Techniques of la Commedia dellArte in plays of A.P. Sumarokov

In this paper, we will study the specific features of the Commedia dellArte in the structure of A.P. Sumarokovsplays, in their themes and characters. His comedies are built on a love affair, in which he lavishly used the techniques of the CommediadellArte: masks (stock characters), buffoonery, etc. A.P. Sumarokov had a great opportunity to watch the performances of Italiantroupes in the 1730-1740s. His first comedies were under the undue influences of the Commedia dellArte, but with the lapse of time,the effects of Italian comedies were partly neutralized in the works of this great Russian playwright and he approached to his own Russianversion of comedy, in which one, nevertheless, can see the universal topics, affairs and characters of the Commedia dellArte. Inthis work, special attention is paid to the characters of A.P. Sumarokovs comedies. Many of them go back to the characters of ItalianCommedia dellArte: the presumptuous pedant (a parallel to the Doctor in the Commedia dellArte), the braggart soldier (a parallel tothe captain or Il Capitano), the rich and frequently stingy businessman, the father of the bride (a parallel to the Signor Pantalone), thesaucy and clever servant (a parallel to the Arlecchino or the first zanni), the bright maidservant (a parallel to Fantesca or Colombina),the bride and the suitor or the lovers (a parallel to the pair of lovers or the Innamorati). In Sumarokovs comedies, Tresotinius andBobembius play the role of pedants, they have typical characters of Il Dottore: they are conceited ignoramuses, they hold forth on theirfavourite subjects for a long time. They are very close to the Italian Il Dottore. Il Capitano or the braggart soldier is used just once in hiscomedy, in The Tresotinius, his name is Bramarbas. His character is too similar to his Italian prototype. His speech is full of extremelies; he is braggart and faint-hearted. In his early comedies, Sumarokovs parallels to Signor Pantalone are so inactive, but with timethey grow closer to their Italian prototype, to the rich, stingy and stupid father of the bride. In contrast to the Commedia dellArte, in hiscomedies there generally is just one servant, the first Zanni, a saucy, wise and clever servant, who can always find solution to any problem.He is the most lively, cheerful and comic character of Sumarokovs comedies. Kimar in the first two comedies, Arlecchin in TheMonsters, Pasquin in The Dowry by Deception and The Trustee, Eger and Rosmarin in the last comedies are so close to Arlecchino.Characters of Sumarokovs maidservants absolutely correspond to the characteristics of the Italian Fantesca. Sumarokovs lovers alsoclose to their Italian prototypes, the Innamorati too.

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