Alyssa DiPanfilo

Survey I
Professor Rothchild
October 23rd 2014

Capitan Spezzaferro

The charater of Capitan Spezzaferro is brought to life in a theatrical experience

called Commedia dell’arte. This form of theatre was constructed with the actors using
masks and it began in Italy in the 16th century. Many of the performances were outside
on temporary stages and were performed by actors who were apart of acting troupes.
The most successful troupes performed before the nobility. This particular character is
often an outsider whos biggest saving grace is that none of the locals knew who he was
so he could be anything he wanted to be in order to impress people and try to make a
name for himself.
He is a very outspoken character who probably tells a lot of outlandish stories to
get people to think he is interesting. He talks a lot about made up military conquests to
impress everyone, but only ends up impressing himself. He gets so carried away with
his stories and people stop listening but he does not realize this and keeps talking. He
acts extreamly arrogant and proud, but at a moments notice would run away with his tail
between his legs. However, he makes it seem that he has an exucse to leave so as not
to lose the admiration of those around him. He is also extreamly greedy and everything
he does is for his own personal gain. Playing both sides of a fight is another thing he
does with ease and he will be on the side of whoever is winning. The Capitan’s famous
pose is one hand on his trusty swoard and the other hand in the air. He is often dipicted
in a military uniform, in a mask with a large nose, and a moustache. This character not
only was present during this century, but is present in theatre and televison today.
One character that I realized fit this description was Draco Malfoy from the Harry
Potter series. He is always the first one to boast about what he has and how many great
things he has done, but he chokes at any sign of danger. He believes himself to be
much more attractive than he is, but in the series we all know that Harry is the one
everyone is after. There is one scene where Draco must kill a very powerful wizard,
Dumbeldor, but he backs out at the last minute and is too much of a coward to complete
the task. Keeping his composure he makes up a reason as to why he couldn’t and
never loses his friends. This arrogant character is seen in many more television shows
and movies and it all comes back down to the Capitan Spezzaferro.