Il corpo nel teatro di Machiavelli (Mandragola e Clizia)

Abstract

The essay highlights how corporeality in the characters of Mandragora and Clizia is the form that Machiavellian realism takes in theatrical works. All the characters relate to a corporeal reality that determines their thoughts and actions, and that acts as a revealer of their cynicism or of their actual love. Conversely, the non-corporeality of Clizia, never present on stage, allows us to highlight her total reduction to an object disputed among four men; while for the elderly protagonist, the mockery suffered on his own body makes him aware of the absurdity of the conquest of his just post-adolescent pupil.

Keywords

• italian renaissance theater
• machiavellian realism
• corporeity
• body as a detector of sentiments
• women’s representation