Characteristics
The earliest literary evidence portrays Zanni as a servant of Pantalone. Of all of the Commedia archetypes, Zanni’s survival instinct is the strongest. Zanni is also always hungry which leads to a vision of Utopia where “everything is comestible, reminiscent of the followers of gluttony in carnival processions”. A Zanni also has an animistic view of the world in that he senses a spirit in everything, so it could be eaten. Zanni is ignorant, loutish, and has no self-awareness. The simple act of thinking seems to not be natural to Zanni. He is a very faithful individual who prefers to live in the present day. Zanni never looks for a place to sleep it just seems to happen to him often in situations where it shouldn’t. Lastly, all of his reactions are completely emotional.
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