Entre Pathos et Ironie: Le Déguisement Dans Deux Comédies Régulières Du XVIe Siècle (La Commedia Degli Ingannati Des Intronati De Sienne et Les Contens D'odet De Turnèbe)

Abstract

This article explores the meaning and the function of disguise in Italian and French comedies of the sixteenth century. These two plays, belonging to two different cultures and periods — the first, a 'comédie romanesque', performed in 1532, and the second, a 'comédie d'intrigue', published in 1584 in Paris — engage with problems of representation. The use of disguise is not purely decorative, but crucial to the progress of the plot and the development of the characters. In Gl'Ingannati, disguise not only makes the role of the young female heroine more active, but underlines the ironic dimension of this traditionally pathetic character. In Les Contens, disguise itself becomes the protagonist of the action. By migrating from one character to another, disguise exposes, in Les Contens, the conventionality of certain characters (the braggart, for instance) and the non-conventionality of others, who become in this way more individual. By means of the theatrical device of disguise, stereotyped characters begin to incarnate more developed forms of individuality.