Machiavelli's comic masterpiece — a 1518 play about Callimaco's scheme to sleep with the beautiful Lucrezia (wife of the foolish Nicia) through an elaborate deception involving a fake mandrake root potion — generally regarded as the greatest Italian Renaissance comedy.
Demonstrates Machiavelli's political theory in comic form — Callimaco's scheme requires exactly the virtù (prudence, adaptability, ability to read others and deceive them) that The Prince prescribes for politics — making the comedy a light variation on the serious political themes.
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