Machiavelli as a dramatist the ultimate symbol of virtú in "Mandragola", as a ‘self-portrait’ of Machiavelli. Ligurio assembles the spectrum of schemes in the play, from the Mandrake potion, to Frate Timoteo's assistance, to Callimaco's disguise and capture by Nicia. Though every character in the play participates in some form of a manipulative act, Ligurio stands out because of his impressive adaptability to tribulations. Even more extraordinary is Ligurio's aptitude for judging human character. This comprehension of character is the type of awareness that is necessary for successful acts of manipulation. One of the many places we experience Ligurio's qualitative insight is in his
Mayberry Machiavelli senior staffers who reduced every issue to a simplistic black and white, us vs them narrative. The phrase invokes the infamous Machiavellian-style power politics coupled with the simplistic mindset of rural small town, as exemplified by the fictional town of Mayberry in the television shows "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Mayberry R.F.D.", which ran on the American television network, CBS, from 1960 to 1971. Mayberry Machiavelli Mayberry Machiavelli is a satirically pejorative phrase coined by John J. DiIulio Jr., a former George W. Bush administration staffer who ran the President's Faith-Based Initiative. After DiIulio resigned from his White House post