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Concept
Pulcinella
Summary
Pulcinella (pultʃiˈnɛlla; Pulecenella) is a classical character that originated in commedia dell'arte of the 17th century and became a stock character in Neapolitan puppetry. Pulcinella's versatility in status and attitude has captivated audiences worldwide and kept the character popular in countless forms since his introduction to commedia dell'arte by Silvio Fiorillo in 1620.
His visual appearance includes a humpback, a crooked nose, gangly legs, a potbelly, large cheeks, and a gigantic mouth. These traits were inherited from two stock characters of the Atellan Farce. He typically wears a pointed hat (conical hat). When depicted as a member of the upper class, Pulcinella is a cunning thief and schemer. When depicted as a member of the servant class, Pulcinella is a perverted bumpkin. In either case, he is a social climber, striving to rise above his station in life. He is an opportunist who always sides with the winner in any situation and who fears no consequences. His main motivations are self-interest and self-preservation, yet Pulcinella tends to rescue other characters from trouble. He is said to be every character's savior, despite acting as a rebel and a delinquent.
Pulcinella embodies the Neapolitan plebians, the simplest man who occupies the bottom place on the social scale, the man who, although aware of his problems, always manages to come out of them with a smile. On that basis, many writers have come to refer to Pulcinella, in retrospect, as a model ENFP of sorts (based on the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator 16 personality test).
Pulcinella represents the soul of the people and its primitive instincts. He almost always appears in contradiction, so much so that he does not have fixed traits. He may be rich or poor, a bully or a coward—sometimes exhibiting both traits simultaneously. In addition to being a faithful servant, he adapts to all trades: baker, innkeeper, farmer, thief, seller of miraculous concoctions.
His movements are broad and laborious, allowing him to aggressively emphasize his speech while simultaneously exhausting him.
Official source
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