Carlo Goldoni

Lore & Background

Goldoni was born in Venice on 25 February 1707, the son of Margherita Salvioni (or Saioni) and Giulio Goldoni. His memoirs claim his father was a physician and that his grandfather Carlo Alessandro Goldoni introduced him to theatre, but the source notes these are likely errors: Giulio was an apothecary, and the grandfather died four years before Goldoni's birth. He was deeply interested in theatre from his earliest years; his toys were puppets and his books were plays. His father placed him under the philosopher Caldini at Rimini, but the youth soon ran away with a company of strolling players and returned to Venice. In 1723 his father matriculated him into the stern Collegio Ghislieri in Pavia, which imposed the tonsure and monastic habits on its students. In his third year he composed a libellous poem (Il colosso) ridiculing the daughters of certain Pavian families; as a result of that incident (and/or a visit with schoolmates to a local brothel), he was expelled in 1725. He studied law at Udine and eventually took his degree at the University of Modena. He worked as a law clerk at Chioggia and Feltre, then returned to Venice to practice law. After an unexpected summons to Venice following an absence of several years, he changed his career and devoted himself to writing plays and managing theatres. His father died in 1731. In 1732, to avoid an unwanted marriage, he left for Milan and then Verona, where theatre manager Giuseppe Imer helped him become a comical poet and introduced him to his future wife, Nicoletta Conio. He returned with her to Venice and stayed until 1743.

Reader's Guide

Goldoni's significance lies in his reform of Italian theatre, moving away from the improvised Commedia dell'arte toward scripted comedies of character and manners. He adopted Molière as his model, producing his first real comedy, L'uomo di mondo, in 1738. By 1743 he had perfected his hybrid style, combining the model of Molière with the strengths of Commedia dell'arte and his own wit and sincerity, typified in La Donna di garbo, the first Italian comedy of its kind. After 1748 he collaborated with composer Baldassare Galuppi on more than twenty librettos, making significant contributions to opera buffa. His operatic works include two of the most successful musical comedies of the eighteenth century: Il filosofo di campagna, set by Galuppi (1752), and La buona figliuola, set by Niccolò Piccinni (1760). His plays offered contemporaries images of themselves, dramatizing the lives, values, and conflicts of the emerging middle classes. In 1757 he engaged in a bitter dispute with playwright Carlo Gozzi, which left him utterly disgusted with the tastes of his countrymen, leading to his move to Paris in 1761. There he received a position at court and was put in charge of the Théâtre-Italien. He spent the rest of his life in France, composing most of his plays in French and writing his memoirs in that language. Among his French plays, the most successful was Le bourru bienfaisant, dedicated to Marie Adélaïde, a daughter of Louis XV, premiering on 4 February 1771. In 1769, when he retired to Versailles, the King gave him a pension, which he lost after the French Revolution. The Convention eventually voted to restore his pension the day after his death; it was restored to his widow at the pleading of the poet André Chénier.

Did You Know?

• Goldoni's memoirs claim his father was a physician, but the source notes he was actually an apothecary, and that his grandfather—said to have introduced him to theatre—died four years before Goldoni was born.
• He was expelled from the Collegio Ghislieri in Pavia in 1725 after composing a libellous poem (Il colosso) ridiculing the daughters of certain Pavian families, possibly compounded by a visit with schoolmates to a local brothel.
• After the failure of his tragedy Amalasunta, Count Prata told him Italian drama required consulting actors, composers, and decorators—not just Aristotle and Horace. Goldoni reportedly thanked him, returned to his inn, and threw the manuscript into a fire.
• He wrote under the pen name and title Polisseno Fegeio, Pastor Arcade, which he claimed the 'Arcadians of Rome' bestowed on him.
• The French Convention voted to restore his pension the day after his death; it was restored to his widow at the pleading of the poet André Chénier, who said she was seventy-six and her husband left her only 'his illustrious name, his virtues and his poverty.'

Career & Achievements

Goldoni entered the Italian theatre scene with a tragedy, Amalasunta, produced in Milan. The play was a critical and financial failure. Submitting it to Count Prata, director of the opera, he was told his piece 'was composed with due regard for the rules of Aristotle and Horace, but not according to those laid down for the Italian drama.' Goldoni thanked his critic, went back to his inn and ordered a fire, into which he threw the manuscript. His next play, Belisario, written in 1734, was more successful, though of its success he afterwards professed himself ashamed. During this period he also wrote librettos for opera seria and served for a time as literary director of the San Giovanni Grisostomo, Venice's most distinguished opera house. He wrote other tragedies but soon discovered his bent was for comedy. In 1738 he produced his first real comedy, L'uomo di mondo. He was employed by manager Medebac to write plays for his theatre in Venice, and worked for other managers, producing during his stay in that city some of his most characteristic works. He also wrote Momolo Cortesan in 1738. After 1748 he collaborated with composer Baldassare Galuppi, making significant contributions to opera buffa; Galuppi composed the score for more than twenty of Goldoni's librettos. In 1753, following his return from Bologna, he defected to the Teatro San Luca of the Vendramin family, where he performed most of his plays to 1762.

