Luigi Pulci obviously imitates the
Improvisatori in his 'Morgante,' and both his poetry and Boiardo's are
in part, at least, a half-conscious parody of the chivalrous poetry of
the Middle Ages. Such a caricature was deliberately undertaken by the
great parodist Teofilo Folengo (about 1520). Under the name of Limerno
Pitocco, he composed the 'Orlandino,' in which chivalry appears only as
a ludicrous setting for a crowd of modern figures and ideas. Under the
name of Merlinus Coccaius he described the journeys and exploits of his
fantastic vagabonds (also in the same spirit of parody) in half-Latin
hexameters, with all the affected pomp of the learned Epos of the day
('Opus Macaronicorum'). Since then caricature has been constantly, and
often brilliantly, represented on the Italian Parnassus.
About the middle period of the Renaissance a theoretical analysis of
wit was undertaken, and its practical application in good society was
regulated more precisely. The theorist was Gioviano Pontano. In his
work on speaking, especially in the third and fourth books, he tries by
means of the comparison of numerous jokes or 'facetiae' to arrive at a
general principle. How wit should be used among people of position is
taught by Baldassare Castiglione in his 'Cortigiano.' Its chief
function is naturally to enliven those present by the repetition of
comic or graceful stories and sayings; personal jokes, on the contrary,
are discouraged on the ground that they wound unhappy people, show too
much honour to wrong-doers, and make enemies of the powerful and the
spoiled children of fortune; and even in repetition, a wide reserve in
the use of dramatic gestures is recommended to the gentleman.
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