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
Niccolò Machiavelli being a statesman and political scientist, Machiavelli also translated classical works, and was a playwright ("Clizia", "Mandragola"), a poet ("Sonetti", "Canzoni", "Ottave", "Canti carnascialeschi"), and a novelist ("Belfagor arcidiavolo"). Some of his other work: "Della Lingua" (Italian for "Of the Language") (1514), a dialogue about Italy's language is normally attributed to Machiavelli. Machiavelli's literary executor, Giuliano de' Ricci, also reported having seen that Machiavelli, his grandfather, made a comedy in the style of Aristophanes which included living Florentines as characters, and to be titled "Le Maschere". It has been suggested that due to such things as this and his style