Defining Moments

Several pivotal episodes shaped Goldoni's path. As a teenager at the stern Collegio Ghislieri in Pavia, he composed a libellous poem (Il colosso) ridiculing the daughters of certain Pavian families; as a result of that incident (and/or a visit with schoolmates to a local brothel), he was expelled in 1725. In 1732, fleeing an unwanted marriage, he left for Milan and then Verona, where theatre manager Giuseppe Imer mentored him and introduced him to Nicoletta Conio, his future wife. The most dramatic turning point came after the failure of Amalasunta: Count Prata, the opera director, delivered a withering critique about Italian theatrical conventions. Goldoni reportedly thanked his critic, returned to his inn, lit a fire, and fed the manuscript to the flames. Later, in 1757, a bitter feud with fellow playwright Carlo Gozzi soured his relationship with Italian audiences so thoroughly that he resolved to leave the country entirely, moving to Paris in 1761. In France, he received a position at court and was put in charge of the Théâtre-Italien. In 1769, when he retired to Versailles, the King gave him a pension. He lost this pension after the French Revolution. The Convention eventually voted to restore his pension the day after his death; it was restored to his widow at the pleading of the poet André Chénier, who urged: 'She is old, she is seventy-six, and her husband has left her no heritage save his illustrious name, his virtues and his poverty.'

Legacy & Impact

Goldoni is widely regarded as the great reformer of the Italian stage. In his Memoirs he amply discusses the state of Italian comedy when he began writing: it revolved around the conventionality of the Commedia dell'arte, or improvised comedy. Goldoni took to himself the task of superseding the comedy of masks and the comedy of intrigue with representations of actual life and manners through the characters and their behaviours. He maintained that Italian life and manners were susceptible of artistic treatment such as had not been given them before. His works are a lasting monument to the changes that he initiated: a dramatic revolution that had been attempted but not achieved before. Goldoni says he took for his models the plays of Molière and that whenever a piece of his own succeeded he whispered to himself: 'Good, but not yet Molière.' Goldoni's plays are gentler and more optimistic in tone than Molière's. His plays offered his contemporaries images of themselves, often dramatizing the lives, values, and conflicts of the emerging middle classes. Though he wrote in French and Italian, his plays make rich use of the Venetian language, regional vernacular, and colloquialisms. His operatic works include two of the most successful musical comedies of the eighteenth century: Il filosofo di campagna, set by Galuppi (1752), and La buona figliuola, set by Niccolò Piccinni (1760). His legacy is a classical form for Italian comedy that, though cultivated, has yet to be cultivated by a master.

Life Beyond the Spotlight

Beyond the stage, Goldoni's personal life was marked by restlessness and reinvention. Born in Venice on 25 February 1707 to Margherita Salvioni (or Saioni) and Giulio Goldoni—an apothecary, not the physician his memoirs claimed—he showed an irrepressible passion for theatre from childhood, preferring puppets and plays to any other pursuit. His father sent him to study under the philosopher Caldini at Rimini, but the young Goldoni ran away with a company of strolling players. After his legal training at Udine and Modena, he held positions as a law clerk at Chioggia and Feltre before returning to Venice to practice law. For a time he seemed settled, holding lucrative positions as secretary and counsellor, yet following an unexpected summons to Venice after an absence of several years, he changed his career. His father died in 1731. In 1732, to avoid an unwanted marriage, he left for Milan and then Verona, where theatre manager Giuseppe Imer introduced him to his future wife, Nicoletta Conio. He returned with her to Venice and stayed until 1743. In his memoirs, he paints himself as a born comedian, careless, light-hearted and with a happy temperament, proof against all strokes of fate, yet thoroughly respectable and honourable. However, these memoirs are known to contain many errors of fact, especially about his earlier years. He also wrote under the pen name and title Polisseno Fegeio, Pastor Arcade, which he claimed in his memoirs the 'Arcadians of Rome' bestowed on him.