Simpleton (redirected from simpletons)

Simpleton 

a theatrical type; the role of a person who is open-hearted and naïve or dull-witted or sometimes a person who only appears to be so. Early prototypes of the simpleton are the traditional character (the second zanni) in the Italian commedia dell’arte of the second half of the 16th century and the fools in old German, Russian, and other folk performances. Later this type became widespread in comedy (mainly vaudeville) and operetta. Examples of the simpleton are Sir Andrew

Aguecheek in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Mitrofanushka in Fonvizin’s The Minor, and Lariosik in Bulgakov’s The Days of theTurbins.