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Pulcinella: With a
trip and pratfall, Pulcinella rose to fame flying his
banner of foolery in the guise of a smiling idiot with a
fat stomach. His fellow players of the Commedia dell'
Arte found his inability to perform the simplest of
tasks a source of constant entertainment. The audience
loved his clumsy attempts and he soon found a permanent
place among his fellow clowns and players as a perfect
"butt" of any joke. Pulcinella was greedy and boorish,
but used his charm to swindle whomever he could.
Pulcinella, who was later known as "Punch" in England,
was the character who made food the classic prop for the
clown. Gluttony was transformed from a vice into an art
form, with Pulcinella gorging himself with sausages
pilfered from the other characters. Once the character
became "Punch" in England, he was so popular that he
became immortalized as a puppet, featuring the hooked
nose which was part of the costume in the Commedia dell'
Arte but without the mask. Punch and Judy proceeded to
grow in fame. Punch evolved to a clown immortalized by
children and their love for his silly puppet scenarios. |
