The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-03-04
PROF. M'KENKIE ON THE ITAL-
 IAN MARIONETTEs.


 Professor Kenneth Mckenzie, who
 has devoted many years to the study of
 Italian literature and is very much in
 terested in the coming performances of
 the sicilian marlonettes on March Sand | 9, at the Toy Auditorium, in speaking
 of that form of dramatic entertain ment expresses himself as follows:
 Italians in the middle ages loved
 stories of adventures. marvellous, hero
 ic and romantic, to relieve their minds
 of the dullness and monotory of their daily lives: and for centuries the pub lie story-tellers were a prominent class. One set of stories was especially pcpular-the heroic epic stories clus- tered about the Emperor Charlemagne and his palladins-these were known in Italy almost as early as they were composed in France; poems were com posed in Italy in the French language, and afterwards in Italian, retelling the old incidents or inyenting new ones. In France the "Chanson de Roland" is the starting point for numerous other epies, and to Charlemagne and his con- temporaries were ascribed practically the military exploits from the sixth to the eleventh centuries The central feature of this mass of poetry was the contest between the Christians, with Charlemagne at their head, and the Saraoens, who possessed Spain. Afri-
 ca and Asia Thus the original basis was historical The "Chanson de Ro- land" tells of the departure of Cha.ie- magne from 2 successful campaign in Spain, and the treacheroas deceit of one of his knights, Genalon. through wEom the rear-guard oi tha ornly, un- ic9 Roland is surprised and aanihila- ted by the 5araccns whlie tnryRrsing' tho Pyrcnee6 through the pass os RoA- oeyaux. Tais story became the center of the Itoi ian stories, Roland, called ii Italian Orlando, being the chlSs hero,
 %ith his cousin I1ineldo Tho contest
 Tho contastomewyp ydld u uuuup
 between Christians ard saraccns is
 waged all over tho known world. with all sorts of adventures, the Saraten knights being in every way worthy antagonists Magic entertainments play neys, enchanted weapons, etc, There an important part, miraculous jour- is a race in which treachery becomes hereditary they cannot be faithful if they want to.
 The Italian poems, in eight-line stan- gas (ottaya rima) are very sprightly,
 easy narrative; those now knwon were composed from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries, Sby all classes of poets there are many versions also in prose This body of romantic stories
 is called in Italian "Roali di Francia, the royalists of France. The stories were familiar to all classes, and are of ten referred to by learned writers like Dante, but were for time the amuse- ment chiefly of the lower classes. In the fifteenth century this was changed Luigi Pulci, one of the courters of Lo- renzo di Medlci at Florence, wrote his "Morgante," the first artistic Italian poem on these subjects, entering fully
 into the spirit of the popular story tellers. His style is extremely humor- ous and lively. sometimes almost bur-
 lesque: but it is sincere imitation with artistic purpose of the popular lltera- ture, as was psed in lyric poetry at the same time by Lorenzo de Medici hin- self and by Poliziano, In fact at all times the poetry of all classes in Italy has been common possession of ev-
 eryone; the educated classes admire and initiate the songs and stories of the peasant, while the uneducated classes show real love and appreciation of the writings of cultivated poets, Another branch of French literature had already become familiar in Italy, the romances of chiyalry connected with King Arthur and his Knights of tho Round Table. In these stories, love and magic arc the important clements. and the poet Boiardo, of Ferrara writ ing simultaneously with Pulci in Flor ence, fused in his Orlando Innamo- rato" the heroic epic hero Roland with the romantic stories of chivalry This poem was continued by one of the greatest of Italian poets, Aristo, whose "Orlando Furioso' appeared in the six teenth century. The original idea of the eternal struggle for supremacy be- tween Christian and Pagan is still the center but with so many supplement
 tarv episodes and romantic adventures that the original trend of the story is hard to follow. Tasso follows Ariosto,
 taking as his subject the capture of Jerusalem by the Crusaders. Indeed the interest is rather in individual characters and episodes than in the plot as a whole.
 These are the stories and poems used
 in the marionette theatres, which have taken the place of the former minstrels and poets who used to amuse audi ences by singing or reading the poems They are of enormous length these poems, and one play may continue daily for weeks without coming to an end: any narionette theatre can vary ms entertainment indefinitely but the plot, as already explained, is so fex- ible that any section of it is intelligi- ble and interesting by itself. While the poem is read behind the scenes the nuppets are worked with wonderful
 skill, the one supposed to be speaking
 shows unmistakably what he is driv- ing at, and the battles and single com bats are as lively as possible. It is im- possible to imagine, without seeing an actual performance how lifelike the actions of the puppets are, and what really convincing acting they are capa- ble of Many spectators have gone to these entertainments in this country and in Italy with the idea of seeing a curious relic of old tines a character istic entertainment of the Italian peo-