The rich Cassandre, desperate for his foolish and insolent son Pierrot, is prepared to hire a very expensive tutor. Polichinelle is hired, but his bad lessons in obedience, geography, arithmetic, morals and fencing immediately turn Pierrot into a brawler, drinker, liar and thief who ends up being hanged for swindling Arlequin, the cabaret owner. When Cassandra complains to Polichinelle, he kills him with a stick. Denounced by Arlequin as Pierrot's accomplice, Polichinelle kills the gendarme who came to arrest him. He is taken away by the Devil.

Glove-puppet

All audiences

France

Paris

Duranty Louis Émile Edmond

Printed

Relationship between father and son

Silliness

Cheekiness

Education

Lesson

Swindling

Comical

Farcical

Satirical

French

Polichinelle

Pierrot

Arlecchino

Constable

Devil

Slaps

Blow-with-a-stick

Headbutt

Final intervention of the devil

Hanging scene

Characterisation through onomatopoeia

Polichinelle précepteur

Polichinelle preceptor

The shepherd Tityre lives in the Arcadian mountains with his beloved, a Zither player named Lycoris. One day, Lycoris strays away from their home and is captured by Lycophon, a pirate who sells her to a slaveholder Flagellantus, then to the Emperor’s barber Pelliculus and finally to the senator Mamillarus. Tityre follows the pirate ship to save his beloved. In the meantime, Mamillarus and Titus are waiting for a feast to begin. Tityre decides to buy his beloved back, but he does not have enough money. Therefore, he decides to start serving Mamillarus and his wife Mamillara. However, it is discovered that Tityre is in fact Mamillarus’ legitimate son, who was kidnapped by bandits. At the end of the play, César Titus arrives and sings his goodness and his absence of pride, in the fashion of street “hits”. He gives Lycoris her freedom back and offers to pay for the wedding.

Maurice Sand (Maurice Sand)

Nohant

Ancient history

Love

Piracy

Slavery

Adventure

Emperor

Wedding

Maurice Sand, hand-puppet (between 1850 and 1875).

Le Berger Tityre

Senator

Citizen

Shepherd

Lover

Barber

Pirate

Storyteller

Guard

Slave

Coryphaeus

Wife

Sheperherdess

Comedy of language

Dinner scene

Sung scenes

Prologue

Address to the public

Allusion to the audience

Monologue

Quote

La Clémence de Titus

The Clemency of Titus