Shakespeare and the Commedia dell’Arte

In any comparative study of Shakespeare and the commedia dell'arte, it is salutary to acknowledge where the Italian professional theatre is not: partisans for Italian influence in Shakespeare's plays do not help their cause by indiscriminate Pantalone and Zanni spotting. When early modern English writers cited the commedia dell'arte, it was often as a satirical tag meant to reinforce a sense of what is properly English—and not Papist. Like Sutcliffe, Ben Jonson associates the commedia dell'arte with degraded forms of piazza entertainment. Jonson's knowledge of the commedia dell'arte in Volpone is fairly precise, and he is not alone among English playwrights and writers. And so despite the relative infrequency of commedia dell'arte visits to England, early modern English writers can describe the Italian maschere with a detail and verve that suggests strong interest, even if they are using the Arte as a satiric device.