Stereotypes: Then and Now

From what I have been reading of everyone else's blogs, it seems that I am not alone to have come from our class on Tuesday thinking a lot about stereotypes. It was an essential element of our discussion on Willie Stark, and like many of my peers, it lead me to further thought on the topic since. I began to consider the idea of stereotypes over the wider span of theatre, musical and otherwise.

By looking at the history of the dramatic arts, it is clear that early in our recorded history man had already realized that stereotypes make things accessible to a large population. From what I have experienced, the first truly masterful use of stereotypes on a wide scale came with the advent of comedia dell'arte. Here you had an entire art form built around stereotypes: the lovers, the bumbling old men, the clever servant, the acrobatic fool. To add to the stereotypical nature of comedia, the characters were even originally designed to represent stereotypes of specific Italian regions or cities (for example, Pantalone was the embodiment of Venice). These characters found their way into grand opera with such characters as Susanna (Columbina), Doctor Bartolo (Il Dottore) and Cherubino / Barbarina (Innamorati) in Le nozze di Figaro.

I believe that the popular use of stereotypes in this manner is, like Rachel suggests, a key element that "makes stories universal and timeless." By creating characters to which everyone can relate, you make the story appeal to a broad audience and make it more likely that this connection will continue into the next generation. I believe that Willie Stark captures this well; if I had any doubts about it before Tuesday's class, they were laid to rest as various students talked about how they recognized someone in their own life that paralleled this character or that.