Comedies Of Machiavelli

Features translations of "The Woman From Andros"; "The Mandrake"; and "Clizia", a work inspired by Plautus' "Casin". This work explores English plays whose racy vernacular language, subtle characterisation, and innovative dramatic construction preceded Shakespeare's establishment of English-speaking theatrical comedy by more than a half century. Though better known today as a political theorist than as a dramatist, Machiavelli secured his fame as a giant in the history of Italian comedy more than fifty years before Shakespeare's comedies delighted English-speaking audiences. This bilingual edition includes all three examples of Machiavelli's comedic art: sparkling translations of his farcical masterpiece, The Mandrake; of his version of Terence's The Woman From Andros; and of his Plautus-inspired Clizia--works whose genre afforded Machiavelli a unique vehicle not only for entertaining audiences but for examining virtue amid the twists and turns of fortune.