harlequinade
Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- noun A comedy or pantomime in which Harlequin is the main attraction.
- noun Farcical clowning or buffoonery.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- noun A kind of pantomime; that part of a pantomime which follows the transformation of characters, and in which the harlequin and clown play the principal parts; hence, buffoonery; a fantastic procedure.
Examples
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But the howling vacuum had opened up inside her again, with its endless vistas of nothingness and no return, the harlequinade of grasping, painted lovers.
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Their lively, eclectic tastes animated all London theatres, and the legit stage began to appropriate gothic gruesomeness and the exoticism of distant lands from bestsellers; fabulous landscapes transformed, and violence stunted, from harlequinade extravaganzas; extreme emotion, terror and horror, from post-revolutionary Parisian showbiz.
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At the last minute, the host decides to lighten things up by adding Zerbinetta and her Italian commedia dell'arte troupe to the program, and then, to save time, ordains that the opera and the harlequinade be combined.
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Why! suppose I possessed a theatrical wardrobe, would you venture to argue from that that I am in the frequent habit of wearing the trailing robes of tragedy, the saffron cloak of the mimic dance, or the patchwork suit of the harlequinade?
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It has been called 'a satirical harlequinade', a burlesque, and is said to be about the nature of female power and whether such power can be achieved in real life or just exists in romantic fiction.
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Two or three of the police instantly put their hands on Royce; but to the rest it seemed as if all reason had broken up and the universe were turning into a brainless harlequinade.
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Then three together in a harlequinade of faded color, legs caked yellow with dust and sweat, faces expressionless, eyes heavy and endlessly tired.
Note
The word 'harlequinade' comes from French.
