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.

Glove-puppet

Not specified

France

Paris

Printed

Conspiracy

Murder

Cipidity

Gluttony

Disguise

Deception

Nightmare

Marrying for money

Remorse

Relationship between man and animal

Hunger

Comical

Parodistic

Farcical

Grotesque

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

French

Cassandre

Cassandra

Colombina

Colombine

Pierrot

Arlecchino

Polichinelle

Scrap metal dealer

Constable

Police Superintendant

Dream

Spectacular turn of events

Fainting

Off-stage voice

Dance

Song

Bucket of water poured on someone's head

Blow-with-a-stick

Ellipsis

Hidden character

Beating with pots

Blow

Dinner scene

Back Stroke

Personification

La Tragédie d'Arlequin

Arlequin’s tragedy

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.

All audiences

Duranty Louis Émile Edmond

Harassment

Stock exchange

Blackmail

Forced marriage

Violence

Threat

Battered woman

Monologue

Misunderstanding

Beating with a broom

Ambush

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

Mother Gigogne

Niflanguille

Marchand de chevaux

Pork butcher

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

The scene takes place in the countryside not far from Paris. A wealthy horticulturist, Labouture (literally, The-Cutting), died without writing a will. The Gratin family, distant relatives, claim to be the rightful heirs. After moving in the property, they welcome the notary Dussiflet (literally, Of-the-Whistle), and his nephew Onésime, in charge of the inheritance. Madame Gratin and Dussiflet consider [corriger faute FR] marrying Onésime and Flore, the Gratins’ daughter. When Flore meets Onésime, he is immediately in awe of her beauty, but she thinks that he is neither attractive nor intelligent. Meanwhile, Monsieur Gratin is bathing; when he wants to get out, he cannot find his clothes. Freezing cold, he calls for help. Ledru (literally, The-Thick), Labouture’s godson, enters the house and rescues M. Gratin, mistaking him for Labouture. Jean, the servant, discovers a letter that Ledru had sent to Labouture. Meanwhile, Ledru meets Flore and expresses the wish to marry her. Jean takes advantage of a private moment with Ledru to convince him to chase Gratin out of the house. Ledru writes a fake will in which Labouture states that Ledru is his secret son, and that he splits his goods between Ledru, Jean, and Flore. Madame Gratin inherits a bundle of thorns, and Monsieur Gratin is given the boot that Labouture kicked him with. In the end, the Gratins agree to the wedding of Ledru and Flore.

Maurice Sand (Maurice Sand)

Nohant

Servant

Family

Last will and testament

Inheritance

Satirical

Burlesque

Fatale baignoire

Merchant (man)

Husband

Notary

Gardener

Sergeant

Nephew

Wife

Daughter

Situation comedy

Letter

Reading of a will

Plot twist

Funeste oubli

Macabre omission

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.

Strike

Invitation

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

Le Célibataire

Noble

Balandard

Domestic servant

Valet de chambre

Guests

Coachman

Member of parliament

Lord

Musician

Countess

Police officer

Aria

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.