A Look at Ambition in Carlo Goldoni's play, La famiglia dell'antiquario

Abstract

My thesis looks at and examines ambition in the play La famiglia dell'antiquario by 18 th century Venetian playwright Carlo Goldoni.I will categorize ambition found in the play into two types: material and immaterial.By examining ambition in all its facets, my goal is to highlight the different strains of ambition Goldoni showcases in this particular work.My overall analysis of ambition suggests that Goldoni believed there to be right and wrong ways to have ambition.Overall, through this technique one is able to glean a remarkable critique and depiction of life in 18 th century Venice through a Goldonian lens.Criticism of Carlo Goldoni's play La famiglia dell'anitquario has traditionally focused on family and gender as one sees in the works of Michele Bordin, Stephen Kolsky and Maggie Günsberg.A strong focus lies on the tumultuous relationship between the mother-in-law, Isabella, and daughter-in-law, Doralice.Bordin focuses his attention on the play's conclusion in his article, Sul Lieto Fine Goldoniano Come "Imperfetta" Conclusione.Preliminari e Due Analisi (La Famiglia Dell'Antiquario e Il Geloso Avaro).Bordin's focus on the play's conclusion, as well as the relationship between Isabella and Doralice, lends itself to an analysis of the play via the context of the family.Kolsky examines gender and politics in his essay titled, Gender and Politics in La famiglia dell'antiquario.Kolsky believes that class and gender play defining roles within the play's plot.Scholar Maggie Günsberg notably examines La famiglia dell'antiquario in her book Playing with Gender, The Comedies of Goldoni.Specifically Günsberg focuses her attention largely on class ambition of the bourgeois, a ubiquitous theme in the play.However, she does not devote thought to the idea that ambition is seem throughout the various classes.Rather, all classes in the play, whether private or public, pursue ambition.Ambition should not be limited to the bourgeois class or considered solely by way of class.Instead La famiglia dell'antiquario offers a study of multifaceted ambition.

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