Harlequinade grotesque in the short stories by Ludwig Tieck

This article is devoted to the study of the harlequinade grotesque in the short stories by Ludwig Tieck, a representative of the German romantic tradition. The research material is Tieck’s works “The Goblet” and “The Lovecharm”. The author of the article establishes that in “The Goblet” the prototypes of Ferdinand and Francesca are the Lovers of the commedia dell’arte, and the prototype of Albert is Pantaloon. Tieck modifies the traditional commedia plot about the conflict between the Lovers and Pantaloon (the young people run away from the old despot who does not let them get married), turning the classic story about the victory of love over calculation into a tragicomedy in which the egocentrism, illusions and fears of the Lover destroy his personal happiness. Pantaloon in the short story appears in the role of an alchemist, which is a direct reference to the work of the English playwright Ben Jonson. Tieck’s distortion of the commedia plot becomes a tool for conveying romantic irony in the work, as well as the writer’s belief that the unwillingness to fight for love is unnatural and leads to tragedy. The introduction of commedia images and motifs in Tieck’s short story “The Lovecharm” also works for romantic irony, with the help of which Tieck reveals the complexity and absurdity of human actions. The prototypes of Emilius, his bride, Roderick and Alexia are Pierrot, Pierrette, Harlequin and Ruffiana, respectively. Roderick-Harlequin is the bearer of a carnival worldview (renewing, vital and revealing human potential), and Emilius-Pierrot is the bearer of a masquerade worldview (filled with fear, suspicion and the need to conceal). The Harlequinade grotesque in the work is born at the point of collision of these two types of worldview. Thus, in Tieck’s work, the grotesque manifests itself at the character and plot levels; it is born when the buffoonish commedia aesthetics is superimposed on the gloomy background of the events depicted. The functions of the harlequinade grotesque in Tieck’s work are reduced to the theatricalization of the artistic text; the opposition of the carnival and masquerade worldviews; the transmission of romantic irony; the creation of the effect of alienation; the transmission of Tieck’s worldview.

grotesque, commedia dell’arte, Tieck, romanticism, German literature