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
Spelling of Shakespeare's name (1602) and the second of "King Lear" (1619). The name printed at the end of the poem "The Phoenix and the Turtle", which was published in a collection of verse in 1601, is hyphenated, as is the name on the title page of "Shake-speares Sonnets" (1609). It is used in the cast list of Ben Jonson's "Sejanus His Fall", and in six literary allusions published between 1594 and 1623. The un-hyphenated spelling "Shakespeare" (or Shakeſpeare, with a long s) appears on 22 of the 58 quartos. It is spelled this way in the first quartos of "The Merchant of Venice"