The Liar

work by Goldoni

Also known as: “Il bugiardo”

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Last updated

June 30, 2026

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Carlo Goldoni's play Il bugiardo, translated as The Liar, was written during the 1750-51 season. This work is noted as being written in the commedia dell'arte style. Goldoni was a key figure in renovating the Italian commedia dell'arte, moving away from masked stock characters and improvised plots towards more realistic characters and tightly constructed narratives. His reform aimed to replace the often crude and repetitive commedia dell'arte with a more refined and witty form of comedy, often utilizing local dialect to portray Venetian life.12

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Carlo Goldoni
…Venetian dialect; Il bugiardo (The Liar, 1922), written in commedia dell’arte style; and Il vero amico (“The True Friend”), an Italian comedy of manners.
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…Venetian dialect; Il bugiardo (The Liar, 1922), written in commedia dell’arte style; and Il vero amico (“The True Friend”), an Italian comedy of manners.
Read More