- Commedia dell’ arte, the pastoral tragic-comedies of 16th century Italy, are a more certain influence on Shakespeare. Many of these plays depict a benevolent magician on a remote, paradisiacal island with white magic, spirits, or devils. The purpose of magic was often (1) to settle old quarrels or (2) to bring about the marriage of two young lovers. Four Italian plays with similar motifs are as follows:
(a) “The Ship” – ruined vessel at sea, survivors crawl onto island
(b) “Madness” – contains nonsensical scene similar to Stefano, Trinculo, and Caliban’s cloak scene (Stefano & Trinculo are typical commedia dell’ arte characters)
(c) “The Grotesquerie” – banquet scene that rises from the ground and later snatched away by spirits
(d) “The Three Satyrs” – natives of island conspire with survivors to steal magician’s book. The mage discovers the plot and stops it.
