Carlo Gozzi

Lore & Background

Carlo Gozzi defended Commedia dell'arte against the innovations of Pietro Chiari and Carlo Goldoni, who were moving away from the old style of Italian theatre. In 1757 he published a satirical poem, *La tartana degli influssi per l'anno 1756*, and in 1761 his comedy *The Love for Three Oranges* parodied Chiari and Goldoni. He engaged the Sacchi company, a Commedia dell'arte troupe whose engagements had dwindled, and their acting, informed by personal vendetta, made the play an extraordinary success. Gozzi donated the play and his other fairy tales to the troupe, saving the company. His efforts were anachronistic—he wrote out all his scripts, whereas traditional Commedia dell'arte was always improvised. His fairy tales drew influence from Commedia dell'arte and caused a revival of the genre in Italy. They were praised by Goethe, the Schlegel brothers, Hoffmann, Madame de Staël, Sismondi, and Ostrovsky. *Turandot* was translated by Friedrich Schiller and staged by Goethe in Weimar in 1802 with great success. Gozzi was acclaimed throughout most of Europe but less esteemed in his homeland. In his later years he experimented with tragedies with comical influences, which met harsh criticism, then worked in Spanish drama with minor success before his death. He was buried in the church of San Cassiano in Venice.

Reader's Guide

Carlo Gozzi's significance lies in his role as a defender and reviver of Commedia dell'arte during a period when it was being supplanted by more modern, scripted theatre. His fairy-tale plays, though written out rather than improvised, reintroduced fantastical elements and their popularity sparked a revival of Commedia dell'arte in Italy. Gozzi's work had a lasting impact: *Turandot* was adapted by Friedrich Schiller and staged by Goethe, and in the twentieth century inspired treatments by Karl Vollmöller and Bertolt Brecht, and operas by Ferruccio Busoni, Giacomo Puccini, Sergei Prokofiev (*The Love of Three Oranges*), Alfredo Casella (*La donna serpente*), and Hans Werner Henze (*König Hirsch*). His collected works were published under his own superintendence in 1792, in 10 volumes. He shares his tomb with his brother Gasparo Gozzi at the San Michele cemetery on the Isola di San Michele.

Did You Know?

• Gozzi joined the army in Dalmatia for three years after his parents could no longer support him financially.
• His comedy *The Love for Three Oranges* (1761) parodied fellow Venetian writers Pietro Chiari and Carlo Goldoni.
• Gozzi donated his play *The Love for Three Oranges* and his other fairy tales to the Sacchi troupe, saving the company from dwindling engagements.
• Gozzi's *Turandot* was translated by Friedrich Schiller and staged by Goethe in Weimar in 1802.
• He shares his tomb with his brother Gasparo Gozzi at the San Michele cemetery on the Isola di San Michele.