Buttons (pantomime) for the pantomime at this time. 'Buttons' was at that time a name for a young male servant or pageboy commonly having gilt buttons down the front of his jacket. While the character introduces a note of pathos in his unrequited love for Cinderella it is often played as a comic role. Buttons (pantomime) Buttons is the name of a character in the "Cinderella" pantomime, a male servant of the household who helps Cinderella and loves her, and who is liked and trusted but not loved by her. The character has sometimes been called Pedro. Buttons does not appear in
Pantomime nursery rhymes. Also, the harlequinade grew in importance until it often was the longest and most important part of the entertainment. Pantomimes usually had dual titles that gave an often humorous idea of both the pantomime story and the harlequinade. "Harlequin and ________", or "Harlequin _______; or, the ________". In the second case, harlequin was used as an adjective, followed by words that described the pantomime "opening", for example: "Harlequin Cock Robin and Jenny Wren; or, Fortunatus and the Water of Life, the Three Bears, the Three Gifts, the Three Wishes, and the Little Man who Woo'd the Little Maid".