At the market, Esopo (Aesop) is sold to a new master: the philosopher Xanto. Xanto’s daughter, Filena, is in love with one of her father’s followers, Periandro: Esopo is bought as a matchmaker. Xanto confides in him: he is in love with his wife’s lady-in-waiting, Geringonça. The latter becomes infatuated with Esopo, who rejects her. During a symposium, Xanto bets that he can empty the sea: Esopo helps him untangle himself from this bet, in exchange for freedom. Esopo, drunk, tells Geringonça that his master loves her; his wife Eurípedes hears this too: upset, she leaves the house. Disguised as another woman, Filena is courted by Periandro: she accuses him of being unfaithful and leaves him. Esopo has been sent to prison. He is freed by Xanto, who thus settles his promise; he now promises to free Esopo on condition that he bring Eurípedes back. While Temístocles (Themistocles) and Cresso are waging war against Athens, one of Jupiter’s eagles lands on Esopo, who becomes commander of the armies. Esopo manages to make Eurípedes so jealous that she decides to go back to her husband. As Cresso’s army is standing outside Athens, Esopo begins to tell a fable about love, punctuated with macaronic Latin. The two couples (Xanto and Eurípedes, Periandro and Filena) reconcile. Esopo, who is in love with Filena, recites a sonnet to her, and makes her write an ambiguous letter intended for him. Called to duty, Esopo triumphs over Temístocles, through betrayal and plays on words. During a night scene, Eurípedes goes to the court where Xanto is meeting Geringonça. Xanto meets his daughter there, waiting for her lover. Eurípedes pretends to be Geringonça, to expose her husband’s infidelity. Esopo is fooled, and Geringonça shouts that she has been robbed. After the defeat of the town has been announced, Esopo dresses as a woman and draws Temístocles’ attention: he has fallen in love with the beautiful young woman. Esopo is imprisoned and Cresso tasks him with building a tower in the air. After another turnaround, the King pardons him and he goes back to Athens, where his fellow citizens make peace with him as he narrates a fable to them.

Rod and string marionette

Giant marionette

Not specified

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

Portugal

Lisbon

Printed

Slave

Philosophy

Love

Unfaithfulness

Enfranchisement

Parodistic

Comical

Burlesque

Philosophical tale

Esopaida, title page and summary of the play (1759)

Portuguese

ou Vida de Esopo

Croesus

King

Xeno

Philosopher

Slave master

Lover (man)

Disciple

Themistocles

General

Daughter

Wife

Maid

Aesop

Soldier

Choir

Music

Philosophical dialogue

Love story

Thwarted love

Dinner scene

Statue coming to life

Change of social status

Allusion to theatrical events of the time

Metadiscourse on puppet theatre

Macaronic Latin

Fight

Oracle

Battlefield scene

Cross-dressing

Esopaida

Aesop’s Life

Guignol – Vincent’s servant – has lost his wife Madelon, who ate a melon and died of food poisoning. Vincent plans on having him marry Louison – Gnafron’s daughter – so that his two servants are bound to one another. But Guignol deeply misses his wife, with whom he was always quarreling. He leaves his master’s house with the intention of going down to the Underworld to get her back. However, Gnafron finds Guignol sitting in a wine shop. After an enjoyable meal, they go back to their master. As the marriage settlement is being drafted, Louison is delighted to have finally found a husband. She pushes Guignol in front of her with a hairpin and promises him that she will be as mean as his first wife. But Guignol manages to escape before the contract is signed: Gnafron and Louison chase after him, while Vincent decides to sit at a table to eat with his neighbour Durand.
Guignol is exhausted while looking for Madelon. He falls asleep and sees the Génie of goodness, who presents him in his dream with an image of his wife accompanied by an imp. When he wakes up, Guignol summons the Génie, who warns him about the dangers that await. He also describes the five rivers of the Underworld. But Guignol is a proud man from Lyon: he knows how to swim, and he is not scared! Before Charon lets him on his rowboat for free (Guignol promises that with such prices he will be a most loyal client), he warns the hero that Madelon is Proserpine (Proserpina)’s companion, and Proserpine might not give her back to him. Guignol insists and repeats that he is not afraid of Cerbère (Cerberus). In fact, he means to coax its seven heads with bread and cheese. When he meets Pluton (Pluto), Guignol asks for his wife to be given back to him. The king of the Underworld remembers that the man appealing to him is protected by the Génie of goodness and thus summons his wife. Proserpine refuses to let Madelon go—she clings on to her as to her meanest companion. Then she yields, on condition that the wife consents to it. Madelon arrives, hits her husband and hurls insults at him. But Guignol provides good arguments: he has just come into an inheritance of sugar, coffee, eau de vie and absinthe… After thinking it over for a few minutes, Madelon agrees to follow him, on the flying dragon that Pluton lends Guignol to take them back up to the surface. Before they leave, the king of the Underworld promises to organise a feast for them. They are delighted about the idea, but the flames of the Underworld force them to flee before they can taste anything.

