[22] Cesarotti, Verri, and Bettinelli, are three living authors who have
introduced thought into Italian prose; it must be confessed, that this
was not the case for a long time before.
Chapter ii.
"You will at least confess," replied the Count d'Erfeuil, "that there is
one part of literature in which we have nothing to learn of any
country.--Our drama is decidedly the first in Europe; for I cannot
believe that the English would presume to oppose their Shakespeare to
us."--"I beg your pardon," interrupted Mr Edgermond, "they have that
presumption."--And after this observation he was silent.--"In that case
I have nothing to say," continued the Count, with a smile which
expressed a kind of civil contempt: "Each one may think as he pleases,
but for my part I persist in believing that we may affirm without
presumption that we are the very first in dramatic art. As to the
Italians, if I may speak my mind freely, they do not appear even to
suspect that there is a dramatic art in the world.--With them the music
is every thing, and the play itself nothing. Should the music of the
second act of a piece be better than the first, they begin with the
second act. Or, should a similar preference attach to the first acts of
two different pieces, they will perform these two acts in the same
evening, introducing between, perhaps, an act of some comedy in prose
that contains irreproachable morality, but a moral teaching entirely
composed of aphorisms, that even our ancestors have already cast off to
the foreigner as too old to be of any service to them. Your poets are
entirely at the disposal of your famous musicians; one declares that he
cannot sing without there is in his air the word _felicità_; the tenor
must have _tomba_; while a third singer can only quaver upon the word
_catene_. The poor bard must make these different whims agree with
dramatic situation as well as he can. This is not all; there are actors
who will not appear immediately treading the boards of the stage; they
must first be seen in a cloud, or they must descend the lofty stairs of
a palace, in order to give more effect to their _entrée_. When the air
is finished, whatever may be the violent or affecting situation of his
character, the singer must bow to the audience in acknowledgment of
their applause. The other day, in Semiramis, after the spectre of Ninus
had sung his air, the representative of this shadowy personage made in
his ghostly costume a low reverence to the pit, which greatly diminished
the terror of the apparition.
"They are accustomed in Italy to consider the theatre merely as a large
assembly room, where there is nothing to hear but the airs, and the
ballet! I am justified in saying _that they listen to nothing but the
ballet_; for it is only when the ballet is about to begin, that silence
is called for in the pit: and what is this ballet but a masterpiece of
bad taste? There is nothing amusing in the dancing save the comic part
of it; the grotesque figures alone afford entertainment, being indeed a
good specimen of caricature. I have seen Gengis-Kan in a ballet, all
covered with ermine, and full of fine sentiments; for he ceded his crown
to the child of a king whom he had conquered, and lifted him up in the
air upon one foot; a new mode of establishing a monarch upon his throne.
I have also seen the sacrifice of Curtius formed into a ballet of three
acts, with divertisements. Curtius, in the dress of an Arcadian
shepherd, danced for a considerable time with his mistress; then
mounting a real horse in the middle of the stage, he plunged into the
gulf of fire, made of yellow satin and gilt paper, which looked more
like a fancy riding habit than an abyss. In fact, I have seen the whole
of Roman history from Romulus to Cæsar, compressed into a ballet."
"What you say is true," replied Prince Castel-Forte, mildly; "but you
have only spoken of music and dancing, which do not comprise what we
understand by the drama of any country." "It is much worse," interrupted
the Count d'Erfeuil, "when tragedies are represented, or dramas that are
not termed _dramas that end happily_: they unite more horrors in the
course of five acts, than the imagination could form a picture of. In
one piece of this kind, the lover kills the brother of his mistress in
the second act; in the third he blows out the brains of his mistress
herself upon the stage; her funeral occupies the fourth; in the
interval, between the fourth and fifth acts, the actor who performs the
lover comes forward, and announces to the audience with the greatest
tranquillity in the world, the harlequinades which are to be performed
on the following evening; he then reappears in the fifth act, to shoot
himself with a pistol. The tragic actors are quite in harmony with the
coldness and extravagance of these pieces: they commit all these horrors
with the utmost calm. When a performer uses much action, they say he
conducts himself like a preacher; for in truth, there is more acting in
the pulpit than on the stage. It is very fortunate that these actors are
so moderate in their pathos; for as there is nothing interesting, either
in the piece or its situations, the more noise they made about it, the
more ridiculous they would appear: it might still be endurable, were
there any thing gay in this nonsense; but it is most stupidly dull and
monotonous. There is in Italy no more comedy than tragedy; and here
again we stand foremost. The only species of comedy peculiar to Italy is
harlequinade. A valet, at once a knave, a glutton, and a coward; an old
griping, amorous dupe of a guardian, compose the whole strength of these
pieces. I hope you will allow that _Tartuffe_, and the _Misanthrope_,
require a little more genius than such compositions."
