La tipologia del teatro comico nei vizi capitali

Object of the analysis are the Conlationes and the Institutiones of Cassian, strategic manuals written for the monks for the combat against the deadly sins and for the achievement of perfection. I will make a brief introduction on the author's cultural background, on voluntary (or involuntary) statements of his rhetorical technique, and on his audience, the young monks who tries to lighten the heaviness of the teachings. For natural sagacity, established by a thorough cultural education, Cassian uses the "comic micro strategies" (irony, jokes, parody), and "comic macro strategies", short stories (reminiscence of characters and situations of comedy and satire). These are known typologies and probably become proverbial (parasite, misanthrope, boaster, lustful old, misogynist, choleric). In the same way we, today, do not hesitate to make some nicknames of the comedy: hypochondriac, miser, swashbuckler, etc. Bergson, comparing the comedy to the drama, indicated in the comic vice the central character, who baptizes many comedies with the common name (the Miser), while proper name is typical of the tragic character. The comic parody of Cassian, reusing types of the satire and the comedy, from direct and indirect references and proverbial formulas (of situation and character, already well codified in their moralistic function) opens a new perspective to the study of the seven deadly sins: not only abstract concepts and rules, but also a gallery of monks who play a functional part