Download Mandragola By - Larry Gleason

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.
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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.