Tristen Sledge

THEA 4220/6220
February 23, y

Preliminary Bibliography

1. Mazzone-Clementi, C., & Hill, J. (2003). Chapter 11: Commedia and The Actor. In J.
Schechter (Ed.), Popular Theatre: A Sourcebook (1st ed., pp. 83–89). essay,
Routledge.
This chapter of the book looks at commedia and how it relates to the actors, but it goes into
detail about the types of stock characters involved and lays out the three main groups. It tells us
about the caricati, who are essentially caricatures, the machietta, or “little spot” who are equiva-
lent to cameo roles today, and the maschere who were the masked characters of commedia
dell’arte. It explains why the maschere were so funny in their time and why they were essential
for the plot of this type of performance form. It explains what types of objectives they would
have, who they typically had to go against, and what their place is in the fictional society of com-
media. This chapter also compares modern day performance types to commedia dell’arte to show
how it is still seen today. This is a great way to find comparisons of the modern tropes to the his-
torical stock characters.
2. Meager, J. (2007, July). Commedia dell'arte. Metmuseum.org. Retrieved November 8,
2021, from https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/comm/hd_comm.htm.
This essay explains the roles of the stock characters and how they affected each other
within commedia dell’arte performances. It goes on to describe their costuming and how some of
the costuming design choices could have effect on how the character was perceived. This essay
goes in depth about the overarching groups of stock characters, like the zanni, the innamorati,
and the vecchi by listing specific characters that fall into each category. The author describes
what kind of comedic elements were used by which characters and why as well, listing the props
that they would’ve had. The author goes on to give examples of art pieces these characters can be
seen in and any plays that they can be found in.
3. Katritzky, M. A.. The Art of Commedia: A Study in the Commedia Dell'Arte 1560-1620
with Special Reference to the Visual Records. Netherlands, Rodopi, 2006.

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 This book explores the history of commedia dell’arte and how it continued to inspire the-
atre well after its time. It speaks on the stock characters and how they were represented in many
different areas of European art, literature, and performance. It goes into detail about how the
characters’ names came about and what characters stand out the most. They state that the in-
amorata and the zanni are the two characters that are the most noticeable while onstage. As
stated in the text, they explore why the inamorata specifically stood out so much and what the
first documented viewing of a woman on the stage for commedia dell’arte as a performance
form. This book also traces the origins of the zanni and how the masked characters came to be
such a staple of the performance form.
4. Stifler, B. (n.d.). Archetypes and The Hero. Archetypes and the hero. Retrieved
November 9, 2021, from https://www.billstifler.org/myth/files/4D-007-
hero_archetypes.htm.
Carl Jung discusses how “archetypes are universal tendencies that when given cultural
forms like fairy tales, art, or performances, they become universally familiar motifs.” The article
goes on to discuss how stock characters are some of the earliest versions of modern archetypal
characters. The author explores how commedia dell’arte began with four stock characters. These
are the Harlequin, the capitano, the pierrot, and the scaramouche. Stifler then goes onto explain
the archetypes of each of these stock characters within commedia dell’arte. These archetypes are
then compared to modern tropes and archetypal characters in modern art, literature, and perfor-
mance.
5. Radulescu, Domnica. “Caterina’s Colombina: The Birth of a Female Trickster in
Seventeenth-Century France.” Theatre Journal, vol. 60, no. 1, Johns Hopkins
University Press, 2008, pp. 87–113, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25070159.
This piece explains the origins of Columbina, the female-trickster stock character, in the
commedia dell’arte performance form. This piece also discusses how Caterina Biancolelli cre-
ated the character and what led to this portrayal becoming the ultimate base for the character.
Radulescu describes her costuming as well as her mannerisms and the tropes that were associated
with the character. The portrayal of Columbina by Biancolelli introduced the trope of the charac-
ter wearing multiple disguises in one play, and tormenting one of the characters, usually Harle-
quin, with the disguise. Virginia Scott explains that Biancolelli was the first to portray a female
zanni, as she is a trickster who is always successful and is never caught. It is noted that the her

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disguises, wit, and cynicism sometimes overshadowed Harlequin. The piece argues that
Columbina pushed the constraints on traditional roles of women by using cross-dressing and out-
right dismissing the idea of marriage at times, while also tending to be the only female character
that would insult or retort to the vecchi of the commedia.

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