I know that the identity of Caseys nanny (if there really was one other than her mother) has been discussed a great deal but I wanted to share something that I have been sitting on for a while. The following is a bit of what I found on the web page listed at the bottom of this post. The web page contains a great deal more information. I think it is worth discussion as we know that CA and Casey's friends have stated that Casey used the term Zanny/Zanni to refer to her sitter. Think - who might this describe or is Zanni an Italian term she used to describe someone "whose identity others cannot be bothered to discover"?
"Commedia dell'Larte'"
"
Character Analysis - Zanni is both singular and plural, the Venetian diminutive of Giovanni. It can be both a generic name, referring to all zanni or the name of an actual Mask when the character is not defined further....
In Italian, it is simply the name given to any unnamed character, a person whose actual identity you cannot be bothered to discover.
Status...Bottom of pecking order. Zanni is that regrettable eternal unfortunate, the dispossessed immigrant worker...
Frequent Plot Function...The principal contributor to any confusion.
Characteristics...His survival instinct is strongest of all the Commedia archetypes...reminiscent of the followers of gluttony in Carnival processions....Zanni is ignorant and loutish, and has no self-awareness....But he is astute in knavery; a loafer, but willing and able to dish out heavy thwacks with this slapstick; intolerant of discipline and authority, but very faithful. He lives totally in the present: he never, for example, looks for somewhere to sleep, sleep just happens to him, often in totally unsuitable situations. All his reactions are emotional."
:jester::jester:
http://shane-arts.com/Commedia-Zanni.htm