This attack of the Count d' Erfeuil was sufficiently displeasing to the
Italians who were his auditors; nevertheless they laughed at it. The
Count was more desirous of showing his wit than his natural goodness of
disposition; for though this latter quality influenced his actions,
self-love guided his speech. Prince Castel-Forte and the rest of his
countrymen present, were extremely impatient to refute the Count
d'Erfeuil; but as they were little ambitious of shining in conversation
and believed their cause would be more ably defended by Corinne, they
besought her to reply, contenting themselves with barely citing the
celebrated names of Maffei, Metastasio, Goldoni, Alfieri, and Monti.
Corinne began by granting that the Italians had no drama; but she
undertook to prove that circumstances and not want of talent, were the
cause of it. Comedy, which depends upon the observation of manners, can
only exist in a country where we live in the midst of a numerous and
brilliant society. In Italy we meet with nothing but violent passions or
idle enjoyments which produce crimes of so black a hue that no shades of
character can be distinguished. But ideal comedy, if it may be so
termed, that which depends upon the imagination, and may agree with all
times and all countries, owes its invention to Italy. Harlequin,
punchinello, pantaloon, &c., have the same character in every different
piece. In all cases they exhibit masks, and not faces: that is to say,
their physiognomy is that of some particular species of character, and
not that of any individual. Undoubtedly, the modern authors of
harlequinades, finding every part ready carved out for them like the men
of a chess-board, have not the merit of inventing them; but their first
invention is due to Italy; therefore these fantastic personages, which
from one end of Europe to the other afford amusement to every child, and
to every grown-up person whom imagination has made childlike, must
certainly be considered as the creation of Italians: this I should
conceive ought to give them some claim to the art of comedy.
The observation of the human heart is an inexhaustible source of
literature; but nations more disposed to poetry than to reflection, more
easily surrender themselves to the intoxication of joy than to
philosophic irony. That pleasantry which is founded upon the knowledge
of mankind has something sad at bottom. It is only the gaiety of the
imagination which is truly inoffensive. It is not that the Italians do
not study deeply the men whom they have to do with; for none discover
more subtly their secret thoughts; but they employ this talent as a
guide of conduct, and have no idea of converting it to any literary
purpose. Perhaps even they have no wish to generalise their discoveries,
and publish their perceptions. There is a prudent dissimulation in their
character, which teaches them not to expose in comedies that which
affords rules for private intercourse; not to reveal by the fictions of
the mind what may be useful in circumstances of real life.
Macchiavelli however, far from concealing anything, has exposed all the
secrets of a criminal polity; and through him we may learn of what a
terrible knowledge of the human heart the Italians are capable. But
profound observation is not the province of comedy: the leisure of
society, properly speaking, can alone furnish matter for the comic
scene. Goldoni, who lived at Venice, where there is more society than in
any other Italian city, has introduced more refinement of observation
into his pieces than is generally to be found in other authors.
Nevertheless his comedies are monotonous, and we meet with the same
situations in them, because they contain so little variety of character.
His numerous pieces seem formed upon the general model of dramatic
works, and not copied from real life. The true character of Italian
gaiety is not satire, but imagination; not delineation of manners, but
poetical exaggeration. It is Ariosto, and not Molière, who can amuse
Italy.
Gozzi, the rival of Goldoni, has more originality in his compositions;
they bear less resemblance to regular comedy. His determination was
liberally to indulge the Italian genius; to represent fairy tales, and
mingle buffoonery and harlequinade with the marvels of poetry; to
imitate nothing in nature, but to give free scope to the gay illusions
of fancy, to the chimeras of fairy magic, and to transport the mind by
every means beyond the boundaries of human action. He was crowned with
prodigious success in his time, and perhaps there never existed an
author more congenial to an Italian imagination; but to know with
certainty what degree of perfection Tragedy and Comedy can reach in
Italy, it should possess a theatrical establishment. The multitude of
little cities who all wish to have a theatre, lose, by dispersing them,
its dramatic resources: that division in states, in general so
favourable to liberty and happiness, is hurtful to Italy. She must needs
concentrate her light and power to resist the prejudices which are
devouring her. The authority of governments often represses individual
energy. In Italy this authority would be a benefit if it struggled
against the ignorance of separate states and of men isolated among them;
if it combated by emulation that indolence so natural to the climate;
and if, in a word, it gave life to the whole of this nation which now is
satisfied with a dream.
