| 释义 |
▪ I. burlesque, a. and n.|bɜːˈlɛsk|
[a. F. burlesque, ad. It. burlesco f. burla ridicule, mockery.]
A. adj.
†1. Droll in look, manner or speech; jocular; odd, grotesque. Obs.
1656Blount Glossogr., Burlesque (Ital.) drolish, merry, pleasant. 1684Bucaniers Amer. i. (ed. 2) 2 On his head he put a sutable cap which was made very burlesque. 1762–71H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) III. 8 Graham speaks of Fuller as extravagant and burlesque in his manners. 1848W. K. Kelly tr. L. Blanc's Hist. Ten Y. II. 299 Such was the burlesque origin of the ministry of three days.
2. Of the nature of derisive imitation; ironically bombastic, mock-heroic or mock-pathetic; now chiefly said of literary or oratorical compositions and dramatic representations; formerly (quot. 1712) also of pictorial caricatures. In burlesque author, burlesque poet, burlesque actor = a writer of burlesque literature, an actor of burlesque parts, there is a mixture of the attrib. use of the n. in B.
a1700Sc. Pasquils (1868) 285, I shall not here, with burlesque penners, Carp at her beauty. 1712Hughes in Spect. No. 537 ⁋2 Those burlesque Pictures, which the Italians call Caracatura's. 1714Ibid. No. 616 ⁋2 Our little burlesque authors, who are the delight of ordinary readers. 1756J. Warton Ess. Pope (1782) I. iv. 255 Our nation can boast..poems of the burlesque kind. 1814Scott Wav. xxiii, Cathleen sang..a little Gaelic song, the burlesque elegy of a countryman on the loss of his cow. 1840Macaulay Ranke's Hist., Ess. (1854) II. 552 Burlesque romances in the sweetest Tuscan.
b. quasi-n.
1742Fielding J. Andrews Pref., No two species of writing can differ more widely than the comic and the burlesque. 1779Johnson L.P., Cowley 43 A..pleasing specimen of the familiar descending to the burlesque. 1821Craig Lect. Drawing i. 52 This..borders..on the burlesque in representation.
B. n.
1. That species of literary composition, or of dramatic representation, which aims at exciting laughter by caricature of the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects; a literary or dramatic work of this kind. Also attrib.
1667Sir W. Temple in Four C. Eng. Lett. 123, I hear Mr. Waller is turned to burlesque among them, while he is alive. 1709Tatler No. 63 ⁋2 The Burlesque of Virgil himself has passed, among Men of little Taste, for Wit. 1768Tucker Lt. Nat. II. 130 Witty burlesques of the noblest performances. 1867M. E. Braddon R. Godwin ii. 24/2 The..night..on which the new burlesque was to be performed. 1869Daily News 7 Jan., For the last fifteen years, burlesque has been driving pantomime off the stage.
2. Grotesque imitation of what is, or is intended to be, dignified or pathetic, in action, speech, or manner; concr. an action or performance which casts ridicule on that which it imitates, or is itself ridiculous as an unsuccessful attempt at serious impressiveness; a mockery.
1753Hogarth Anal. Beauty vi. 31 Were it [the wig] to be worn as large again, it would become a burlesque. 1772Wesley Jrnl. 3 May, Why is such a burlesque upon public worship suffered? 1846McCulloch Acc. Brit. Empire (1854) II. 213 The representative system..established in Scotland previously to the Reform Act, was..a burlesque of all principle.
3. a. The concluding portion of a Negro minstrel entertainment, containing dialogue and sketches. U.S.
1857Porter's Spirit of Times I. 344/3 The nightly concert which precedes the burlesque. c1864Corsican Twins t-p. (D.A.E.), An Ethiopian Burlesque..As performed by Griffin & Christy's Minstrels. 1957Oxf. Compan. Theatre (ed. 2) 556/1 The third part [sc. of a Negro minstrel show] consisted of after-pieces—farces, comic opera, or burlesque.
b. A variety show, frequently featuring strip-tease. Also attrib. orig. and chiefly U.S.
1870T. A. Brown Hist. Amer. Stage 66/2 She..reappeared during the winter of 1868, at the Fifth Avenue Opera House, New York, in burlesque. 1870O. Logan Bef. Footlights 563 There are numberless people..who are utterly unable to see any difference between the dancing of a ballet-girl and the caperings of a jigging burlesque woman. 1887‘M. Corelli’ Thelma II. ii. iv. 217 You'd better not go to the Brilliant Theatre to-night—it's only a burlesque, and is sure to be vulgar and noisy. 1895N.Y. Dramatic News 12 Oct. 5/3 The only burlesque show in town [sc. Chicago]. 1930C. Wittke Tambo & Bones iv. 158 Cheap burlesque ‘girl’ shows. 1956N.Y. Times 10 Dec. 33/6 [The License Commissioner] felt burlesque was ‘synonymous with the strip tease and the dialogue of unvarnished salaciousness’.
▪ II. burlesque, v.|bɜːˈlɛsk|
[f. prec.]
trans. To turn into ridicule by grotesque parody or imitation; to caricature, travesty.
1676‘A. Rivetus Jun.’ Mr. Smirke i, It seem'd a piece of Wit..to Burlesque them in earnest. a1764Lloyd Ep. Mr. Colman Poet. Wks. 1774 I. 167 Ere I burlesqu'd the rural cit. 1804–6Syd. Smith Sk. Moral Philos. xi. 136 Cervantes has burlesqued the old romances. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. 600 Prior burlesqued..the bombastic verses in which Boileau had celebrated the first taking of Namur.
b. intr.
1680Du Moulin's Adv. Ch. Eng. towards Rome 31 (L.) Dr. Patrick joins hands with them in burlesquing upon the doctrine. 1683tr. Erasmus' Moriæ Enc. 27 The Poet shall be burlesqu'd upon with his own doggrel rythms. |