FERRARI, PAOLO. - Playwright, b. in Modena on 5 April 1822, d. in Milan on 9 March 1899. He was the first in Italy to perceive the need for a dramatic art attentive to moral problems, giving the best proof of this in Cause ed effetti (1871), where the institution of the family, already exalted in Prosa (1858) against romantic excesses, was defended against the materialism that saw in marriage a mere contract of dowry property.
In general, however, the ethical inspiration remained merely intentional in F., who not infrequently brought to the surface the prejudices and conventionalisms of the bourgeoisie of his time. Thus in Duello (1868) he maintains that the duel, theoretically condemnable, proves useful in practice; in Ridicola (1872) he thinks that the fear of being made a laughingstock makes one cautious in choosing a wife and keeps the husband vigilant in protecting domestic respectability. Artistically accomplished are the historical comedies Goldoni and Parini. In the rest F. fails to document the life of his time on a consistent plane; more than a creator, he is often a reworker of the models of French theater.
Bibliography5 worksL. Capuana, Il teatro contemporaneo italiano, Palermo 1872, pp. 122-26; L. Fortis, P. F. Ricordi e note, Milan 1869; B. Croce, P. F., in Cri
BIBL.: L. Capuana, Il teatro contemporaneo italiano, Palermo 1872, pp. 122-26; L. Fortis, P. F. Ricordi e note, Milan 1869; B. Croce, P. F., in Critica, 4 (1905), pp. 253-79; D. Valeri, L'efficacia del teatro francese sul teatro di P. F., in Ric. d'Italia, 1 (1900, 11), pp. 257-328; L. Tonelli, Il teatro contemporaneo italiano, Milan 1936, pp. 91-122.
Costabile, Franco. “Ferrari, paolo.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. V, col. 1194. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1950. https://azioneromana.com/article/ferrari-paolo.
MLA
Costabile, Franco. “Ferrari, paolo.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. V, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1950, col. 1194. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/ferrari-paolo.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec5_ferrari_paolo,
author = {Costabile, Franco},
title = {Ferrari, paolo},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {V},
pages = {1194},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1950},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/ferrari-paolo}
}
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