth of Modern Comedy in Renaissance Italy (1969). Chicago / London: The University of Chicago Press: 154.
  19. ↑ cf. Douglas Radcliff-Umstead: The Birth of Modern Comedy in Renaissance Italy (1969). Chicago / London: The University of Chicago Press: 154.
  20. ↑ cf. Mario Baratto: La fondazione di un genere (per un'analisi drammaturgia della commedia del Cinquecento). In: Maristella de Panizza Lorch (ed.): Il teatro italiano del Rinascimento (1980). Milan: Edizioni di Comunità: 19-21
  21. ^ Douglas Radcliff-Umstead: The Birth of Modern Comedy in Renaissance Italy (1969). Chicago / London: The University of Chicago Press: 148.
  22. ↑ cf. Douglas Radcliff-Umstead: The Birth of Modern Comedy in Renaissance Italy (1969). Chicago / London: The University of Chicago Press: 152.
  23. ^ Douglas Radcliff-Umstead: The Birth of Modern Comedy in Renaissance Italy. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, London 1969, p. 153.