Glove-puppet

Vuillerme-Dunand Victor-Napoléon

Manuscript

Wedding

Descent into hell

Resurrection

Glutton

Boat trip

Mock-heroic

Farcical

La Descente de Guignol aux Enfers (cover page)

French

Notary

Rentier

Guignol

Domestic servant

Gnafron

Concierge

Young woman

Genie

Pluto

Proserpina

Devil

Charon

Popular speech

Dream

Apparition of a genie

Domestic scene

Avista

Flying machine

La Descente de Guignol aux Enfers

Guignol's Trip to the Underworld

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.

France

Paris

Conspiracy

Murder

Cipidity

Gluttony

Disguise

Deception

Nightmare

Silver wedding

Remorse

Relationship between man and animal

Hunger

Grotesque

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

Cassandre

Cassandra

Colombina

Colombine

Pierrot

Arlecchino

Polichinelle

Scrap metal dealer

Constable

Police Superintendant

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

Back Stroke

Personification

La Tragédie d'Arlequin

Arlequin’s tragedy

Two families, the Gobards and the Courbemanches, are driving to visit the military camp in Saint-Maur. On the way, they notice an accident, which sparks their conversation. When they arrive, they meet a Zouave and start talking with him. Later, they go to the camp of the Turcos (African infantrymen) and meet the Tambour-major (Drum major). They are asked to go to dinner: everyone is there apart from Agathe, the servant. The voice of a man as well as laughter can be heard coming from the woods, which scares the family as they were about to start their meal. Agathe returns, but it starts raining and everyone ends up drenched, tired and starving. The Gobards and the Courbemanches call it a night and part ways. Agathe is the only one who seems to have enjoyed the trip.

Lemercier de Neuville Louis

Family

Bourgeoisie

Journey

Army

Colonial troupe

Algeria

Satirical

Lemercier de Neuville, I Pupazzi. Front cover of the first edition, 1866.

Husband

Servant

Zouave

Rifleman

Aria

Situation comedy

Comedy of language

Allusion to current political events

Comic distortion of language

Amphigory

Le Camp de Saint-Maur

Saint-Maur Camp

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

Piracy

Slavery

Adventure

Emperor

Relationship between father and son

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

Le Berger Tityre

Senator

Citizen

Shepherd

Lover

Barber

Pirate

Storyteller

Guard

Coryphaeus

Sheperherdess

Sung scenes

Prologue

Address to the public

Allusion to the audience

Monologue

Quote

La Clémence de Titus

The Clemency of Titus

Isabella complains about being in the countryside to her husband Leandro. Her sister Bellinda downplays the situation. Petronio, their father, has been going through some financial difficulties but he announces that things are looking up and that they may be able to go back to the city. As he leaves, Isabella asks him to bring back clothes and jewels for her, and Bellinda only asks for a rose bush. After several misadventures, Petronio and his servant Gerolamo arrive in a nice place where a table is set, but no one is around it. They eat, drink, sleep, and find the horses ready for departure. As he walks through the garden, Petronio wants to get a rose bush for Bellinda, but thunder breaks out. The monster Azor, the owner of the place, tells Petronio that he is an ungrateful thief and that he will pay for it with his life, unless one of his daughters sacrifices herself to save him. Petronio relates what happened to his daughters. Bellinda decides to follow him and to sacrifice herself to save him. They arrive at Azor's palace and eat. Azor asks Bellinda if she came here willingly. Her father does not want her to stay, but she does anyway. A fairy reassures them. The monster is ugly but kind: he wants Bellinda to keep him company. However, she sees in the mirror that, back home, her father is ill. With Azor’s permission, she leaves but promises to be back soon. Unfortunately, Isabella, jealous of her sister’s wealth, holds her up. Sad and disappointed, Azor hides. Bellinda finds him and tells him that she wants to marry him. The curse under which he was breaks, and, thanks to Bellinda’s love, he turns back into a handsome prince. He brings Petronio and Gerolamo to his gorgeous palace, and relegates Isabella and her husband to a tower.