2012年2月24日 Continued: Dreams, and asking Pagliacci to laugh

I should have introduced Pagliaccio and what role he plays.

Pagliaccio is a clown in a theater production. While in a bar some people joking say to him that his wife might be cheating on him. He declares he may play a clown, but on the inside it is very different. His wife actually does cheat on him. Pagliaccio, whose non-stage name in the play is Canio, almost catches the adulterer but does not see his face. He confronts his wife with a knife but is stopped others.

Later during a performance he threatens her to say her lover's name. Eventually his wrath, anger, and pride get the best of him and he kills his wife. Unable to empathize with why his wife's reasoning for being with other men is unclear, to me at least. What I do know is that while Pagliaccio tries to do "The show must go on..." with himself in private, it is clear that he wants revenge and will do this by dehumanizing his wife until he kills her (7:00 range in the video). None of this matters, he is so angry and blinded by his selfish rage he kills his wife. In a sense, Pagliaccio made his wife a slave in the sense that if she leaves him, or cheats on him, he'll kill her. No matter how bad he is or incompatible, she must stay and never betray his manhood.

Yes Biblically, adulterers, wife of a man and another man (who may be married), would be put to death if caught. But this story of Pagliaccio takes place in the mid-1800s.

But personally what I think is that laughing is important.
Unfortunately with Pagliaccio it's only wishful thinking. In neither of the videos I posted does he actually resolve his feelings with himself with laughing. An "Ah!" is said here or there, but nothing in terms of real resolution happens with himself.