Ladies, Dames and Madams in I.L. Caragiale’s Writings
Ladies, Dames and Madams in I.L. Caragiale’s Writings

Summary/Abstract: The literary critics and historians that have reviewed I.L. Caragiale’s work have repeatedly suggested that Caragiale’s heroes are “types” or “symbolic characters” who were said to originate in various characters specific to the Romanian folk plays, or to the Commedia dell’Arte or even to Molière’s plays. Among these heroes, a very significant part is played by the feminine characters whom, in G. Ibrăileanu’s opinion, Caragiale “paints with no satirical pretensions [...]. His women are serious types such as Zoe, Didina and even Ma’am Efimiţa”. Considering G. Ibrăileanu’s statement as a starting point, the purpose of this paper is to prove the opposite. Therefore, the examples that regard both the character of Caragiale’s heroines and their language, i.e. the way they address one another and the names used by the other characters when talking about them: lady, young lady, dame, madam, etc., support our assumption according to which language serves not only to socially identify the speakers, but also to satirize them. The outcome of all these verbal expressions is language comicality, which is a fundamental stylistic trait of Caragiale’s work.

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