[217] Act iv. sc. 6.
[218] Notice the extraordinary virulence of his invective against the tinello or common room of servants in a noble household (act v. sc. 15).
[219] Act ii. sc. 1; act i. scs. 11-18.
[220] Act i. sc. 4; act i. sc. 11; act ii. sc. 7.
[221] Act ii. sc. 6.
[222] Of all Aretino's plays the Marescalco is the simplest and the most artistically managed.
[223] Act i. sc. 6; act ii. sc. 5.
[224] Talanta's apology for her rapacity and want of heart (act i. sc. 1); the description of her by her lover Orfinio, who sees through her but cannot escape her fascination (act i. sc. 7); the critique of her by a sensible man (act i. sc. 12); her arts to bring her lover back to his allegiance and wheedle the most odious concessions (act i. sc. 13); her undisguised marauding (act i. sc. 14); these moments in the evolution of her character are set forth with the decision of a master's style.
[225] The Prologue to the Cortigiana passes all the literary celebrities of Italy in review with a ferocity of sarcasm veiled in irony that must have been extremely piquant. And take this equivocal compliment to Molza from the Marescalco (act v. sc. 3), "il Molza Mutinense, che arresta con la sua fistola i torrenti."
[226] Lorenzino de' Medici, Daelli, Milano, 1862.