Júpiter, madly in love with Alcmena (Alcmene), sets up a stratagem imagined by Mercúrio (Mercury): while the beautiful woman laments the absence of her husband, the general Anfitriaõ (Amphitryon), who has gone to war, the god disguises himself as her husband and goes to see her. As for the servant Cornucópia, she is talking with Mercúrio, disguised as her husband Saramago. When Saramago arrives and announces his master’s return, he sees Mercúrio, disguised as him: disconcerted, he cannot guide his master when he asks him how the news was received in the house. Juno, Júpiter’s wife, decides to avenge herself for his infidelities. Calling herself Felisarda, she comes down to Alcmena’s house; Júpiter has just left. When the real Anfitriaõ returns, even Juno is fooled and believes that he is in fact her husband Júpiter. The scene also leads to a series of misunderstandings between Anfitriaõ and his wife, who believes that she saw him the day before, and between Saramago and Cornucópia, who reproaches him for his rudeness. Determined to keep the ruse going, Júpiter goes as far as deceiving the soldiers and usurps Anfitriaõ’s military victory. The nymph Iris, disguised as Corriola, attempts to find out the truth by seducing Saramago. Tirésias, in love with Juno, who is pretending to be the daughter of Anfitriaõ’s enemy, agrees to help her: they will take revenge against their husbands. The couples quarrel and reconcile: jealous when she hears the romantic conversations between Saramago and Iris, Cornucópia is forced to think about her own unfaithfulness with the other Saramago. In the meantime, Júpiter reconciles with Alcmena, who was angry with him after a quarrel about the real Anfitriaõ. Mercúrio stops Anfitriaõ from coming by refusing to recognise him: this leads to a violent struggle between the master and his “valet”; when the real Saramago arrives, he is beaten. Anfitriaõ and Saramago break through the door and force Júpiter to leave the house: Anfitriaõ comes face to face with his lookalike. The two suitors are about to kill each other, but they are interrupted by Alcmena, who faints. The scene is paralleled by a confrontation between Mercúrio and Saramago, in front of Cornucópia, who also faints and turns into a dwarf. When Saramago discovers Tirésias and Juno’s love affair, the goddess turns him into an olive tree: Mercúrio and Cornucópia knock down its fruits, then Júpiter engraves the name of his beloved on it, before giving Saramago his original body back. Júpiter meets Alcmena, who is sleeping by the fountain. He is challenged by Anfitriaõ. Mercúrio testifies on behalf of his master, against the real Anfitriaõ. The couple is in a predicament: Tirésias sentences Alcmena to death for her infidelity; doing so, he obeys Juno; Anfitriaõ is put in prison, where he beats Saramago for being the cause of his misfortune. However, the gods intervene, so that the play has a happy ending. Juno frees the prisoners; then, when Alcmena is about to be sacrificed, Júpiter reveals the truth: the stage transforms into an empyrean.

Rod and string marionette

Not specified

António José Da Silva (António José da Silva, aka O Judeu)

Portugal

Lisbon

Printed

Return from the war

Double

Identity

Usurpation

Encounter

Love

Jealousy

Fantasy

Mock-heroic

Comical

Burlesque

Parodistic

Title page and summary of Amphitryaõ (1759)

Portuguese

ou Júpiter e Alcmena

Amphitryon

Husband

Jupiter (Jove)

Mercury

Tiresias

Captain

Servant

Alcmene

Wife

Juno

Maid

Iris

Music

Love duet

Chorality

Transforming one character into another

Love rivalry

Clouds

Flying machine

Misunderstanding

Blow-with-a-stick

Duel scene

Fainting

Change of head on sight

Change of size on sight

Sleeping character

Confinement

Revelation

Deus ex machina

Avista

Anfitriaõ

The Compère (Stooge) is surprised when he sees two Polichinelle walk onto the stage: one of them is Arlequin dressed as Polichinelle, and the two quarrel. Alone, Polichinelle then asks the benevolent Fée (Fairy) to change him into Arlequin. She also gives him the power to transform anyone he wants into Arlequin. Several characters come to him: a Marchand (male Merchant) who wants to go to a ball to make sure that his wife is not being unfaithful to him; the female peasant Margot, who wants to become rich; an Ivrogne (Drunkard) who believes that he is at the Comédie-Italienne; and a Danseuse (female Dancer).

