Of Clowns, Betrayal and Wine... 

[Image: Le Mime Debureau : 'Pierrot Voleur', par Nadar, 1854] 

The character of Pierrot comes to us from antiquity. Some sources trace his existence back 4000 years to present day Turkey in Asia Minor. He is, perhaps, most well-known as a stock character from the Italian Commedia dell’arte. He is the ‘son of the moon’; a white-faced, sad clown, eternally hopeful, but doomed by Love and Fate. Among the various characters of the Commedia dell’arte, he is the only monochrome character, while all the others have all of the full and radiant colors of Life, he remains garbed only in black and white. Night has no use for colors. Night’s goddess, the Moon, is a jealous empress, and will admit no other colors, save her own silvery white beams. 

Pierrot adores the character Columbine, which he eventually loses to boastful, showy Harlequin, because he has not declared his love to Columbine overtly enough. As so many women of our own era, Columbine would rather give her heart (however briefly and capriciously) to the ‘bad boy’ Harlequin, than the attentive, patient, and respectful gentleman Pierrot on whom she may unconditionally depend. There is much here that anticipates ‘Ladder Theory’ in our own era. 

Ladder Theory: English: 
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladder_Theory

Théorie de l’échelle (Ladder Theory) Français: 
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Théo..._l’échelle

Pierrot is the ‘eternal innocent’; intellectually ‘interior’, introspective, pursuing his dreams, hopes and desires, but as abstractions struggling to become the tangible ‘flesh’ of reality. He worships Beauty and Romantic Love, but always suffers their wrath and scorn. Nonetheless, he continues to worship them forever. They are his sole deities, and their temples are his only sanctuary. 

The simplest metaphor for Pierrot is the moth with its ghostly white pallor; its powdery wings catching fire as it enters the flame of Love’s promise, consuming it utterly. It has perished, all for having pursued its Ideal. 

In the case below, however, Pierrot must still ‘live’; even though the sole object of his deepest affections, Columbine, is lost to him. He must seek some way to find solace until Death overtakes him, ending his misery. 

Perhaps he might find a short respite in wine, but here, too, lies treachery…  

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