Arlequino Sbrufadelli of Bergamo
Ottavio:
How many fathers have you?
Harlequin:
I have only one
Ottavio (growing angry): But why have you only one father?
Harlequin: Well, I'm a poor man, and can't afford any more.
Arlequino
is a compulsive prankster, often himself ending up as the butt of the
joke. Deep down he wishes nothing more than being taken seriously.
Role:
Trickster
servant
Occupation:
Servant, employed or not
Theme:
Doomed social struggle
Passion:
To be loved and respected
Origin
of passion:
Born as a servant in a shabby Bergamo merchants
household, Arlechino has never known anything but ridicule, poverty, violence
and scorn. He cannot understand why he can't be loved and respected like
his masters. Leaving Bergamo, his mother in tears, he swore a holy oath
to return as a gentleman or never at all.
Foible:
Inability
to treat anything as serious, lack of empathy. Compulsive practical joking,
miming, hopping, scheming and carrying on.
Origin
of foible:
From an early age Arlechino has learned that
the only way to be noticed is by making a fool of himself. Even the beatings
he gets from his irate masters are better than silence and obscurity.
Virtue:
Sense of justice. Arlechino intuitively recognizes
injustice and oppression, always directing his humour to make fun of power-structures
if he can.
Primary
needs:
1.
To win his true love
2. To
advance in position
3.
To be noticed at all times
Primary
activities:
1. Make
up impossible schemes to win a lady's affection.
2. Pretend
to be someone else, more respected.
3. Impress
others with his superior agility.
4. Plan
his future life in luxury in great but simple-minded detail.
5. Make
up impossibly stupid elaborations of his masters schemes and carry them
out.
6. Steal
things
The slopes of northern Bergamo are filled with sheds, hovels and a wide assortment of structures defying all logical classification. Some of them have walls of dirt - they are reasonably nice hovels. They stay dry during winter and cool in summer. Arlechino was not born in one of them. His father may have been any one of a handful of suspects ranging from the industrious freelance pardoner Guiseppi to the second-rate bookmaker Parmelli. His mother was a servant, just like Arlechino himself would one day become, and worked in a shabby merchants household. Arlechinos first years could have been gentler on him, but they shaped him for better or for worse. Some say he was born a little strange while others swear that his drunk mother dropped him on the head a bit to regularly. Still others claim Arlechino is a changeling, others that he is the devils spawn. Whatever the explanation Arlechino has always been a bit…special. His random fits of laughing, constant movement and absurd reasoning made him the laughing-stock of the neighbourhood, a role he graciously accepted and perfected. Known to be "as stupid as a donkey and as quick as lightning", Arlechino entertained and annoyed everyone he met in turns. But the natural born jester was not at peace. Deep within he nursed the dream to become something greater - a respected gentleman just like those his mother served. He watched, learned and aped his betters, developing a vocabulary and securing an education of sorts. When his mother died in a fever nothing could keep Arlechino from the road and the realization of his dream. Since that day Arlechino has had a million adventures and almost as many masters. His travels have taken him from one end of Italy to the other but finally he has settled in Vendora, a town that according to Arlechino contains all the wonders of the world.
Arlechino is the trickster incarnate. He takes ideas and pushes them far beyond the point of absurdity, shows men their flaws by imitating and exaggerating them, ridicules everything and respects nothing. He can be quite serious, even menacing, for short periods of time but generally bursts into wild Lazzi and verbal stunts at every opportunity. He cannot stand still and is never at rest. Constant change and wild disrespect for everything established dominates his larger than life personality. Add to this the fact that fate has a tendency to constantly punish Arlechino with everything from phantom pregnancies to night-time trips to the moon and you have the true protagonist of the Commedia.
Arlechinos strength is his enthusiasm and rebellious attitude. His greatest flaw is his passion to be respected and admired, without it he would be the perfect clown. As it is there will always be something tragic about Arlechinos doomed struggle for status.
Arlechino dreams of love and always lusts after the wrong girl. If his master is in love with someone it is a good bet that Arlechino will fall for the lady as well and complicate things hopelessly.
Arlechino is a servant. He runs errands for his master, arranges meetings, cleans his clothes, makes his food (admittedly not his strongest side) and a thousand other little tasks that may all go horribly and comically wrong.
Arlechino or the Harlequin is the most famous of all the Commedia characters. His dress has changed from shirt with colored patches into the archetypal image of a jesters costume and can bee seen everywhere from playing cards to computer games characters. The witty fool has always been a way for the little man to get back at his social betters. Harlequin shows that neither birth nor schooling is needed to expose the faults of the nobility, the bourgeoisie and the clergy.