These ideas, and several others besides, were ingeniously developed by
Corinne. She well understood the rapid art of light conversation, which
does not dogmatically insist upon any thing, and also that pleasing
address which gives a consideration to each of the company in turn,
though she often indulged in that kind of talent which rendered her a
celebrated improvisatrice. Several times she intreated Prince
Castel-Forte to assist her with his opinion on the same subject; but she
spoke so well herself, that all the audience were delighted in listening
to her, and would not suffer her to be interrupted. Mr Edgermond, in
particular, could scarcely satisfy himself with seeing and hearing
Corinne; hardly did he dare to express the admiration she inspired him
with, and he pronounced some words of panegyric in a low tone of voice
hoping she would comprehend them without obliging him to address her
personally. He however possessed such a lively desire to know her
sentiments on Tragedy, that in spite of his timidity he ventured a few
words on that subject.
"Madam," said he to Corinne, "where the Italian literature appears to me
most defective is in Tragedy; methinks the distance is not so great
between infancy and manhood, as between your Tragedies and ours; for in
the changeableness of children may be discovered true if not deep
sentiments, but there is something affected and extravagant in Italian
Tragedy, which destroys for me all emotion whatever. Is this not so?
Lord Nelville," continued Mr Edgermond, turning to his lordship and
inviting his support by a glance, quite astonished at having found
courage to speak in such a numerous assembly.
"I am entirely of your opinion," answered Oswald; "Metastasio, who is
vauntingly called the poet of love, gives the same colouring to this
passion in every country and under every circumstance. His admirable
airs are entitled to our applause as much from their grace and harmony
as the lyrical beauties which they contain, especially when detached
from the drama in which they are placed; but it is impossible for us who
possess Shakespeare, who has most deeply fathomed History and the
passions of man, to suffer those amorous couples, that divide between
them almost all the pieces of Metastasio alike, under the names of
Achilles, of Tircis, of Brutus, and of Corilas, singing, in a manner
that hardly touches the surface of the soul, the grief and sufferings of
love, so as almost to reduce to imbecility the noblest passion that
animates the human heart. It is with the most profound respect for the
character of Alfieri that I shall indulge in a few reflections upon his
pieces. Their aim is so noble, the sentiments which the author expresses
are so much in unison with his personal conduct, that his tragedies must
always deserve praise as actions, even when they are criticised as
literary performances. But I find in the vigour of some of his tragedies
as much monotony as in the tenderness of Metastasio. There is, in the
plays of Alfieri, such a profusion of energy and magnanimity, or rather
such an exaggeration of violence and crime, that it is impossible to
discover in them the true characters of men. They are never so wicked
nor so generous as painted by this author. The aim of most of his scenes
is to place virtue and vice in contrast with each other; but these
oppositions are not according to the gradations of truth. If, during
their life, tyrants bore with what the oppressed are made to say to
their face in the tragedies of Alfieri, one would be almost tempted to
pity them. His play of Octavia is one of those where the want of
probability is most striking. In this piece, Seneca moralises
incessantly with Nero, as if the latter were the most patient of men,
and Seneca the most courageous. The master of the world permits himself
to be insulted, and his anger to be excited in every scene, for the
amusement of the spectators, as if it were not in his power to end it
all with a word. Certainly these continual dialogues give rise to some
very fine replies on the part of Seneca, and one would be glad to find
in an harangue or in a moral work the noble thoughts which he expresses;
but is this the way to give us an idea of tyranny? It is not painting it
in its formidable colours, but merely making it a subject for verbal
fencing. If Shakespeare had represented Nero surrounded by trembling
slaves, who hardly dared reply to the most indifferent question,
himself concealing his internal agitation and endeavouring to appear
calm, with Seneca near him writing the apology for the murder of
Agrippina, would not the terror have been a thousand times greater? And
for one reflection spoken by the author, would not a thousand be
generated in the soul of the spectators by the very silence of rhetoric
and the truth of the picture?"
