Francesco Scipione Maffei

• Born: June 1, 1675
• Birthplace: Verona, Republic of Venice (now in Italy)
• Died: February 11, 1755
• Place of death: Verona, Republic of Venice (now in Italy)

Other Literary Forms

Francesco Scipione Maffei was a historian, theorist, antiquarian, archeologist, and literary critic. He campaigned vigorously for the reestablishment of a strong tradition of tragedy in the Italy of his day. He also wrote essays on archeology and antiquities. He helped found the literary journal, Giornale dei Letterati d’Italia, and wrote for its pages for many years. He is remembered as well for his work in archeology, especially that related to ancient Roman buildings and monuments, as in his essay on Roman amphitheatres, Degli anfiteatri e singolarmente veronese (1728; on amphitheatres and especially on that of Verona), and in his Verona illustrata (1732; Verona illustrated). He published a political tract addressed to the government of the Veneto region expressing the case against dueling: Consiglio politico presentato al governo veneto (1736; political advice to the Veneto government).

Achievements

Francesco Scipione Maffei is chiefly remembered for his literary essays on tragedy, his collaboration with Luigi Riccoboni’s theatrical company in developing a repertory of French and Italian tragedies, and most of all for his single tragedy, Merope, which was much imitated and admired.

Biography

Francesco Scipione Maffei came of a noble family and was himself a marquis. He studied with the Jesuits in Parma, then fought in the war of succession in 1704 in Bavaria. He returned to Verona for his studies but soon interrupted them for a long trip into France, England, Holland, and Belgium. He was a learned gentleman who published on a wide variety of subjects: literature, philosophy, theology, archeology, and dramatic arts. In this last connection, he was a champion of classical tragedy.

There were a number of theorists and playwrights in the very early years of the eighteenth century who wanted to establish tragedy in its purest form, and it was the mission of the Arcadian Academy founded in Rome in 1690. Maffei, who had spent time in Rome as a young man, was initiated into the Arcadian Academy in 1698, and in 1704 he established a Verona chapter of the academy. In 1700, the academy’s president, Giovan Crescimbeni, published La bellezza della volgar poesia (the beauty of vernacular poetry), arguing that opera had spoiled the purer genres of comedy and especially tragedy. Gian Gravina, also a member of that academy, published five tragedies in 1712 followed by a critical defense, Della tragedia (on tragedy). Pier Martelli wrote several tragedies and is remembered for his special adaptation of the French Alexandrine verse that came to be called Martellian verse and was much imitated by other writers of serious drama of that day. There was palpable rivalry with France and an anxiety to match the triumphs seen in the work of Pierre Corneille and Jean Racine.

Maffei made himself a part of that cause. He joined forces with Luigi Riccoboni encouraging him to use his troupe to perform not only French tragedies but also such earlier distinguished Italian tragedies as Giangiorgio Trissino’s La Sofonisba (wr. 1515, pb. 1524, pr. 1562), Torquato Tasso’s Il re Torrismondo (pb. 1587), Muzio Manfredi’s Semiramis (pr. 1593), and Orsatto Giustiniani’s version of the Oedipus story, Edipo tiranno (pr. 1585). Maffei followed this by publishing an anthology of twelve exemplary Italian tragedies under the long title Teatro italiano: O, Sia scelte di tragedie per uso della scene (1723-1725, three volumes; the Italian theater or a collection of twelve tragedies for use on the stage). In answer to Maffei, the Dominican priest Danele Concina wrote a tract, De spectaculis theatralibus (pb. 1754), condemning all forms of theater. Maffei answered him much later in his essay De teatri antichi e moderni (1753; of ancient and modern theatres), published with the express approval of Pope Benedetto XIV, whom Maffei had known in Rome as Cardinal Lambertini.

Probably most important to this cause of reviving tragedy was the tragedy Maffei composed: Merope, his one well-known dramatic work. It opened in Modena, June 12, 1713, with Elena Balletti Riccoboni playing the title role and with the attendance of Duke Rinaldo and his court. It was a stunning success and went on to play in other cities before appearing at the Teatro San Luca in Venice, and each time enjoying great success, so much so that Maffei boasted of having finally trounced the French at the game of tragedy.

Despite this success, Maffei wrote very little for the theater thereafter. He concentrated on his studies for the remaining forty years of his life. Nevertheless, he had had an influence that was acknowledged much later in the century by such leading authors as Voltaire in France and Vittorio Alfieri in Italy, both of whom wrote plays based on the story of Merope. Indeed Alfieri, writing near the end of the eighteenth century, represents the realization of Maffei’s hope for a significant Italian writer of tragedies.

Analysis

Francesco Scipione Maffei’s life was his work. As drama is concerned, he wrapped himself up in the vigorous campaign to give Italy a new tragic tradition based on the ancients. Between about 1710 and 1723, he was completely absorbed in this endeavor; then he gradually drifted away and took up other interests.

His convictions are clear both from his most famous play and from his writing on the subject of tragedy. He was convinced of the beauty of the ancient myths and history, which, in his view, have an inherent purity and universality. At the same time, he was equally convinced that the form tragedy would have to assume in the new age must be suited to the times. The classical qualities of economy of expression, tautness of plot, and rich suggestion of language must be retained, he argued. Nevertheless, slavish duplication of every practice and convention would be stultifying.

Merope

Maffei took the story of Merope from Greek mythology, a story that had been the basis for a lost play by Euripides. Merope, the widow of the deposed king of Messenia, is being wooed by the usurper, Polifonte, who fifteen years before had murdered her husband and two of her three sons and seized the throne. While he attempts to persuade her that he was justified in taking that act, a young stranger named Egisto is brought to court accused of murdering another young man. He wears a jewel that had belonged to Merope’s lost son, Cresfonte, and she assumes the young man had murdered Cresfonte. She vows to take vengeance on him. She is on the point of stabbing him when she is stopped by Polidoro, the only person aware of the truth: Egisto is the lost son. At the time of the great carnage, Polidoro was entrusted with the little boy, took him away and raised him elsewhere. Even Egisto is unaware of his true identity. Once reunited as mother and son, they plot vengeance. She agrees to the marriage with Polifonte. In the midst of the wedding ceremony, Egisto/Cresfonte murders the tyrant, and the grateful populace rise up in jubilation and make him king.

This summary does not do justice to the play. It is written in a clear and compact manner and is a neat and tidy balance of ancient traditions and contemporary taste. There are no awkward conventions left over from the ancient Greek plays: It has no prologue, no messengers, no choral interludes (and no chorus), no confidants, and no soliloquies. It moves forward in a rapid-paced plot, catching the audience up in anticipation. The verse is lively and the revelations gripping. Psychologically, Merope is a complex and intriguing character who dominates the play in full naturalness. Alfieri’s version years later fulfills the ideals Maffei pursued even better than Maffei’s own effort.

Bibliography

Carlson, Marvin. The Italian Stage from Goldoni to d’Annunzio. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1981. Portrays the currents in eighteenth century Italian drama and devotes several pages to the effort to establish a tradition of classical tragedy in the new age with the work of Maffei as well as that of Vittorio Alfieri and others.

Kennard, Joseph S. The Italian Theatre. 2 vols. Reprint. New York: B. Blom, 1964. This is a full survey of the history of Italian theater from Roman times to the twentieth century. The section on eighteenth century drama devotes some attention to the work of Maffei.

Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim. Hamburg Dramaturgy. Translated by Helen Zimmern. New York: Bohn’s Standard Library, 1890. Lessing’s notes for the Hamburg National Theatre, written in the mid-to late eighteenth century, include commentary on Maffei’s work.