Deception In Mandragola

Two of the main characters that played an important role in the development of the play "Mandragola" were Messer Nicia and Callimaco. Messer Nicia was a rich doctor who was married to a very beautiful and attractive young woman named Lucrezia. Meanwhile, Lucrezia's beauty caught the eye of Callimaco, a young man who returned to Italy, his native country, after living in Paris for about 20 years in hopes of pursuing the beautiful Lucrezia. Calimaco decided to return to Italy upon hearing his friend, Cammillo Calfucci, describe Lucrezia, a relative of his, as one of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and went on to say that "even if all Italian women were monsters," Lucrezia alone would be enough to justify the claim that Italian women
In reality, this was just a way of getting Callimaco to sleep with Lucrezia by having Callimaco disguise himself as this young man. Callimaco and Ligurio's plan worked to perfection and Callimaco got exactly what he wanted, a night spent with the beautiful Lucrezia. After revealing his true identity,Lucrezia even agreed to continue having an affair with Callimaco, all while keeping everything a secret from Nicia. Nicia, who was the main victim of deception in this play, and his overall gullibility played a crucial role in the overall development of the play. Most people probably wouldn't have believed a word Callimaco or Lugerio said as their plan sounds very foolish and in all likelihood, most people would have been able to detect the deception from a mile away. After all, when was the last time you ever heard about a potion magically making a woman pregnant? However, Nicia was so desperate for a child that he lost all sense of rationality and believed everything Callimaco and Ligurio had told him was true. If Nicia was able to just think rationally for a second, he would have realized that none of what Callimaco and Lugerio were made any sense and at least been suspicious of their true motives, none of which occurred due to Nicia's