France

Paris

Rivalry of theatres

Talking nonsense

Disguise

Social ascension

Les Métamorphoses de Polichinelle, Soleinne collection, BnF

French

Polichinelle

Arlecchino

The Interpreter

Fairy

Merchant (man)

Peasant (female)

Drunkard

Dancer

Double characters

Metamorphosis

Final song

Dancing entertainment

Aria

Les Métamorphoses de Polichinelle

Polichinelle's Metamorphoses

A young alchemist, Émile, and his assistant Guignol are preparing for their final experiment—to create a man. Instead of a man, however, a Monstre (Monster) rises out of the cauldron, scaring the two men as well as Émile’s fiancée, Amélie, the daughter of Baron de Valbreuze. Émile and Guignol go to a cemetery, where they are advised by a Squelette (Skeleton) to question an old Alchimiste (Alchemist), who can teach them how to get rid of the Monstre. The Monstre is devoured by ghosts and disappears. Guignol and Émile go back to the Baron and to his daughter, and the young couple signs a marriage contract.

Glove-puppet

Vuillerme-Dunand Victor-Napoléon

Manuscript

Alchemy

Monster

Wedding

Cemetery

Fantastic

Le Monstre et l'alchimiste, censorship archives (first page of the text)

Le Monstre et l'alchimiste

Alchemist

Guignol

Skeleton

Undead

Monologue

Comedy of language

Dialect as a social marker

Aside

Pyrotechnics

Explosion

Apparition of a monster

False exit

Comical fall of a character

Magical disappearance

Chase

Dead talking character

Apparition of a ghost

The Alchemist

Khèyam has been thrown out of the inn where he got drunk. A Cruche (Pitcher) of wine then a Rose appear to him. A woman comes in, and he promises to love her; then a second woman – perfectly identical to the first – comes in, and he makes the same promise to her. The two women appear and disappear in turn and they both accuse him of being unfaithful. Then they tell him that he is seeing double because he is drunk. They leave him alone with the Cruche and the Rose.

Wine

Drunkenness

Philosophy

Woman

Lyrical

Philosophical tale

Omar Khayyam

Apparition

Address to the public

Duplication

Object coming to life

Allegory

Le Songe de Khèyam

Khèyam's Dream

Laura, born from Friedrich’s mind, appears piece by piece. Once complete, she arouses Elena’s jealousy and is dismembered again by her. Lime, Emil’s shadow, appears to Elena, who falls in love with him. Friedrich recognises Lime, shoots him and runs away. Emil comes on and charms Elena, who tells him in which direction Lime went. Lime comes back as he chases Elena, then he declares his love to the two women. Friedrich’s loving gaze makes Laura disappear, one bit at a time, until nothing but her foot remains. Friedrich is jealous of Lime, the infidelity of which Laura forgave, and pounces on him with a knife. Emil arrives to reclaim his shadow. Elena, Emil and Lime embrace one another, while Friedrich leaves with Laura’s foot.

Shadow theatre

Schwitters Kurt

Germany

Hanover

Czechia

Prague

Dismembering

Autonomous parts of the body

Love argument

Seduction

Dadaism

Vanguard

German

Splitting of the body

Schattenspiel

Shadow Play

The protagonist, Franz, is a young Viennese scientist who, during a hypnosis session conducted by Mesmer, learns that his cousin Angèlica, with whom he is in love, is in great danger. He decides to go to her rescue and, after many adventures, arrives in Budapest to find that she has just died. Convinced that she has been hypnotised by the alchemist Adam Le Fay, he keeps her body in ice, brings her back to his laboratory and tries various experiments to resurrect her. He fails and is accused of her murder by Napoleonic troops who have just entered Vienna. Sentenced to death, he is saved at the last moment by Le Fay who explains to him that if one of them dies, the other also perishes. They duel, Franz throws himself on Le Fay's sword, and both die at the same time. It is clear that they are two sides of the same personality, symbolising the conflict between rationalism and superstition.