Author: Carlo Goldoni – Translated with an Introduction by Edward J. Dent
Year: 1746
Geography: Europe > Southern Europe > Italy
Synopsis: A classic commedia dell’arte play about Truffaldino, a wily, hungry migrant from Bergamo who tries to double his income by serving two masters in Venice simultaneously. Complications arise as he serves Beatrice (disguised as her dead brother, Federigo) who arrives in Venice to collect a dowry from Clarice, the daughter of Dotore, who was previously betrothed to her brother but is now engaged to Silvio. Truffaldino then takes a second job with the exiled Florindo, not knowing that he is actually Beatrice’s lover and the man who killed her brother. Through a series of near-misses, Truffaldino manages to keep his masters separate, but his lies eventually unravel. The truth is revealed, leading to the reunion of the two lovers (Beatrice and Florindo), the marriage of Clarice and Silvio, and Truffaldino’s own engagement to Smeraldina.
Publication: Project Gutenburg Canada https://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/goldonident-twomasters/goldonident-twomasters-00-h.html
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