The Mandrake

Although the five-act comedy was published in 1524 and first performed in the carnival season of 1526, Machiavelli likely wrote The Mandrake in 1518 as a distraction from his bitterness at having been excluded from the diplomatic and political life of Florence following the 1512 reversion to Medici rule. Both contemporary and modern scholars read the play as an overt critique of the House of Medici; however, Machiavelli set the action in 1504 during the period of the Florentine Republic in order to express his frustrations without fear of censure from patrons already ill-disposed towards him and his writing.

Mandragola focuses on the interplay between personal and political ethics, a major theme throughout his works. The translation includes helpful notes that clarify allusions, language and context. Names of characters and places, titles and forms of address, and some familiar Italian words and phrases remain in Italian. Passages in Latin, as well as idioms, are reproduced in the notes.