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Puppetry in Eighteenth-Century England and Germany, and in the Nachtwachen von Bonaventura

  • Linde Katritzky
Published/Copyright: October 5, 2010
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From the journal Volume 45 Issue 1

The search for the author of the Nachtwachen von Bonaventura (1804) among the romantics has diverted attention from the ancient and eighteenth-century connections of the work, among which puppet theatre plays an important role. Puppetry is directly treated in the Fourth, the Eighth, and the Fifteenth Nightwatch. In the Fourth, a dark stranger relates his gloomy love adventures through Commedia dell'arte, performed by mechanically drawn string-marionettes. As befits a menippea, their mistakes and misadventures put “ultimate philosophical positions” to the test, but suggest no solutions. After the catastrophic ending, Hanswurst ruminates on destiny and free will, touching fleetingly on important quests of eighteenth-century philosophy. The Nachtwachen also makes innumerable indirect references to puppetry, most prominently via Don Quixote, Tom Jones and v. Thümmel's Reise in die mittäglichen Provinzen von Frankreich.

Published Online: 2010-10-05
Published in Print: 2010-September
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