Harley Quinn and the story of Pierrot

I was having this conversation one day with my sister... Her husband really likes Super Heroes and those stuff... I'm not very into that and never was, but we were talking about this new movie that was coming out. And most important, this new Joker played by Jared Leto. I don't really care about it but wanted to show my opinion on this (which is not good) and she started saying things about Harley Quinn, that she should make her cosplay this year. I was like "Noooo! I'm going to do this!" I had seen a video about her and I just thought she was so cool! Except for the fact that she's in love with Joker, I don't understand why people like him so much. But I didn't really know why I liked her. She made me think of my childhood and remember 2000's Carnaval when I dressed as some kind of crazy ballerina with a colorful outfit. Well, that wasn't Harley Quinn, I knew! And it also didn't have anything to do with Harley's clothes as well. So why the heck did she reminded me of that Carnaval of 15 years ago?
Well, as I could remember, the costume my mother had bought me when I was 6, as told by her, was Pierrot's girlfriend's. Pierrot who? I knew he was a famous character from Carnaval, some kind of clown, but I didn't care. That was the only thing I could remember nowadays about my costume. 15 years ago on Carnaval I had been Pierrot's girlfriend. After searching I found out "Pierrot's girfriend" was called Columbina, and she wasn't actually his girlfriend. She was just a girl he was in love with but was too shy to tell her. Their story is all about his love for her and how he suffers and is sad because she doesn't like him (or he thinks she doesn't) and than an interesting character shows up! Harlequin! Harlequin used to be just a clown that would entertain the audience while the actors took a break from the play, but people liked him so much that he ended up being a part of the show. He eventually "steals" Columbina from Pierrot. He's kind of Pierrot's opposite, always funny and making people laugh at his jokes. So in the end, I can say I was dressed as Harlequin's girlfriend, not Pierrot's. But as the main character always gets the girl (spoiler alert!) Pierrot ends up with Columbina. I think he writes letters to her, finally! So she breaks up with Harlequin, who apparently just wanted to joke with her.
That was how I found out why Harley Quinn reminded me of an old Carnaval costume, but I still don't get how could I remember Harlequin after all those years not even knowing I've heard about the entire story. I guess our memories are kept in our brains even if we can't remember them. Interesting.
Anyway, after knowing Harley Quinn was some kind of female version of Harlequin I fell in love with her even more! You see, my fav characters are usually male, and I always look for a way to be like them in some aspect, like a female version, or something... With Harley Quinn I don't need to do it, 'cause she's already one! It doesn't mean I'll start liking Batman, or DC, or any other character from a Super Hero film, this is not my type of film at all! I'll just like Harley and try to know more about her.