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Commedia Dell Arte Research Paper

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What is commedia dell’arte and why should I care? Firstly, commedia dell’arte is a “form of comic theatre, originating in Italy in the sixteenth century, in which dialogue was improvised around a loose scenario involving a set of stock characters, each with a distinctive costume and traditional name” (Wilson and Goldfarb 510). Examples of commedia are found in one of my favorite sitcoms, That 70s Show. If you haven’t heard of it, Erik Adams explains it to be, “... a sitcom set in malaise years whose true purpose was never lampooning disco cheese or outdated technology—though it did that, too. That ’70s Show is about the smaller stuff, the truly memorable moments of adolescence unseen in the history books” (Adams). What Adams means is that this …show more content…

For instance, Hyde, a troubled teen who is the most sarcastic of the group, would be Brighella because they are both subtly manipulative (The Characters - La Commedia Dell'Arte). Kelso, the more dim-witted of the group, shares the same characteristics as Arlecchino because they both aren’t the brightest (ibid). Eric and Donna, the next door neighbors that eventually fall in love, fall into the category of the innamorati, “the lovers”(Innamorati - La Commedia Dell'Arte). This pairing is the central relationship of the show and they fall into the innamorati category because of how they would always slip away from everyone to be romantic with each other (ibid). Although their love wasn’t a secret, like it typically would be, they kept most of the kissing and such to themselves and would reserve these actions for darker areas like “the basement”(Eric’s basement where the crew would usually hang out), either of their bedrooms, or a vehicle that appears to be in a secluded area. Jackie, the slightly-snobbish one, fits the description of Ruffiana because they both enjoy gossiping and sex (ibid). Fez, since he is the only non-American, is placed into the role of the Dottore because Fez is unable to work and function in America like the rest of the characters (ibid). Now it’s time to put these characters together to bring in the commedia in the form of lazzi, repeated bits of physical comedy …show more content…

Kelso jumps up and proceeds to quickly tackle Hyde to the ground (That ‘70s Show TV, 2016). They fight and we laugh since they look pathetic fighting over the tickets. This differs from the verbal lazzo the takes place between Hyde and Fez in season 2 episode 9 when they go on a double blind date (ibid). There are two pretty ladies coming to see them but they both want the blonde, Hyde tells Fez that it is “American custom” for Hyde to get the blonde and Fez goes with it since he doesn’t know better. It turns out that the blonde is Hyde’s complete opposite so he tells Fez to switch with him (ibid). After the switch, Hyde finds that he has so much in common with the blonde’s friend until she decides to leave to go study while the blonde decides to take Fez to her parents’ hot tub to fool around. In the end Hyde lucked out even though he tried to trick Fez (ibid). Although this scene was amusing to watch, was it because of Fez’s lack of understanding “American customs” that made it funny? Is it also funny since he may not be

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