carlo goldoni

English - English

Definition of carlo goldoni in English English dictionary

born Feb. 25, 1707, Venice died Feb. 6, 1793, Paris, France Italian playwright. He practiced law but preferred to write plays, beginning with Belisario (1734). He renovated the commedia dell'arte form by replacing its masked stock figures with realistic characters, its repetitive action with tightly constructed plots, and its predictable farce with spontaneity in plays such as Pamela (1750), based on Samuel Richardson's novel. His comedy of manners La locandiera (1753) is still performed (as Mine Hostess). When rivals ridiculed his innovations, he took his realistic comedy to Paris, where he directed the Comédie-Italienne and wrote many plays in French. He later rewrote them for Italian audiences, and The Fan (1763) became one of his greatest successes

Hyphenation

Car·lo Gol·do·ni