The playwright Carlo Goldoni: biography and creativity

Carlo Goldoni - the famous Venetian librettist and playwright of the 18th century. One of the world's recognized 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 their son, so they forced the boy to study law. However, Carlo since childhood was captivated by the theater. And when he was sent to study philosophy at the age of 14, he fled from the teachers and joined a strolling theater company. Goldoni stayed among the artists for a short time and in 4 years was at the school in Pavia. But even here he did not stay 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 obtain a doctorate and go to the lawyers. However, the prospective playwright did not spend much time and spent more time writing. In 1738, the play Momolo cortesan was published, which was the beginning of his dramatic work. However, the writer's early works were not particularly successful.

Dramaturgical success

In 1748, Carlo Goldoni, whose work was highly regarded by this time, became one of the playwrights of the famous Italian troupe Medebaka. Soon the writer with the troupe settles in Venice, which takes Goldoni with delight. Here he lives until 1762, continuing to improve his writing gift. This period is considered the most fruitful for Carlo. Only in 1750 he managed to create 16 comedies, among which were such famous ones as "The Family of Antiquaries", "Coffee House", "Liar", "Babless Gossip".

In 1756, Carlo Goldoni moved to another troupe and until 1762 wrote for her 60 comedies, among them - "Innkeeper", La Villegiatura, Baruffe Chiozzote. Most of the plays of this period are devoted to the depiction of Venetian life. It was possible to do this dramatist masterfully, and it is these plays that can still be seen on the stage.

Life in Paris

By 1762, Goldoni realized that his native Venetian audience began to give preference to Gozzi's fantastic plays. Not wanting to see how his glory fades away, Carlo Goldoni moves to Paris. Before leaving, he wrote one of his most beautiful comedies - Una della ultime sere del Carnevale. This play became a kind of farewell to the native Venice.

In Paris, the playwright lived for the next 30 years. In France, the writer continued to practice his favorite craft. Here was written one of the best comedies of the playwright Le bourru bienfaisant. In Versailles, February 6, 1793, at the age of 85, Goldoni died.

Already in his old age he wrote his memoirs, which became the brightest example of the literary and theatrical world. The last years of his life the great playwright lived in need. He had to give lessons in the Italian language, so as to hold out somehow. Despite the fact that the convention counted him a pension, the writer died before he began to receive it.

Innovation by Carlo Goldoni

Photos of the paintings depicting a playwright and a monument dedicated to the creator can be seen in this article. Goldoni is a famous dramatic innovator and reformer. For a long time, the Italian theater was represented only by a comedy of masks based on improvisation. By the middle of the 18th century it was completely obsolete, but the attempts made for its diversity were clearly not enough.

Only Goldoni managed to change the situation. Toward his goal, the playwright was gradually moving. His first play Momolo cortesan was partly a script. And by 1750 Goldoni finally departed from the old scenario technique. However, the playwright never completely forgot about the comedy of improvisations, therefore he left the most popular and most beloved masks by the Italian spectator: Doctor, Pantalone, Brighella, Harlequin, Colombina, etc. However, all these images were carefully revised by the writer, and their characters changed.

Changing the characters of masks

Satire Carlo Goldoni was not as harsh as in the classic comedy of masks, which affected the characters. The doctor, previously described as a drunkard and chatterbox, became a respectable family man. Brighella, in the past a crook and a rogue, at Goldoni appears as the owner of a tavern or majordomo.

The moralizing nature of the writer's plays in the Pantaloon mask was especially clear. Previously, the hero was portrayed as a mean, funny and lascivious 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 in those years propagated its ideals among the people, found in Goldoni's writings both an affectionate teaching and encouraging praise. The playwright actively propagated the idea that the bourgeoisie is higher than the lowered nobility in the moral and spiritual plane. This ideological orientation made the writer's work even more popular among the population.

Afterword

Thus, is the creator of the classical Italian bourgeois drama Carlo Goldoni. A brief biography of the writer, presented above, testifies to the writer's incredible devotion to his craft. Despite the protests of the family, he became a playwright and became famous as an innovator. The pan-European fame of Goldoni is due to his desire for realism and a truthful depiction of life, which in his day was a rarity. It is no accident that Voltaire called the playwright "a painter of nature." Goldoni is very much loved in his homeland. In Italy, including Venice, the playwright erected several monuments.