Il Dottore (, 'the Doctor'), commonly known in
Italian as ''Dottor Balan'' or simply ''Balanzone'' (;
Bolognese
Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nati ...
egl, Dutåur Balanzån) is a ''
commedia dell'arte
(; ; ) was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is also known as , , and . Charact ...
''
stock character
A stock character, also known as a character archetype, is a fictional character in a work of art such as a novel, play, or a film whom audiences recognize from frequent recurrences in a particular literary tradition. There is a wide range of st ...
, in one
scenario being an obstacle to young lovers. Il Dottore and
Pantalone are the
comic foil of each other, Pantalone being the decadent wealthy merchant, and Il Dottore being the decadent erudite.
He has been part of the main canon of characters since the mid-16th century.
Overview
Il Dottore was born from the city of
Bologna,
Italy. He is comically inept. He is usually extremely rich, though the needs of the scenario might have things otherwise, and extremely pompous, loving the sound of his own voice and spouting
ersatz Latin and
Greek, Il Dottore is known to be overly self loving and greedy. His interaction in the play is usually mostly with
Pantalone, either as a friend, mentor or competitor.
History
Il Dottore first originated as the
comic foil of Pantalone. The character has his performance origins in the year 1560 with the actor Lucio Burchiella;
two other mentions follow soon after, with a pair of being mentioned in the year 1565,
and another mention of ''Dottore Gracian'' in 1574. Since his introduction, he has existed in some form or other due to his popularity and interactions with Pantalone; however, his popularity did wane in Italy by the 1800s.
He has gone by many names besides ''Il Dottore'', those being ''Dottore Gratiano'', ''Dottore Baloardo'' ("Dr. Dolt"), ''Dottore Spaccastrummolo'' ("Dr. Hack-and-Bandage"), ''Dottore Scarpazon'', and ''Dottore Forbizone'' ("Dr. Large Scissor"). His many names reflect his
buffoonish nature, and call attention to his positive traits.
Il Dottore migrates to
France with the
Gelosi troupe during the year 1572, still performed by Lucio Burchiella. Since performers were itinerant by nature, it is only natural that his character was transplanted to other countries. By the late 17th century, Il Dottore was firmly embedded in the public eye, as evidenced by the playwright
Molière's inclusion of a Docteur-style character in his play '. In contemporary media, Il Dottore can be found in many common characters, such as
Sheldon from ''
The Big Bang Theory'' and
Dr. Zoidberg from ''
Futurama
''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of the professional slacker Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1000 years a ...
''.
Characteristics
Rotund
Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's we ...
and fond of drink and food but he loves chocolate the most. Il Dottore is also fond of girls however is untruthful and gets caught cheating several times; he is a love rat. Il Dottore is representative of the learned intellectual class, and as such is meant to playfully parody the educated elite.
He attended the University of Bologna, and pretends to be an expert in many subjects, talking constantly, but usually having no idea about that of which he speaks.
Depending on the portrayal, however, he can actually be very educated, and bore the other players into leaving the stage.
The preferred crowd favorite, however, is the Dottore who speaks nonsense. Il Dottore walks with his chest up, knees bent, and with a bouncy movement, taking small steps;
he
gesticulate
A gesture is a form of non-verbal communication or non-vocal communication in which visible bodily actions communicate particular messages, either in place of, or in conjunction with, speech. Gestures include movement of the hands, face, or ot ...
s with his hands and fingers, making room around him by keeping others at bay.
He stands in one position and plants himself to make a point.
Il Dottore can be the father to one of the ''
innamorati'', usually either
Columbina or
Isabella.
There are, however, existing scenarios in which Dottore is not a father, specifically "the Tooth-Puller", or ''Il Cavadente''. There is also precedence for Il Dottore to be
cuckold
A cuckold is the husband of an adulterous wife; the wife of an adulterous husband is a cuckquean. In biology, a cuckold is a male who unwittingly invests parental effort in juveniles who are not genetically his offspring. A husband who is aw ...
ed.
Mask and costume
Unlike the majority of half masks in , Il Dottore's mask is unique in that it is a one-third mask; the mask itself is meant to be a parody of a Bolognese jurisconsult.
The actor's cheeks may sometimes have
rouge applied to imply that Il Dottore is fond of drinking.
His costume is usually all or mostly black and he frequently wears a black felt hat with long, trailing robes.
Under his black robes are shorter black robes and black shoes.
The
ruff around Il Dottore's neck didn't come into play until his popularity in France grew, at which point it was adopted in 1653 by Agostino Lolli.
See also
*
Giovanni Camillo Canzachi
Giovanni Camillo Canzachi was an Italian actor, mainly performing Commedia dell'Arte.
He was born in Bologna and mainly active in the first half of the 18th century. he was renowned as the character wearing the mask of the ''Dottore''. He was re ...
*
Commedia dell'Arte
(; ; ) was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is also known as , , and . Charact ...
*
Goldoni
*
Pantalone
*
Innamorati
*
Stock Character
A stock character, also known as a character archetype, is a fictional character in a work of art such as a novel, play, or a film whom audiences recognize from frequent recurrences in a particular literary tradition. There is a wide range of st ...
References
*{{cite book , title=Commedia dell'arte , last=Rudlin , first=John , author2=Oliver Crick , year=2001 , publisher=Routledge , isbn=978-0-415-20409-5 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CgMKhwelZzUC&q=the+art+of+commedia , access-date=August 4, 2009
*''The Italian Comedy'' by
Pierre Louis Duchartre
Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...
*
External links
Character description of Il Dottore
Dottore, Il
Commedia dell'arte characters