The 12 Days of a Jane Austen Christmas

day11Christmas


Christmas

On the eleventh day of Christmas, Jane Austen gave to me…  an excerpt from A Jane Austen Christmas to whet your appetite.

 

 

 


 

Each year, Regency era British theaters prepared Christmas pantomimes (pantos) that would begin on Boxing Day and run as long as the audiences demanded them. These were not silent productions, but rather very verbal performances that included the audience as an extra character in plays bearing many similarities to modern burlesque.

 The Pantomime Tradition

The tradition of pantomimes and the pantomime characters in England trace back to medieval theater. Broadbent (1901) notes:

A sketch of Harlequin’s original (medieval) part is worth recording. ‘He is a mixture of wit, simplicity, ignorance, and grace, he is a half made up man, a great child with gleams of reason and intelligence, and all his mistakes and blunders have something arch about them. The true mode of representing him is to give him suppleness, agility, the playfulness of a kitten with a certain coarseness of exterior, which renders his actions more absurd. His part is that of a faithful valet; greedy; always in love; always in trouble, either on his own or his master’s account; afflicted and consoled as easily as a child, and whose grief is as amusing as his joy.’ His costume consisted of a jacket fastened in front with loose ribbons, and pantaloons of wide dimensions, patched with various colored pieces of cloth sewn on in any fashion. His beard was worn straight, and of a black color; on his face he had a half black mask and in his belt of untanned leather he carried a wooden sword.

‘Modern’ Pantomime

The first ‘modern’ Pantomime appeared on the English stage in 1702. Produced at Drury Lane, ‘Tavern Bilkers’ was written by John Weaver, a dance-master who would go on to write and produce a number of pantomimes. But it was John Rich, beginning in 1717, who brought Pantomime into its own, creating a new form of dramatic composition that fed the Georgian audiences’ hunger for new and novel entertainment.

It consisted of two parts, one serious, the other comic; by the help of gay scenes, fine habits, grand dances, appropriate music, and other decorations, he exhibited a story … Between the pauses of the acts he interwove a comic fable, consisting chiefly of the courtship of Harlequin and Columbine, with a variety of surprising adventures and tricks, which were produced by the magic wand of Harlequin; such as the sudden transformation of palaces and temples to huts and cottages; of men and women into wheelbarrows and joint stools; of trees turned to houses; colonnades to beds of tulips; and mechanics’ hops into serpents and ostriches. (Broadbent, 1901)

By the 1750’s, pantomimes became associated with Christmas entertainment. In the 19th century, the serious portion of the evening dwindled in importance and duration as the performance of the harlequinade portion and the role of Clown of the evening became increasingly popular. Part of pantomime’s popularity was the way it poked irreverent fun at more serious forms of entertainment.

Rich developed the major pantomime characters that became the standard characters found in nearly all future pantomimes: Harlequin, Clown, Columbine, and Pantaloon.  Harlequin was the romantic male lead, though the role was distinctly more comedic than traditionally romantic. A mischievous magician, Rich’s Harlequin used his magic batte or “slapstick” to transform the scene from the opening pantomime setting into the fanciful harlequinade and to magically transform the settings during the chase scene. Through the 1800’s Harlequin became more romantic and mercurial than magical and comedic.

Clown began as a servant to Pantaloon, a comical idiot dressed in tattered servant’s garb. In the 1800’s, new costumes and new actors, like Grimaldi, transformed the role to the undisputed agent of chaos with jokes, catch phrases and songs that audiences would shout and sing along with.  “Clown became central to the transformation scene, crying ‘Here we are again!’ and so opening the harlequinade. He then became the villain of the piece, playing elaborate, cartoonish practical jokes on policemen, soldiers, tradesmen and passers-by.” (Broadbent, 1901)

Joseph_Grimaldi

Grimaldi as Clown

Columbine was Harlequin’s beautiful love interest, daughter of Pantaloon, a devious, greedy merchant, bent on keeping the lovers apart with the assistance of Pierrot, his servant, and Clown.

Most of the pantos merged children’s fairy tales or stories like Robinson Crusoe or Sinbad the Sailor, with the fantastical star-crossed lovers of the harlequinade story. Dual titles, like ‘Harlequin and Cinderella,’ paid homage to both elements of the production. Typically, the panto began in the fairy-story world with a cross, old, business-minded father trying to force his pretty daughter to marry a wealthy fop, despite her preference for another, worthy though poorer, suitor. At the initiation of Harlequin’s ‘slapstick’, the good fairy transformed the lovers into the harlequin characters in a spectacular scene of magic. As stage machinery and technology improved, the transformation scene  became more and more remarkable. Once the transformation was complete, Clown (and the audience with him) cried, “Here We Are Again”.

