The law and the 'cheats' of language in Eduardo De Filippo's plays

Abstract

In Eduardo De Filippo's plays the language and, in particular, the languages of his many and different characters allow some juridical-linguistic reflections. From the non-acceptance of the language of the law (formal and complex) by Filumena Marturano, to the obsession of linguistic literality and the consequent rejection of figurative language by Michele Murri in “Ditegli sempre di sì”, De Filippo shows that he wants to give back to words their own color, as well as to things and gestures, and to resist the homologation of languages that generates automatism and cheating, even (and above all) when it is the language of the law.