Oswald might have spoken much longer without receiving any interruption
from Corinne; so much pleasure did she receive from the sound of his
voice and the noble elegance of his language, that she could have wished
to prolong this impression for hours together. Hardly could she remove
her eyes, which were earnestly fixed upon him, even after he had ceased
to speak. She turned them reluctantly to the rest of the company, who
were impatient to hear her thoughts upon Italian tragedy, and turning to
Lord Nelville:--"My Lord," said she, "it is not to combat your
sentiments that I reply, for they meet mine in almost every point: my
only intention is to offer some exceptions to your rather too general
observations. It is true that Metastasio is rather a lyrical than a
dramatic poet, and that he describes love like one of the fine arts that
adorn life, not as the most important secret of our happiness and our
pain. I will venture to say, notwithstanding our language has been
consecrated to the cause of love, that we have more profoundness and
sensibility in describing any other passion than this. The practice of
making amorous verses has created a kind of commonplace language amongst
us for that subject; so that not what he has felt, but what he has read,
inspires the poet. Love, such as it exists in Italy, by no means
resembles that love which is described by our writers. It is only in
Boccacio's romance of _Fiametta_, that according to the best of my
recollection, there is to be found an idea of that passion, painted in
truly national colours. Our poets subtilise and exaggerate the
sentiment, whilst agreeably to the real Italian character, it is a rapid
and profound impression, which rather expresses itself by silent and
passionate actions than by ingenious language. In general our literature
is not characteristic of our national manners[23]. We are much too
modest, I had almost said too humble a nation to aspire to tragedies
taken from our own history, and bearing the stamp of our own sentiments.
"Alfieri, by a singular chance, was transplanted, if I may use the
expression, from ancient to modern times; he was born for action, and
his destiny only permitted him to write; this constraint appears in the
style of his tragedies. He wished to make literature subservient to a
political purpose; undoubtedly his object was noble, but nothing
perverts the labours of the imagination so much as having a purpose. In
this nation, where certainly, some erudite scholars and very enlightened
men are to be met with, Alfieri was indignant at seeing literature
consecrated to no serious end, but merely engrossed with tales, novels,
and madrigals. Alfieri wished to give a more austere character to his
tragedy. He has stript it of all the borrowed appendages of theatrical
effect, preserving nothing but the interest of the dialogue. It appears
to have been his wish to place the natural vivacity and imagination of
the Italians in a state of penitence; he has however been very much
admired for his character and the energies of his soul, which were truly
great. The inhabitants of modern Rome are particularly given to applaud
the actions and sentiments of their ancient country; as if those actions
and sentiments had any relation to them in their present state.
They are amateurs of energy and independence, in the same manner as
they are of the fine pictures which adorn their galleries. But it is not
less true that Alfieri has by no means created what may be called an
Italian theatre; that is to say, tragedies of a merit peculiar to Italy.
He has not even characterised the manners of those countries and those
centuries which he has painted. His conspiracy of the Pazzi, his
Virginia, and his Philip II., are to be admired for elevation and
strength of thought; but it is always the character of Alfieri, and not
that of peculiar nations and peculiar times, which are to be discovered
in them. Although there be no analogy between the French genius and that
of Alfieri, they resemble each other in this, that both of them give
their own colouring to every subject of which they treat."
The Count d' Erfeuil, hearing the French genius called in question, was
induced to speak. "It would be impossible for us," said he, "to tolerate
upon the stage either the incongruities of the Greeks or the
monstrosities of Shakespeare; the French have too pure a taste for that.
Our theatre is the model of delicacy and elegance: those are its
distinguishing characteristics, and we should plunge ourselves into
barbarism by introducing anything foreign amongst us."
"That would be like encompassing yourselves with the great wall of
China," said Corinne, smiling. "There are certainly many rare beauties
in your tragic authors; and perhaps they would admit of new ones, could
you bring yourselves to tolerate anything not exactly French on your
stage. But as for us Italians, our dramatic genius would be greatly
diminished in submitting to the fetters of those laws which we had not
the honour of inventing, and from which, consequently, we could derive
nothing but their restraint. A theatre ought to be formed upon the
imagination, the character, and the custom of a nation. The Italians are
passionately fond of the fine arts, of music, painting, and even
pantomime: of every thing, in short, that strikes the senses. How then
could they be satisfied with the austerity of an eloquent dialogue, as
their only theatrical pleasure?[24] Vainly has Alfieri, with all his
genius, endeavoured to reduce them to it; he felt himself that his
system was too rigorous.
