Pantalone (Italian: [pantaˈloːne]), spelled Pantaloon in English,[1] is one of the most important principal characters found in commedia dell'arte. With his exceptional greed and status at the top of the social order, Pantalone is "money" in the commedia world. His full name, including family name, is Pantalon de' Bisognosi, Italian for 'Pantalone of the Needy'.[2]
- ^ Pantaloon is the spelling of the character's name in English Harlequinades. Shakespeare uses the English spelling in As You Like It, Act 2, scene 7, as does Randolph T. Weaver's translation of Pierre-Louis Duchartre's The Italian Comedy, (London: George G. Harrap and Co., Ltd. (1929); New York: Dover (1966). ISBN 0486216799)
- ^ Robert Henke Performance and literature in the commedia dell'arte, Improvisation and characters, Individual roles, pp. 19–24