marrying her.

THE ORIGIN OF "MASKS" IN THE ITALIAN COMEDY

From the 'Memoirs of Carlo Goldoni'

The amateurs of the old comedy, on seeing the rapid progress of the new,
declared everywhere that it was unworthy of an Italian to give a blow to
a species of comedy in which Italy had attained great distinction, and
which no other nation had ever yet been able to imitate. But what made
the greatest impression on the discontented was the suppression of
masks, which my system appeared to threaten. It was said that these
personages had for two centuries been the amusement of Italy, and that
it ought not to be deprived of a species of comic diversion which it had
created and so well supported.

Before venturing to give any opinion on this subject, I imagine the
reader will have no objection to listen for a few minutes to a short
account of the origin, employment, and effects of these four masks.
Comedy, which in all ages has been the favorite entertainment of
polished nations, shared the fate of the arts and sciences, and was
buried under the ruins of the Empire during the decay of letters. The
germ of comedy, however, was never altogether extinguished in the
fertile bosom of Italy. Those who first endeavored to bring about its
revival, not finding in an ignorant age writers of sufficient skill, had
the boldness to draw out plans, to distribute them into acts and scenes,
and to utter extempore the subjects, thoughts, and witticisms which they
had concerted among themselves. Those who could read (and neither the
great nor the rich were of the number) found that in the comedies of
Plautus and Terence there were always duped fathers, debauched sons,
enamored girls, knavish servants, and mercenary maids; and, running over
the different districts of Italy, they took the fathers from Venice and
Bologna, the servants from Bergamo, and the lovers and waiting-maids
from the dominions of Rome and Tuscany. Written proofs are not to be
expected of what took place in a time when writing was not in use; but I
prove my assertion in this way: Pantaloon has always been a Venetian,
the Doctor a Bolognese, and Brighella and Harlequin Bergamasks; and from
these places, therefore, the comic personages called the four masks of
the Italian comedy were taken by the players. What I say on this subject
is not altogether the creature of my imagination; I possess a manuscript
of the fifteenth century, in very good preservation and bound in
parch