Literary magazine

Also, by emphasising the

Her sexuality gets her no-

scarlet robes of a cardinal,

where in the end but in this

Vittoria further inverts the

scene she dominates, win-

traditional view of the

ning the respect and support

churchman by portraying

of the play’s audience and

him as some devilish crea-

shining light on the true na-

ture, which seems to fit with

ture of Monticelso and his

CLOSE ANALYSIS

what we have seen of Monti-

court. The fact that she is

celso’s angry and grasping

unfairly silenced through her

nature during the trial. Final-

incarceration in house of

ly, Vittoria makes a mockery

convertites only reinforces

of an appallingly egoistic

the power of her words.

court thinly veiled behind a

veneer of civilised Christiani-

ty, “Let me appeal then from

this Christian court to the un-

civil Tartar.” The “uncivil tar-

tar” is likely the near contem-

porary Russian ruler Ivan

the Terrible, and Vittoria at-

tempts to show that for all

their talk of civilisation in

Rome, the way they behave

is no different from the court

of the most notoriously brut-

ish ruler in the known world.

Monticelso’s true role as a

spokesman of the corrupt

church shielding the corrupt

court through a guise of reli-

gious legitimacy is laid bare

by Vittoria’s wit, again re-

minding the audience of un-

comfortable truths closer to

home. It must be concluded

therefore that verbal wit is

Vittoria’s strongest weapon.

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