Pierrot is harassing his rich neighbour Mrs Trifouillon to get her to marry him. He locks her out of her house, then hides in her wardrobe. He beats her, breaks her dishes, throws her furniture in the street and deprives her of food and rest to make her give in. They fight, then she goes out to find a gendarme. When the gendarme arrives, Pierrot mistakes him for Mrs Trifouillon and pretends to marry him. Then Pierrot beats the Gendarme and throws him out. He finds Mrs Trifouillon's piggy bank, but she manages to take it back. Under threat, she agrees to marry Pierrot, who beats her to the rhythm of a wedding song that she is forced to hum while dancing.

Glove-puppet

Manipulated object

All audiences

France

Paris

Duranty Louis Émile Edmond

Printed

Silver wedding

Harassment

Cipidity

Stock exchange

Blackmail

Forced marriage

Violence

Threat

Battered woman

Comical

Farcical

French

Pierrot

Constable

Monologue

Misunderstanding

Blow-with-a-stick

Song

Beating with a broom

Hidden character

Ambush

Off-stage voice

Lazzi

Stone throwing

Aside

Headbutt

Throwing objects

Liquid spray

Final song

Running gag

Chase

Le Mariage de raison

The Marriage of reason

Polichinelle has married the rich mother Gigogne, but he beats her children or gives them away in payment of his own debts. Grigogne complains to his cousin Niflanguille and gives him his bag of money. Polichinelle takes it to buy a horse. But the Maquignon sells him a dangerous horse and steals the money bag. Niflanguille accuses Polichinelle of the theft; mother Gigogne wants to beat her husband, but it is Niflanguille who gets the blows. Gigogne promises her husband more money if he behaves like a father to his children. But as soon as a child refuses to eat, Polichinelle kills him and throws him out of the window. Gigogne wants to punish Polichinelle, so he kills her, Niflanguille and a magician. The surviving children attack Polichinelle who chases them away. The Devil arrives and takes Polichinelle away.

Debt

Money

Child

Theft

Horse

Bad father

Bad husband

Large family

Polichinelle

Mother Gigogne

Niflanguille

Marchand de chevaux

Pork butcher

Arlecchino

Magician

Baby doll

Devil

Animal

Final intervention of the devil

Character thrown out of the scene

Characterisation through onomatopoeia

Polichinelle et la Mère Gigogne

Polichinelle and Mother Grignon

Polichinelle, Pierrot, and Arlequin, want to marry Colombine, the daughter of the wealthy Cassandre. The three suitors are alike in their mediocrity; Cassandre asks his daughter to choose the one that will be her husband. To win her hand, Polichinelle gifts her a ham, Pierrot a bottle of wine, and Arlequin a dandelion bouquet. She violently rejects Polichinelle and Pierrot, and chooses Arlequin. Polichinelle and Pierrot team up to isolate Arlequin, murder him and bury his corpse. They plan on pretending to be Arlequin and his valet in order to marry Colombine and get hold of her father’s money. However, Arlequin, exhumed and reanimated by a pig, arrives just in time to interrupt the wedding between Pierrot (who took his appearance) and Colombine. Pierrot and Arlequin made the pig, the only witness of their crime, disappear (they ate it), so Cassandre does not know what is the truth and who the real Arlequin is. He will accept as the real Arlequin the one who will bring him 1,000 écus. However, Arlequin is poor, and Pierrot gained 1,000 écus after selling his kitchenware: he will marry Colombine the next day. Distressed by their conscience and their gut issues, Pierrot and Polichinelle suffer from a terrible Cauchemar (Nightmare) accompanied with a Gendarme-Saucisse (Sausage-Constable) and a Commissaire-Andouille (Andouille-Superintendent) who repeatedly hit them. Polichinelle and Pierrot call for help, admit to their crimes and express remorse. Colombine and Arlequin can now marry.

Not specified

Conspiracy

Murder

Gluttony

Disguise

Deception

Nightmare

Remorse

Relationship between man and animal

Hunger

Parodistic

Grotesque

Duranty, ilustration for "La Tragédie d'Arlequin" (Théâtre des marionnettes du Jardin des Tuileries, 1862).

Cassandre

Cassandra

Colombina

Colombine

Scrap metal dealer

Police Superintendant

Dream

Spectacular turn of events

Fainting

Dance

Bucket of water poured on someone's head

Ellipsis

Beating with pots

Blow

Dinner scene

Back Stroke

Personification

La Tragédie d'Arlequin

Arlequin’s tragedy

In Paris, every Monday, the countess of Valtreuse welcomes her guests. The servants, Javotte, Lebrancho, and Baptiste, go on strike and demand a raise. Madame de Saint-Rémy takes advantage of a door left open, and visits the countess to offer her a money match for her daughter Marguerite, as well as the services of her servant to organize a reception in honor of the future groom. The same day, Balandard, a nobleman, and Parasol, Madame de Saint-Rémy’s servant, both arrive. The countess gets them mixed up, believes that Parasol is an aristocrat, and introduces him as her future son-in-law. Balandard gets caught up in this game and does the tasks of a servant. The solicitor arrives, and wants to sign the prenuptial contract between Marguerite and Parasol ; the latter unsuccessfully tries to clarify the whole situation. Madame de Saint Rémy arrives and the truth is revealed. The evening gets out of hand with the intervention of Baptiste and of the superintendent.

Maurice Sand (Maurice Sand)

Nohant

Servant

Strike

Invitation

Satirical

Eugène Lambert, George Sand, Maurice Sand : puppet of Balandard.

Le Célibataire

Noble

Balandard

Domestic servant

Valet de chambre

Invitados (invités)

Notary

Coachman

Member of parliament

Lord

Musician

Countess

Daughter

Police officer

Aria

Situation comedy

Comedy of language

Word warping

Change of social status

Le Lundi de la comtesse

The Monday of the Countess

Christine is in love with Heini, a law student, but her father has promised to give her in marriage to the apothecary, a character so conceited and ridiculous that she cannot tolerate him. Heini resolves to leave for Leipzig in order to finish law school and he makes Christine promise that she will resist the apothecary’s advances in the meantime. The apothecary, however, learns that an uncle has bequeathed his fortune to him before he passed away, provided that he would marry his niece: he easily forgets about Christine. But his baseless allegations about Christine offend her father, and, as he is furious with the apothecary, he calls Heini back in order to organise the wedding of the young lovers.