Scaramouche () or Scaramouch (; from Italian Scaramuccia , literally "little skirmisher") is a stock clown character of the 16th-century commedia dell'arte (comic theatrical arts of

Italian literature Italian literature is written in the Italian language, particularly within Italy. It may also refer to literature written by Italians or in other languages spoken in Italy, often languages that are closely related to modern Italian, including ...

). The role combined characteristics of the ' (servant) and the '' Capitano'' (masked henchman), with some assortment of villainous traits. Usually attired in black Spanish dress and burlesquing a

don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

, he was often beaten by

Harlequin Harlequin (; it, Arlecchino ; lmo, Arlechin, Bergamasque pronunciation ) is the best-known of the '' zanni'' or comic servant characters from the Italian '' commedia dell'arte'', associated with the city of Bergamo. The role is traditional ...

for his boasting and cowardice.

History

Although

Tiberio Fiorillo Tiberio Fiorilli, also spelled Fiorillo and Fiurelli (November 9, 1608 – December 7, 1694)"Fiorillo, Tiberio" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica'' (15th edition, Chicago, 1991) vol. 4, p. 787. was an Italian actor of '' commedia dell'arte ...

(1608–1694) was not the first to play the role, he greatly developed and popularized it. He removed the mask, used white powder on his face, and employed grimaces. He was small, had a long beard, and wore a predominantly black costume with a white ruff. In France, he became known as Scaramouche. Pietro Paolini - Portrait of Tiberio Fiorilli as Scaramouche

Pietro Paolini - Portrait of Tiberio Fiorilli as Scaramouche

In the 19th century, the English actor Joseph Grimaldi and his son J. S. Grimaldi made numerous appearances as Scaramouche.

Character

Scaramouche influences the audience to do his bidding. Rosa says that Coviello (like Scaramouche) is "short, adroit, supple, and conceited". In Molière's '' The Bourgeois Gentleman'', Coviello disguises his master as a Turk and pretends to speak Turkish. Both Scaramouche and Coviello can be clever or stupid—as the actor sees fit to portray him. In Blaise Pascal's ''

Pensées The ''Pensées'' ("Thoughts") is a collection of fragments written by the French 17th-century philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal. Pascal's religious conversion led him into a life of asceticism, and the ''Pensées'' was in many ways h ...

'' Section 1 Article 12, Scaramouche is described as a person "who only thinks of one thing. The doctor, who speaks for a quarter of an hour after he has said everything, so full is he of the desire of talking."

In puppetry

Scaramouche is one of the great characters in the

Punch and Judy Punch and Judy is a traditional puppet show featuring Mr. Punch and his wife Judy. The performance consists of a sequence of short scenes, each depicting an interaction between two characters, most typically Mr. Punch and one other character ...

puppet shows (a performative art with roots in commedia dell'arte). In some scenarios, he is the owner of The Dog, another stock character. During performances, Punch frequently strikes Scaramouche, causing his head to come off his shoulders. Because of this, the term ''scaramouche'' has become associated with a class of puppets with extendable necks.

Scaramouche in popular culture

* The hero of

Rafael Sabatini Rafael Sabatini (29 April 1875 – 13 February 1950) was an Italian-born British writer of romance and adventure novels. He is best known for his worldwide bestsellers: ''The Sea Hawk'' (1915), ''Scaramouche'' (1921), ''Captain Blood'' (a.k.a ...

's historical novel ''

Scaramouche Scaramouche () or Scaramouch (; from Italian Scaramuccia , literally "little skirmisher") is a stock clown character of the 16th-century commedia dell'arte (comic theatrical arts of Italian literature). The role combined characteristics of the ...

'', and its film adaptations, is a similar

swashbuckling A swashbuckler is a genre of European adventure literature that focuses on a heroic protagonist stock character who is skilled in swordsmanship, acrobatics, guile and possesses chivalrous ideals. A "swashbuckler" protagonist is heroic, daring, ...

character who goes incognito in the theatrical role of Scaramouche. * Several films were named Scaramouche, among other past films and TV series, include: ** ''Scaramouche'' (1912-13) Op. 71, is a two-act tragic ballet-pantomime, comprising 21 numbers, written by the Finnish composer

Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius ( ; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and early-modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest composer, and his music is often ...

. ** ''Scaramouche'' (1923), silent movie by Rex Ingram ** ''

'' (1952), directed by

George Sidney George Sidney (October 4, 1916May 5, 2002) was an American film director and producer who worked primarily at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. His work includes cult classics '' Bye Bye Birdie'' (1963) and ''Viva Las Vegas'' (1964). With an extensive backgr ...

with Stewart Granger,

Janet Leigh Jeanette Helen Morrison (July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004), known professionally as Janet Leigh, was an American actress, singer, dancer, and author. Her career spanned over five decades. Raised in Stockton, California, by working-class parents, ...

Eleanor Parker Eleanor Jean Parker (June 26, 1922 – December 9, 2013) was an American actress. She was nominated for three Academy Awards for her roles in the films ''Caged'' (1950), ''Detective Story'' (1951), and ''Interrupted Melody'' (1955), the first ...

, and

Mel Ferrer Melchor Gastón Ferrer (August 25, 1917 – June 2, 2008) was an American actor, director, producer and screenwriter. He achieved prominence on Broadway before scoring notable film hits with ''Scaramouche'', '' Lili'' and ''Knights of the Roun ...

. ** ''The Adventures of Scaramouche'' (1963), a French-Italian-Spanish feature film, directed by Antonio Isasi-Isasmendi, starring

Gérard Barray Gérard Barray (born 2 November 1931 in Toulouse) is a French actor. Early life and education Barray's parents split up quickly and his mother, who came from Montauban decided to return to her hometown with her little boy. Around the age of 15, h ...

