«Oh, come bene se gli conviene il nome [...] ch’egli tiene». I nomi parlanti del Fedele di Alvise Pasqualigo

Abstract

The article deals with the way the Venetian Count Alvise Pasqualigo (1536-1576) uses anthroponyms in his comedy Il Fedele (1576). This text was very successful in Italy between the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th century, and also reached England and France, as it was translated into French by Pierre de Larivay, into Latin by Abraham Fraunce, and into English by Anthony Munday (this remake was probably read by Shakespeare). As for the minor characters, the names chosen by the author usually show a semantic and sometimes etymological interaction with their personalities, which influences their behaviour and the development of their stories. In some cases, the link name/personality turns out to be antiphrastic at the end of the story; in others it is the intertextuality that leads to the correct interpretation of the anthroponym. As for the four main characters, their names interact with each other, and contribute strongly to the building of the allegorical interpretation of the whole comedy. This allegorical interpretation, which could not be understood without the semantic help of the anthroponyms, is built on two different levels: a superficial and conformist one which shows how the value of faith makes man successful in love and life; and a hidden and cynical one which reveals that the way to self-accomplishment is not real faith but its simulation (that is to say its negation).