Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Mandragola By: Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli Synopsis: Set in 16th century Florence, Mandragola is the quintessential classical comedy. The plot centers on a wealthy merchant, Nicia, and his beautiful wife Lucrezia. Callimaco, a young man, hears of the beautiful wife and wishes to become her lover. He learns of the couples unfruitful attempts to produce a child and disguises himself as a doctor. He informs Nicia that he can produce a potion from the mandrake plant that if taken by Lucrezia will enable her to conceive. However, the first man to have sexual intercourse will die from the effects of the potion, so Nicia must not do this lest he die. Callimaco informs Nicia that he knows of a young man who will consent to have sex with her, and bear the pain of death. Nicia consents and persuades Lucrezia. Thus Callimaco disguises himself, yet again, and is able to have his way with Lucrezia. Themes include desire, morals, religion, but the most prominent throughout the play seems to be fraud, which every character eventually commits. Characters: Callimaco: A nobleman, Siro: Callimaco’s servant, Ligurio: Poor man living among the rich, using emotions of others for financial gain, Lord Nicia: Husband of Lucrezia, Brother Timothy: A corrupt friar, Madonna Sostrata: Lucrezia’s pushy mother, Madonna Lucrezia: Callimaco’s conquest and ultimate desire Brief Biography: (May 3, 1469 – June 21, 1527) was a political philosopher, musician, poet, and romantic comedic playwright. Machiavelli is a key figure of the Renaissance, most known for his treatises on realist political theory (The Prince) on the one hand, and idealistic Republicanism (Discorsi sopra la prima deca di Tito Livio) on the other. QuickTime™ and a TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor are needed to see this picture. Playwright’s Contemporaries: Dante (writer of Divine Comedy), Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Erasmus (who compiled the Textus Receptus), Sir Thomas More (writer of Utopia), Boccaccio, Castiglione, Montaigne, Cervantes, Luís de Camões and Shakespeare. List of Works: Discorso sopra le cose di Pisa, Del modo di trattare i popoli della Valdichiana ribellati, Del modo tenuto dal duca Valentino nell' ammazzare Vitellozzo Vitelli, Oliverotto da Fermo, etc., Discorso sopra la provisione del danaro, Decennale primo, Ritratti delle cose dell'Alemagna, Decennale secondo, Ritratti delle cose di Francia, Discorsi sopra la prima deca di Tito Livio, Il Principe, Andria, Mandragola, Della lingua, Clizia, Belfagor arcidiavolo, Asino d'oro (poem in terza rima, Dell'arte della Guerra, Discorso sopra il riformare lo stato di Firenze, Sommario delle cose della citta di Lucca, Vita di Castruccio Castracani da Lucca, and Istorie Florentine. The Theatre: The renaissance plays originated during the Middle Ages with a Latin dialogue spoken in the church. They were morality plays initiated by the politically powerful church to lure and control the masses. These religious/political dialogues matured into structured plays that were eventually moved out of the churches and into the streets and private estates. The Renaissance theater of the nobility was an elaborate spectacle called a masque, and was performed in the ballrooms of courts with elaborate scenery and costumes. Shakespeare also began writing at this time, and was a huge part of theatre in the Renaissance. Art: The Renaissance was a period of great creative and intellectual activity, during which artists broke away from the restrictions of Byzantine Art. Throughout the 15th century, artists studied the natural world in order to perfect their understanding of such subjects as anatomy and perspective. Among the many great artists of this period were Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Paolo Uccello and Piero della Francesca. During this period there was a related advancement of Gothic Art centered in Germany and the Netherlands, known as the Northern Renaissance. Science: A humanist faith in classical scholarship led to the search for ancient texts that would increase scientific knowledge, such as Galen's physiological and anatomical studies, and Ptolemy's Geography. Botany, zoology, magic, alchemy, and astrology were developed during the Renaissance as a result of the study of ancient texts. Scientific thinkers such as Leonardo da Vinci, Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo, Tycho Brahe, and Johannes Kepler attempted to refine earlier thought on astronomy. Among Leonardo's discoveries were the revelation that thrown or shot projectiles move in one curved trajectory rather than two; metallurgical techniques that allowed him to make great sculptures; and anatomical observations that increased the accuracy of his drawings. In 1543 Copernicus wrote De Revolutionibus, a work that placed the sun at the center of the universe and the planets in semi correct orbital order around it; his work was an attempt to revise the earlier writings of Ptolemy. Galileo's most famous invention was an accurate telescope through which he observed the heavens; he recorded his findings in Siderius nuncios, for which he was denounced by the current pope (because of Galileo's approval of Copernicus), resulted in his living under house arrest for the rest of his life. Tycho Brahe gave an accurate estimate of planetary positions and refuted the Aristotelian theory that placed the planets within crystal spheres. Kepler was the first astronomer to suggest that planetary orbits were elliptical. Politics/Government: The Humanistic proscription against trying to rise beyond one's place was useful to political rulers, for it helped to reinforce their authority. The implication was that civil rebellion caused the chain to be broken, and according to the doctrine of correspondences, this would have dire consequences in other realms. It was a sin against God, at least wherever rulers claimed to rule by "Divine Right." The need for strong political rule was in fact very significant, for the Renaissance had brought an end for the most part to feudalism, the medieval form of political organization. The major political accomplishment of the Renaissance, perhaps, was the establishment of effective central government, not only in the north but in the south as well. Society: Among the most important of the continuities with the Classical period was the concept of the Great Chain of Being. Its major premise was that every existing thing in the universe had its "place" in a divinely planned hierarchical order, which was pictured as a chain vertically extended.