Published in The Medieval Aesthetics

Keywords: Keywords: Fraud, Machiavelli, The Mandrake, Political thinking.

The comedy The Mandrake is inserted in the role of the political writings of Niccolò Machiavelli in that it also maintains a relationship with the concepts of the corpus maquiavellicus, mainly approaching The Prince. This interlacing allows us to understand how fraud becomes an expedient in the actions of the characters for the achievement of their private projects. However, it is imperative that they construct virtuous discourses that legitimize their actions, for, insofar as their goals can sometimes be considered ignominious by tradition, such actions must be enveloped in illusions that must replace reality by staging for an actor, who seeks to gain collective acquiescence to legitimize the pursuit of his glory. The piece shows how fraud is used to achieve an end and, at the same time, without hurting dominant values. The plot arises under the pretext of causing the comical, but showing the tragedy of politics, and being perhaps an instrument of reflection to understand how well-hidden private interests can be pursued without offending collective interests. Thus, in this way, this writing intends to demonstrate that reading The Mandrake is another way of getting to know Florentino’s political thinking.