The Author's Farce
The ending of the play merges real and fake. Fielding defends an old view of writing. He also attacks new types of writing. He uses puppets to represent various genres. He made fun of people liking Italian opera. The puppet character Signior Opera is a castrato. Castratos are men without testicles. The character Nonsense wants him as a lover. Mrs Novel says that Signior Opera had a baby with her. However, Signior Opera can't have sex or have babies. Fielding is mocking how women like Italian opera singers. Other writers mocked Italian opera singers. William Hogarth says the castratos are related to politics. Many other writers make fun of women who favour castratos.