ABOUT THIS BOOK

Witty and dynamic lovers’ dialogues for the stage.

The actress and author Isabella Andreini won international renown playing the bold, versatile, and intellectual inamorata of the commedia dell’arte. After her death, her husband Francesco Andreini continued publishing her works, among them the thirty-one amorosi contrasti—or lovers’ debates— presented in this volume. Available in English for the first time, Lovers' Debates enables readers to envision the commedia dell’arte through the words of its most revered diva. Lovers flirt boldly, trade bawdy insults, exhibit their learning, and drive each other mad in stage dialogues that showcase Isabella’s skill in composition and drama. Sparkling with wit and bursting with dynamic energy, these brilliant lovers’ dialogues for the stage hold strong appeal not only for specialists in early modern literature and women’s studies, but for enthusiasts, scholars, and practitioners of classic and contemporary theatre.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Isabella Andreini (1562–1604) was a renowned prima donna of the European stage. Also a poet, playwright, and author of philosophical letters, she was one of the most published Italian women writers in the seventeenth century. Pamela Allen Brown is professor of English at the University of Connecticut. She is the author of The Diva’s Gift to the Shakespearean Stage. Julie D. Campbell is professor of English and premodern global studies at Eastern Illinois University. She is the author of Literary Circles and Gender in Early Modern Europe. Eric Nicholson is a scholar, actor, and director of early modern European drama at Syracuse University in Florence.

REVIEWS

Lover’s Debates (Fragmenti, 1617) makes available in English for the first time the striking
posthumous work of Isabella Andreini, the leading Italian commedia dell’arte actress of her
day. The thirty-one dramatic scenarios each feature a debate between two lovers evoking
a dazzling array of topics, from Neoplatonism to madness and sexual violence. Brown,
Campbell and Nicholson bring alive these highly theatricalized texts through their vivid
translation and scholarly annotations. Engagingly written for students and scholars of early
modern theater and women’s writing, this volume may serve also for practical performance.
-Lisa Sampson, Associate Professor, Early Modern Italian Studies, University College London

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgments
Illustrations
Introduction
The Other Voice
Life, Works, Legend: “A Brilliant Discursive Mask”
Playing the Game: Genre and Occasion
Structure and Themes: The Contrasti in Action
Diva on Top: The Professor, the Realist, the Bawdy Virago
The Art of Losing Control: Madness and Frenzy
Theater and Metatheater, Comedy and Tragedy
Posthumous Success: Fragmenti, Alone and with Lettere
Note on the Italian Text and Transcription
Note on the Translation
Lovers’ Debates for the Stage
Amorosi contrasti
Prefazione
Dedicazione
Tavola de’ Contrasti Scenici
Nomi di tutti i Personnagi
Amorosi contrasti: Italian Text
Lovers’ Debates
Preface
Dedication
Table of Debates for the Stage
Names of All the Characters
Lovers’ Debates: English Translation
Notes
Bibliography
Index