Nineteen century poetry trends Essay

Metastasios reform of the operatic libretto was paralleled in the mid-18th speed of light by Goldonis reform of comedy. Throughout the seventeenth century the commedia dellartea colourful pantomime of improvisation, singing, mime, and acrobatics, often performed by actors of great virtuosityhad gradually replaced regular comedy, but by the early 18th century it had degenerated into mere buffoonery and obscenity with stereotyped characters (maschere, masks) and mannerisms. The dialogue was mostly improvised, and the plota complicated series of stage directions, known as the scenariodealt mainly with laboured marriages, star-crossed lovers, and the intrigues of servants and masters. Goldoni succeeded in replacing this traditional type of theatre with written works whose wit and vigour are especially evident when the Venetian scene is pictured in a refined form of the local dialect.Perhaps because of his prolific output his work has sometimes been thought of as lacking in depth. His affable observation is acute, however, and his characters are beautifully drawn. La locandiera (1753 The Innkeeper Eng. trans. Mirandolina), with its heroine Mirandolina, a protofeminist, hasthings to say about class and the position of women that can still be appreciated today. Goldonis rival and bitter controversialist, fellow Venetian Carlo Gozzi (the reactionary brother of the more liberal journalist Gasparo), also wrote comedies, satirical verse, and an important autobiography. His Fiabe teatrali (1772 Theatrical Fables) are raging and often satirical. Among them are Lamore delle tre melarance (The Love for Three Oranges), later made into an opera by Sergey Prokofiev, and the original Turandot, later set to music by Giacomo Puccini.The cosmea of learningGiambattista Vico, Ludovico Antonio Muratori, Apostolo Zeno, and the already mentioned Scipione Maffei were writers who reflected the awakening of historical consciousness in Italy. Muratori collected the primary sources for the study of the Italian Middle Ages Vico, in his Scienza nuova (172544 The New Science), investigated the laws governmental science the progress of the human race and from the psychological study of man final stageeavoured to infer the laws by which civilizations rise, flourish, and fall. Giovanni Maria Mazzuchelli and Gerolamo Tiraboschi devoted themselves to literary history. Literary criticism also attracted assistance Gian Vincenzo Gravina, Vico, Maffei, Muratori, and several others, while advocating the imitation of the classics, realized that such imitation should be cautious and thus anticipated critical standpoints that were later to come into favour. The Enlightenment (Illuminismo)With the end of Spanish domination and the spread of the ideas of the Enlightenment from France, political reforms were gradually introduced in various parts of Italy. The new spirit of the times led menmainly of the upper middle classto enquire into the mechanics of economic and social laws . The ideas and aspirations of the Enlightenment as a whole were effectively voiced in such organs of the new journalism as Pietro Verris periodical Il Caff (176466 The Coffeehouse). A notable contributor to Il Caff was the philosopher and economist Cesare Beccaria, who in his pioneering book Dei delitti e delle pene (1764 On Crimes and Punishments) made an eloquent plea for the abolition of torture and the death penalty. More than anyone else, Giuseppe Parini seems to embody the literary revivalof the 18th century. In Il giorno (promulgated in four parts, 17631801 The Day), an ambitious but unfinished social satire of inherited wealth and nobility, he describes a day in the life of a young Milanese patrician and reveals with masterly irony the irresponsibility and futility of a whole way of life.His Odi (1795 Odes), which are imbued with the same spirit of clean and social reform, are among the classics of Italian poetry. The satire in the Sermoni (1763 Sermons) of Gasparo Gozzi ( elder brother of Carlo) is less pungent, though directed at similar ends, and in his two periodicalsLa Gazzetta veneta and LOsservatorehe presented a lively chronicle of Venetian life and indicated a practical moral with much good sense. Giuseppe Barettian extremely controversial figure who published a critical journal called La Frusta letteraria (The Literary Whip), in which he castigated bad authorshad learned much through a lengthy bear in England, where his friendship with Samuel Johnson helped to give independence and vigour, if not always accuracy, to his judgments. The Viaggi di Enrico Wanton (174964 Travels of Enrico Wanton), a philosophical novel by the Venetian Zaccaria Seriman, which tells of an conceptional voyage in the manner of Jonathan Swift and Voltaire, was the most all-embracing satire of the time. Anthony OldcornLiterary trends of the 19th centuryThe 19th century was a period of political ferment leading to Italian unification, and many outstanding writers were involved in public affairs. Much of the literature written with a political aim, even when not of intrinsic value, became part of Italys national heritage and inspired not only those for whom it was written but all who valued freedom.