Do you have an imaginary character or fictional person that fascinates you?

I’ve recently become interested in harlequins. These brightly-dressed comedic buffoons wear masks and diamond-shaped patterned costumes. The harlequin is usually mysterious and entangled in some sort of romantic intrigue.

“‘Repent, Harlequin!’ Said the Ticktockman” is a dystopian short story by Harlan Ellison, published in 1965. The story takes place in some not-too-distant future where society is so regimented and uniform that all the people must say, do, and think the same things, and live on a strict schedule. The Harlequin is the resistance; he’s an individual in a world that has outlawed individuality.

Harlequins are popular with artists. Picasso loved harlequins, and even painted his son Paul dressed as one.

 

Cézanne and Derain paintings featuring harlequins: