Commedia dell’Arte und persifliertes Freimaurertum als Mittel zu vorurteilsbefreiter Männlichkeit in August Kopischs Ein Carnevalsfest auf Ischia
Commedia dell'Arte and satirised Freemasonry as a means to prejudiced masculinity in August Kopisch's Ein Carnevalsfest auf Ischia

Summary/Abstract: Don Antonio has internalised the common beauty norm of the social class to which he belongs. Therefore, the bald man believes he has no chance of winning the love of the beautiful widow Donna Theresa. A carnival party given to him by his friends inverts the male beauty norm. While commedia dell'arte only offers surprises in the form of situation comedy, which retards the tension, the Masonic play framework, which Kopisch also includes, ensures the development of the plot. The story tells of the successful transformation of a man who desires beauty only covertly out of an internalised prejudice (Don Antonio) into a husband free of prejudice. The carnivalesque inversion of the socio-culturally prescribed beauty norm into its opposite and the comic transcription of Masonic rituals generate marketplace and festive laughter in Ein Carnevalsfest auf Ischia. Kopisch not only spiritualises elements of the Commedia dell'Arte tradition. He also satirises Masonic mysteries and initiatory rituals.

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