The new setting usually contained multiple stage traps, trick doors and windows. Clown would jump through windows and reappear through trap doors as he enacted the most dramatic, and beloved, part of the production, the frenzied chase scene. He would steal sausages, chickens and other props, grease doorsteps to outwit pursuers, use his magic wand to turn a dog into sausages or a bed into a horse trough, to the surprise of the sleeping victim.

While one part of the performance was aimed at the children and the innocent, adults responded to the often risqué or politically charged verbal exchanges. Since the audience participated in the show, emotions could run high. So much so, a pantomime could, and occasionally did, incite a riot.

 


So what did you think? Do you have favorite Christmas traditions in your family?

 

37 comments

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    • Allison K on December 23, 2015 at 12:35 am
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    What a fun giveaway!

    • Glynis on December 23, 2015 at 1:00 am
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    What a great giveaway 😃. We don’t really have any traditions. I did take my children to the pantomime several times when they were little. I never realised that they had been popular for so long although I think I prefer the more modern versions. Thanks for this post.

    • Lori on December 23, 2015 at 1:12 am
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    We definitely don’t have any cool Christmas traditions. Being a military brat we were usually in the middle of a move during Christmas and we’re lucky if our gifts weren’t in a brown paper bag.

    • Rosa on December 23, 2015 at 1:42 am
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    What an interesting story of pantomime. I didn’t know it was so elaborate. Thank you for the giveaway

    • Susan Schwartz on December 23, 2015 at 2:41 am
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    We always listened to carols on Christmas
    Eve, walked around the neighborhood to
    look at lights, ate Chinese food, and opened
    one gift.
    Thank you for the giveaway and a Happy
    Christmas!

  1. I can’t say that we do anything special, eat food, give out presents, but what more do you need

    • Michelle on December 23, 2015 at 4:14 am
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    How very interesting. I still go to the pantomime every year with my 24 year old daughter and i have taken her since she was 3! It is my next door neighbour’s birthday on Christmas Eve so we usually pop to her house for a few drinks. Thanks for the give away x

    • Vesper Meikle on December 23, 2015 at 7:09 am
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    we don’t have any Christmas traditions but I do remember go to see a pantomime as a chilkd

    • Ann on December 23, 2015 at 7:21 am
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    Happy Christmas from Send in Surrey in sunny England. Thank you for a lovely year of Austen Variations. I have enjoyed reading these emails from this website and the extra stories.
    Christmas traditions include an Advent candle to mark down the days of Advent, a Christingle service at church on Christmas Eve and midnight communion and an advent ring at Church to mark the Sundays of Christmas and Christmas Day.

      • Meg on December 23, 2015 at 9:34 am
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      Isn’t it wonderful we can enjoy these posts from both England and the USA? Your traditions are similar to ours but different enough to make for interesting reading indeed. I enjoyed a first time visit to Great Britain last summer and plan another next September. Have a joyous Christmas and Boxing Day.

    • Meg on December 23, 2015 at 7:53 am
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    When my children still lived at home where we had a few acres of mixed trees, we would go out and select a native cedar to use as a Christmas tree just as the prairie pioneers did. Often lopsided and always imperfect, I found the little tree had more meaning to me than one purchased on a tree lot.

    • Constance on December 23, 2015 at 8:58 am
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    Even at the tender ages of 8&10 my grandchildren love creating Christmas traditions. Perhaps we should give this a try! It is also nice to read about the history of bye gone eras. Thank you for the lovely giveaway.

  2. Thanks for the fascinating bit of history. My family doesn’t have a favourite Christmas tradition but last time we used to go for Midnight mass on Christmas Eve at our church. But that has stopped since my mom sleep quite early. So it’s just my dad and I who would attend the midnight mass but not for this year.

    • Kimberly Hing on December 23, 2015 at 9:24 am
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    When we were younger, we would go to Arizona to spend the Holidays with all of my Grandparents, haven’t done that for over 30 years. Now we spend Christmas Eve at my brother’s home and Christmas Day at my mom’s.

    • Carol on December 23, 2015 at 9:32 am
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    What an enjoyable History Lesson. Going to midnight Mass was always a tradition in our family. Somehow we all managed to be awake. The days before Christmas, the grandchildren would go to grandpa and grandma’s house and bake all the German Christmas cookies we cound make. Thank you for your giveaway.

    • Stephanie Mudd Carrico on December 23, 2015 at 11:28 am
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    My DH is “Mr. Christmas”, so we have many traditions. Although we have teenagers now, and often get the sigh of discontent, we care on with cookies under the tree etc., some day they will re-appreciate and hopefully carry on with the next generation.
    Thanks for the chance to win.
    Merry Christmas to all,

    • Pam Hunter on December 23, 2015 at 11:49 am
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    The only tradition we have in my family is to eat way too much! Terrible tradition!

