Carlo Goldoni is an illustrious 18th century Venetian librettist and playwright. One of the recognized world classics. In this article we will talk about the biography and work of the famous Italian writer.
Carlo Goldoni: biography
Goldoni was born on February 25, 1707 in Venice in the family of a doctor. His parents dreamed of a legal career for his son, so they forcibly sent the boy to study law. However, Carlo from childhood was captured by the theater. And when he was sent to study philosophy at the age of 14, he escaped from teachers and joined a wandering theater troupe. Goldoni did not stay among the artists for long and after 4 years ended up in a school in Pavia. But he didn’t stay here for long, Carlo was expelled for writing a satirical play, where he ridiculed his teachers.
In the end, thanks to the efforts of the family, Carlo in 1732 managed to get a doctorate and go to lawyers. However, the future playwright was not engaged in advocacy for long and spent more time writing. In 1738, the play Momolo cortesan was released, which marked the beginning of his dramatic work. However, the writer's early works were not particularly successful.
Dramatic success
In 1748, Carlo Goldoni, whose work was highly appreciated by this time, became one of the playwrights of the famous Italian troupe Medebaka. Soon, the writer, along with the troupe, settles in Venice, which accepts Goldoni with enthusiasm. Here he lives until 1762, continuing to improve his writing gift. This period is considered the most fruitful for Carlo. Only in 1750 he manages to create 16 comedies, among which there were such famous ones as The Antiquarian Family, Coffee Shop, Liar, and Gossip Babies.
In 1756, Carlo Goldoni transferred to another troupe and until 1762 wrote 60 more comedies for her, including The Innkeeper, La Villegiatura, Baruffe Chiozzote. Most of the plays of this period are devoted to the depiction of Venetian life. The playwright managed to do this masterfully, and it is these plays that can still be seen on the stage.
Life in Paris
By 1762, Goldoni realized that the native Venetian public began to give preference to Gozzi's fantastic plays. Not wanting to see his fame fading away, Carlo Goldoni moves to Paris. Before leaving, he wrote one of his most beautiful comedies - Una della ultime sere del Carnevale. This play has become a kind of farewell to his native Venice.
The playwright lived in Paris for the next 30 years. In France, the writer continued to engage in his favorite craft. One of the best comedies of the playwright Le bourru bienfaisant was written here. At Versailles on February 6, 1793, at the age of 85, Goldoni died.
Already in old age, he wrote his memoirs, which became the brightest example of the literary and theatrical world. In the last years of his life, the great playwright lived in need. He had to give Italian lessons in order to somehow hold out. Despite the fact that the convention counted him a pension, the writer died before he began to receive it.
The Innovation of Carlo Goldoni
Photos of paintings depicting a playwright and a monument dedicated to the creator can be seen in this article. Goldonnie is a famous dramatic innovator and reformer. For a long time, the Italian theater was presented only by a comedy of masks based on improvisation. By the middle of the 18th century, it was completely outdated, but the attempts that were made for its diversity were clearly not enough.
Only Goldoni managed to change the situation. The playwright walked towards his goal gradually. His first play, Momolo cortesan, was partly a screenplay. And by 1750, Goldoni finally moved away from the old script technology. However, the playwright did not dare to completely forget about the comedy of improvisations, so he left the masks most popular and most loved by the Italian audience: Doctor, Pantalone, Brigella, Harlequin, Colombina, etc. However, all these images were carefully reworked by the writer, and their characters changed.
Change character masks
Satire Carlo Goldoni was not as severe as in the classic comedy of masks, which influenced the characters. The doctor, previously described as a drunkard and a talker, became a respectable family man. Brigella, a former crook and rogue, appears in Goldoni as the innkeeper or majordom.
The moralizing character of the writer’s masked pantalone was especially pronounced. Previously, the hero was portrayed as a mean, funny and lustful old man. Now Pantalone was transformed and became an elderly venerable merchant, the bearer of the best qualities of the Venetian bourgeoisie. He becomes the mouthpiece of democratic ideas, instructs aristocrats. It says that all people have the same rights.
The bourgeoisie in Italy, which propagated its ideals among the people in those years, found both affectionate instruction and encouraging praise in Goldoni's works. The playwright actively promoted the idea that the bourgeoisie is higher than the descending nobility in moral and spiritual terms. Such an ideological orientation made the writer's work even more popular among the population.
Afterword
Thus, he is the creator of the classic Italian bourgeois drama Carlo Goldoni. A brief biography of the writer, presented above, testifies to the incredible devotion of the writer to his craft. Despite the protests of the family, he became a playwright and became famous as an innovator. Of pan-European fame Goldoni owes his desire for realism and a true depiction of life, which in his time was rare. It is no coincidence that Voltaire called the playwright "a painter of nature." Goldoni is very beloved at home. In Italy, including Venice, the playwright was erected several monuments.