Commedia dell'arte region or town represented. Characters would often be passed down from generation to generation, and characters married onstage were often married in real life as well, seen most famously with Francesco and Isabella Andreini. This was believed to make performances more natural, as well as strengthening the bonds within the troupe, who emphasized complete unity between every member. Additionally, each character has a singular costume and mask that is representative of the character's role. "Commedia dell'arte" has four stock character groups: the servants or "Zanni", these are characters such as Arlecchino, Brighella, and Pedrolino; the old men or "vecchi", characters
Pantomime which grew in pomp and spectacle from the 15th to the 17th centuries. The development of English pantomime was also strongly influenced by the continental "commedia dell'arte", a form of popular theatre that arose in Italy in the Early Modern Period. This was a "comedy of professional artists" travelling from province to province in Italy and then France, who improvised and told comic stories that held lessons for the crowd, changing the main character depending on where they were performing. Each "scenario" used some of the same stock characters. These included the "innamorati" (young lovers); the "vecchi" (old men) such