, Michèle Girardon, and Gianna Maria Canale. ** '' The Loves and Times of Scaramouche'' (1976), an Italian comedy film, directed by Enzo G. Castellari, starring

Michael Sarrazin Michael Sarrazin (May 22, 1940 – April 17, 2011)

Ursula Andress Ursula Andress (born 19 March 1936) is a Swiss-German actress, former model and sex symbol who has appeared in American, British and Italian films. Her breakthrough role was as Bond girl Honey Ryder in the first James Bond film, '' Dr. No'' (1962 ...

, and Aldo Maccione, about the adventures of a cad in Napoleonic times. * ''

'' is the name of a suite by the French composer

Darius Milhaud Darius Milhaud (; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions ...

for two pianos and some other combinations. Milhaud first composed the piece as an amalgam of music he wrote for theatre. * In the 1975 song "

Bohemian Rhapsody "Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released as the lead single from their fourth album, '' A Night at the Opera'' (1975). Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, the song is a six-minute suite, notable for its lack o ...

", by the British rock band

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

, Scaramouche is asked if he would like to perform the dance known as a

fandango Fandango is a lively partner dance originating from Portugal and Spain, usually in triple meter, traditionally accompanied by guitars, castanets, or hand-clapping. Fandango can both be sung and danced. Sung fandango is usually bipartite: it has ...

. * Inspired by "Bohemian Rhapsody", ''Scaramouche'' is the name of the lead female role in the

jukebox musical A jukebox musical is a stage musical or musical film in which a majority of the songs are well-known popular music songs, rather than original music. Some jukebox musicals use a wide variety of songs, while others confine themselves to songs perf ...

play ''

We Will Rock You "We Will Rock You" is a song written by Brian May and recorded by British rock band Queen for their 1977 album ''News of the World''. ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it number 330 of " The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004, and it placed at num ...

''. * ''Scaramouche Jones'' (2002) is a solo play by Justin Butcher, which was premiered in its full form by

Pete Postlethwaite Peter William Postlethwaite, (7 February 1946 – 2 January 2011) was an English character actor. After minor television appearances, including in '' The Professionals'', his first major success arose through the British autobiographical fil ...

. In this 100-minute monologue, an aging clown recounts, at the turn of the millennium, the

picaresque The picaresque novel ( Spanish: ''picaresca'', from ''pícaro'', for "rogue" or "rascal") is a genre of prose fiction. It depicts the adventures of a roguish, but "appealing hero", usually of low social class, who lives by his wits in a corru ...

story of his life, from his early childhood in Trinidad at the start of the 20th century, the son of a

gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

prostitute and an Englishman, through his harsh misadventures in the slave trade and in wartime Poland, where as a gravedigger he found his vocation as a clown while striving to keep children amused by

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...

ing their imminent slaughter. * In the opening chapter of the book ''

Phule's Company :''This is about the 1990 novel. For an overview of the whole series of novels, see Phule's Company (series).'' ''Phule's Company'' is a comic military science fiction novel written by Robert Asprin and originally published in 1990. The book foll ...

'' by

Robert Asprin Robert Lynn Asprin (June 28, 1946 – May 22, 2008) was an American science fiction and fantasy author and active fan, known best for his humorous series '' MythAdventures'' and '' Phule's Company''. Background Robert Asprin was born in St. J ...

, the main character Willard Phule uses Scaramouche as his alias. ("Scaramouche?" Major Joshua said with a frown. "Aside from the obvious reference to the character from the novel".) * In

Tom Stoppard Sir Tom Stoppard (born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and politi ...

's '' On the Razzle'', Scaramouche is the ''

nom de plume A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

'' used by sales clerk Weinberl in his letters while answering "lonely hearts advertisements". * Investor

Anthony Scaramucci Anthony Scaramucci ( ; born January 6, 1964) is an American financier who briefly served as the White House Director of Communications from July 21 to July 31, 2017. Scaramucci worked at Goldman Sachs's investment banking, equities, and priv ...

was named the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

communications director in July 2017 and removed later that same month. His very public presence in news media prompted an 8.185% increase in searches for ''Scaramouche'', according to Merriam-Webster. Cartoonist

Ruben Bolling Ruben Bolling (born c. 1963 in New Jersey) is a pseudonym for Ken Fisher, an American cartoonist, the author of '' Tom the Dancing Bug'' and ''Super-Fun-Pak Comix''. His work started out apolitical, instead featuring absurdist humor, parodying c ...

hinted at some striking congruities between Scaramucci's conduct in office and the defining traits of the theatrical figure. * Scaramouche is the name of a comedic villain henchman in season 5 of the American animated television series ''

Samurai Jack ''Samurai Jack'' is an American animated action-adventure television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. Tartakovsky conceived ''Samurai Jack'' after finishing his wor ...

'', voiced by

Tom Kenny Thomas James Kenny (born July 13, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for voicing the titular character in ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and associated media. Kenny has voiced many other characters, including Heffer Wolfe in '' ...

. * Scaramouche is also the name of a character in the game

Genshin Impact ''Genshin Impact'' is an action role-playing game developed and published by miHoYo. It was released for Android, iOS, PlayStation 4, and Windows in 2020, on PlayStation 5 in 2021, and is set for release on Nintendo Switch. The game feature ...

Notes

Bibliography

* *

External links

* {{Authority control Fictional characters introduced in the 16th century Stock characters Clever Zanni class characters Italian fiction Fictional Italian people Male characters in literature