Considered revolutionary for the time due to its outlooks on the Catholic Church and on the concept of human sexuality, Niccolò Machiavelli’s Mandragola satisfies the desires and wishes of each character in the play while also revolutionizing the role that the Church has on politics and private matters in society. By the time the play finishes, all characters received what they worked for through their participation in the scheme. In the end, Messer Nicia received an heir and Lucrezia’s mother Sostrata received a grandchild, while Callimaco finally slept with Lucrezia, an arrangement which resulted in him becoming Messer Nicia’s “close friend” (53), where they would “be able to come together at any time and without any suspicion” (53), a relationship which provides her a young lover and a change from her husband. In addition, Ligurio earned payment while Frate Timoteo received money as a part of his bribe. Overall, the means by which the scheme happens successfully results in the domination of science over religion, making love and human sexuality more of something that simply needs satisfying, as part of human nature rather than something sacred and kept only within the boundaries of marriage. In the end, Machiavelli brings these together to produce a new common good for the most people, one grounded in the human passions, along with a moral order designed to serve this good.
Originally, the play begins with a song sung by nymphs and shepherds, who represent two