Dramatic Techniques

Abstract

Manningham refers to the resemblance between Twelfth Night and a comedy ‘in Italian called Inganni’ (see above, p. 4). A play of that name was written by Nicolo Secchi in 1562; but it is Gl’Ingannati (‘The Deceived’), written by members of the Academy of the Intronati for performance at the Siena Carnival in 1531, which is closer to Shakespeare’s plot. Gl’Ingannati is a comedy set in Modena, where a brother and sister, Fabrizio and Lelia, are mistaken for each other in similar fashion to Shakespeare’s Sebastian and Viola. Lelia has fallen in love with a young man called Flamminio, who has subsequently deserted her for Isabella, the daughter of Gherardo, and to keep near to Flamminio Lelia disguises herself as a page (Fabio) in his service. Flamminio soon places great trust in Fabio and sends ‘him’ as a messenger to Isabella, who, however, falls in love with the supposed boy. Meanwhile Lelia’s father, Virginio, who has lost much of his wealth in the siege of Rome, seeks to marry her to Gherardo, and is puzzled that he cannot find her. He also believes his son, Fabrizio, to have died in Rome, though in fact Fabrizio is still alive and has found his way to Modena.