They are the two main characters of
Turkish shadow play. Of these terrific two characters, Hacivat
symbolizes a personality who is self seeker, sneaky, careful, and who does
things that everyone would like and supports the established order. When
his interests are at stake, he ignores things, and, since he is somewhat a
little educated, he has knowledge, however superficial it may be, about
everything, and he uses this to establish superiority to people around him,
especially to Karagöz. He knows how to do trades; he is involved
in anything that will serve to his interests. He
is generally in an employer position. He has Karagöz do difficult tasks in
return for a small fee, and he does those tasks that are both easy and
well-paid. On the contrary to Karagöz’s plain,
sincere and direct personality, Hacivat is artificial, temperate and careful.
He uses the Ottoman Turkish, with prosy and indirect words, and thus he replies
to Karagöz, who does not understand what he is talking about, with witty
comments that would lead to misunderstanding. When
things get messy, he uses this type of language to cut loose.
Red is the prevailing color in Karagöz,
whereas Hacivat is dressed mostly in green. On
his head, he wears a cone complete with the coin, turban and the turban’s tail
on his neck, also a neckless small jacket, kneepads and a red kerchief.
There are several rumors mentioning
Hacivat as a real person. Evliya Çelebi said that he was Efelioğlu
Hacı Evhat, who lived during the Seljuk reign. There
also people who suggest that his real name was Hacı Ahvat or Hacı İvat Pasha. According
to a rumor, Hacivat was the foreman or architect of the mosque built by
Orghangazi in Bursa, and his real name was Hacı İvaz Ağa. Karagöz
worked there as well. After a while, witty conversations these
two attracted the attention of all workers, who started to gather around to
listen to them. After learning about the situation, Orhan
Gazi held them responsible for disrupting the construction and decapitated
Karagöz. Hacivat managed to escape, only to be killed by mugs on pilgrimage to
Mecca.
As for Karagöz;
With his opposite personality, Karagöz
symbolizes the common sense of people against Hacivat. He
gives the impression of a straightforward, honest, brave and down to earth
person. He does not know how to read and write,
and he is generally unemployed. Because of poverty, he is always ready to
do tasks that he does not want to do and he has no clue about, he pokes his
nose into everything, he is sometimes a trickster, and he uses obscene
language. He is frequently coercive, and he slaps
Hacivat and other people. He makes the audience laugh when he does
not understand or pretends not to understand Hacivat because of his ignorance
or simply because what is being said does not suit his book, he resembles words
to other words, he puts people he is talking to into difficult situations, and
he uses obscene language. He does not know how to do trades, but he
also finds himself involved in pursuits that will give harm to him. Sometimes
he works as partners with Hacivat.
He comes to the stage after Hacivat states
that he is looking for a friend, and he stays on stage almost until the very
end of the play. In the dialog part, he talks only to
Hacivat, and in the interval part he talks to others as well. He
finishes the play always in the same way, together with Hacivat.
Karagöz has a round face, a circular
goatee and huge eyes. He sometimes makes the head called
“Işkırlak” drop back, thus revealing Karagöz’s bald head and making the
audience laugh. His dress, which is mostly in read,
consists of a neckless short jacket, kneepads, a belt and a kerchief. He
also has a tobacco pouch.
Like Hacivat, Karagöz is also told to have
actually lived. He himself declares in some plays that he
is in fact a Gypsy. There are rumors mentioning that he was
Bahaeddin Karakuş, one of the military officers of Selahaddin Eyyubi, or a
villager called Kara Oğuz from the Karakeçili tribe of Orhaneli. According
to Evliya Çelebi, he was a gypsy stableman called Sofyozlu Karagöz Bali Çelebi,
who worked for the Istanbul landlord during the Seljuk reign.