    Great giveaway!

    • Ginna on December 23, 2015 at 11:50 am
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    Hmmm. Don’t really have any specific traditions, other than the usual tree and ornaments, and other decorations. Both of my brothers are single with no kids, so they try to come up to our house for the holiday, so that they can spend time with my boys. I bake a lot to give cookies to friends and relatives. Would love to win the giveaway – a nice Christmas present!

    • Ellie on December 23, 2015 at 11:57 am
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    Each Christmas I create a special meal for my family which is meaningful and very special. Thanks for this lovely feature.

    • Annie on December 23, 2015 at 12:19 pm
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    We have storytelling which I enjoy. Fascinating stories which are from our ancestors and their lives.

    • sheila on December 23, 2015 at 12:21 pm
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    we would always set a fire then decorate the christmas tree with hot chocolate and marshmellows (peppermint of course). On christmas eve we would go see the christmas houses with family at one place every year. i remember the carolers and all the unique attempts in christmas decorations. Some included the various themed houses and my favorite was always santas fair ground. Some people also made hot chocolate to hand out. Merry Christmas to you all and remember if you have a cup of hot cocoa, don’t forget the cnady cane for a christmas touch! <3

    • Sheila L. M. on December 23, 2015 at 12:23 pm
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    I give my children and now my grandchildren an ornament each year but my favorite tradition is simply getting together as a family.

    • Elaina on December 23, 2015 at 1:10 pm
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    Traditions are wonderful. We light the menorah, eat latkes and applesauce and play dreidel.

    • Kim P. on December 23, 2015 at 1:26 pm
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    What an awesome giveaway! Our family has an Advent calendar that my boys use to count down the days to Christmas. We always go to church on Christmas Eve then at home we read The Night Before Christmas and hang our stockings right before going to bed.

    • Linda A. on December 23, 2015 at 1:33 pm
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    We don’t really have any traditions. Relax, eat and play Scrabble has been the usual activities for the last few years. Thank you for sharing this interesting information. And thank you for the chance to win!

    • Betsy Jung on December 23, 2015 at 2:15 pm
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    One of our many traditions is that our 3 kids make a Christmas play/movie for my husband and me. This is the 6th year. Their movies are the highlight of the holiday. We cherish this time knowing that this tradition will must likely come to an end as the kids get older. I can imagine watching the recordings for years to come though!

    • Theresa M on December 23, 2015 at 2:56 pm
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    What a fun idea for a giveaway! I love Christmas stories!

    • Eva E on December 23, 2015 at 7:45 pm
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    The Advent Calendar is a treasured tradition. I had a hand crafted one in my kitchen. Each child had their own calendar, and they would open a door each night before bed. I was amazed that my adult children loved receiving them from me, and now my grandchildren receive one. I Face Time with my 18 month grandson as his mother opens and reads each evening. His eyes are big with delight. Thank you for the wonderful giveaway and Merry Christmas!

    • Kristine Shore on December 23, 2015 at 11:27 pm
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    Interesting since we have no panto tradition in the US.

    • Sarah on December 24, 2015 at 3:13 am
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    A panto-packed post. Very interesting. Thank you.

    My family traditions include watching the carols, eating a hot Christmas dinner, lots of Christmas cake and pudding, seeing family and friends and trying to stay cool in the heat!

    • Deborah on December 24, 2015 at 6:29 am
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    What fun information. Incite riots… wow! Please do not enter me as I have all the above books already.

    • Robin Irvin on December 24, 2015 at 8:41 am
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    Our biggest tradition was family! Getting together at the farm with all the relatives. Playing outside with cousins. As I age, the together times are what I miss the most!

    • BeckyC on December 24, 2015 at 10:21 am
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    One of our very simple traditions is to hide a pickle ornament on the tree. When my boys would find it, they would get a pickle prize. The prize was something like a hot wheel when they were little. This has expanded to other friends and family looking forward to coming over to also earn their pickle prize. I keep a handful of prizes available.

    • Sheila L. M. on December 24, 2015 at 12:54 pm
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    Does anyone continue to do these Pantos? They sound like a lot of confusion unless you know ahead of time what is the purpose of all the antics.

  3. I love to make gingerbread cookies this time of year.
    Merry Christmas!

      • Kate on December 26, 2015 at 12:25 pm
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      Great post and comments. On Christmas Eve we have a traditional meal with 12 dishes (for 12 apostles), we share a special Christmas blessing and sing carols. A very special family evening

    • Wendy on December 26, 2015 at 3:24 pm
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    I never heard this information before. Thanks for sharing!

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