"The Merope of Maffei, the Saul of Alfieri, the Aristodemus of Monti,
and particularly the poem of Dante, although this last author never
composed a tragedy, seem calculated to convey an idea of what the
dramatic art might be brought to in Italy. There is in the Merope of
Maffei, a great simplicity of action, but the most brilliant poetry,
adorned with the happiest images: and why should this poetry be
forbidden in dramatic works? The language of poetry is so magnificent in
Italy that we should be more censurable than any other nation in
renouncing its beauties. Alfieri, wishing to excel in every department
of poetry, has, in his Saul, made a most beautiful use of the lyric; and
one might with excellent effect introduce music itself into the piece,
not so much to harmonise the words, as to calm the frenzy of Saul by the
harp of David. So delicious is our music that it may even render us
indolent as to intellectual enjoyments. Far therefore from wishing to
separate music from the drama, it should be our earnest endeavour to
unite them; not in making heroes sing, which destroys all dramatic
effect, but in introducing choruses, as the ancients did, or such other
musical aid, as may naturally blend with the situations of the piece, as
so often happens in real life. So far from retrenching the pleasures of
the imagination on the Italian stage, it is my opinion, that we should
on the contrary augment and multiply them in every possible manner. The
exquisite taste of the Italians for music, and for splendid ballets, is
an indication of the power of their imagination, and manifests the
necessity of rendering even the most serious subjects interesting to
them, instead of heightening their severity as Alfieri has done. The
nation conceive it their duty to applaud what is grave and austere; but
they soon return to their natural taste; however, tragedy might become
highly pleasing to them if it were embellished by the charm and the
variety of different kinds of poetry, and with all the divers theatrical
attractions which the English and the Spaniards enjoy.
"The Aristodemus of Monti has in it something of the terrible pathos of
Dante; and surely this tragedy is very justly one of the most admired.
Dante, that great master of various powers, possessed that kind of
tragic genius which would have produced the most effect in Italy, if it
could in any way be adapted to the stage; for that poet knew how to
represent to the eye, what was passing at the bottom of the soul, and
his imagination could make grief seen and felt. If Dante had written
tragedies, they would have been as striking to children as to men, to
the illiterate crowd as to the polished few. Dramatic literature ought
to be popular; like some public event, the whole nation ought to judge
of it."
"When Dante was living," said Oswald, "the Italians performed a
distinguished part in the political drama of Europe. Perhaps it would
now be impossible for you to have a national tragic theatre: it would be
necessary for the existence of such a theatre, that great events should
develop in life those sentiments which are expressed upon the stage. Of
all the masterpieces of literature, there is not one which depends so
much upon the whole people as tragedy; the spectators contribute to it
as much as the author. Dramatic genius is composed of the public mind,
of History, of government, of national customs, of everything, in fact,
which each day blends itself with thought, and forms the moral being, as
the air which we breathe nourishes physical existence. The Spaniards,
with whom you have some affinity as to climate and religion, are much
superior to you in dramatic genius; their pieces are filled with their
history, their chivalry, and their religious faith, and these pieces
possess life and originality; but their success, in this respect, dates
back to the epoch of their historical glory. How then could it be
possible now to establish in Italy, that which it never could boast
of--a genuine tragic drama!"
"It is unfortunately possible that you may be in the right," replied
Corinne; "however, I hope for greater things from the natural impulse of
mind in Italy, and from the individual emulation of my countrymen, even
when not favoured by external circumstances; but what we most want in
tragedy is actors. Affected words necessarily lead to false declamation;
but there is no language in which an actor can display so much talent as
in ours; for the melody of sound gives a new charm to truth of accent:
it is a continual music which mingles with the expression of feeling
without diminishing its vigour." "If you wish," interrupted Prince
Castel-Forte, "to convince the company of what you assert, it only
remains for you to prove it: yes, allow us to enjoy the inexpressible
pleasure of seeing you perform tragedy; you must grant these foreign
gentlemen the rare enjoyment of being made acquainted with a talent
which you alone in Italy possess; or rather that you alone in the world
possess, since the whole of your genius is impressed upon it."
Corinne felt a secret desire to play tragedy before Lord Nelville, and
by this means show herself to very great advantage; but she dared not
accede to the proposal of Prince Castel-Forte, without that approbation
of Oswald, which the looks she cast upon him earnestly entreated. He
understood them; and as he was at the same time concerned at that
timidity which had the day before prevented the exertion of her talent
for improvisation, and ambitious that she should obtain the applause of
Mr Edgermond, he joined in the solicitations of her friends. Corinne
therefore no longer hesitated. "Well, then," said she, turning to Prince
Castel-Forte, "we will accomplish the project which I have so long
formed, of playing my own translation of Romeo and Juliet,"
"Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet?" cried Mr Edgermond; "you understand
English, then?" "Yes," answered Corinne. "And you are fond of
Shakespeare!" added Mr Edgermond. "As a friend," replied she; "he was so
well acquainted with all the secrets of grief." "And you will perform in
Italian," cried Mr Edgermond; "and I shall hear you! And you too, my
dear Nelville. Ah, how happy you will be!" Then, repenting immediately
this indiscreet word, he blushed: and a blush inspired by delicacy and
goodness may be interesting at all periods of life. "How happy we shall
be," resumed he, a little embarrassed, "to be present at such a
representation!"