Characters

Bertozzo

Bertozzo is the recipient of mockery throughout the play. He begins the play with an overly arrogant monologue, suggesting the scandal following the anarchist's death has made the police's job much harder. He is self-centred and humourless. At the end of the play, he tries to tell Pissani and the SI that the 'judge' is actually the Maniac, but they think he's going to tell Feletti too, so they silence. The abuse he endures is often a part of the slapstick humour, but could also remind the audience of the police's involvement in the anarchist's abuse.

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Maniac

The Maniac doesn't represent any real life person, but could arguably be the voice of the people who want justice. Fo uses the Maniac to satirise the police, and makes them appear naïve and unintelligent. The Maniac reveals the lies of the police with regards to the anarchist's death, and at times, offers scathing criticism of their actions, although more often than not, his judgement is portrayed via dark humour. It is revealed that the Maniac has been charged 12 times before for impersonation. Over the course of the play, the Maniac impersonates a judge, a forensics expert and a bishop. This is perhaps a subtle hint towards the police spies who often impersonated politicians on Fo's part. The Maniac's frantic nature contributes to the alienation effect: much of the play's very serious content is not critically analysed as it is said in such an unexpected way. His character is rooted in the commedia dell'arte's Harlequin, who is seen as almost clown-like, mischievous and a trickster. The Maniac is seen to pretend to be on the police's side, before unexpectedly siding with Feletti, as is reminiscent of the Harlequin.

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Feletti

Feletti is inspired by Camilla Cederna, a real journalist who investigated Pinelli's death. She uncovered police corruption, and helped Fo with his research. Unlike other characters, Feletti isn't comedic, and is instead used to integrate the themes of the government's strategy of tension, police corruption and the suppression of revolution.

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Superintendent

The Superintendent is based on Marcello Guida, the head of police in Milan. He wasn't present for the anarchist's death, but he was heavily involved in the cover up. Guida was a government official when Mussolini was in power and led a prison camp. Like Pissani, the Superintendent believes the Maniac is a judge, and he reacts defensively in light of this. He happily goes along with the Maniac if it is going to help him get out of trouble.

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Constable

The Constable has a very limited role in the play, with few lines. He often plays a foolish bystander, typically very gullible and follows any order without question. Fo perhaps uses the Constable's simple-minded nature to criticise the police hierarchy.

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Pissani

Pissani is closely based on the inspector, Luigi Calabresi, who was directly involved in the anarchist's death and blamed the far left for the Piazza Fontana bombings. He was nicknamed the 'Window Straddler' (ironic considering Pissani literally straddles a window at one point') as he would allegedly interrogate suspects while they sat on the window sill. In the play, Pissani believes the Maniac is the judge who wants to reopen the case for the anarchist's death so he tries to prove his innocence, but only ends up incriminating himself due to the Maniac's clever questioning. Pissani has a temper and no sense of humour

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	Created by Grace Fawcitt almost 7 years ago

AS level Drama Note on Accidental Death of an Anarchist- answer plans, created by Grace Fawcitt on 24/01/2018.