3 h 25 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if a change of clothes could open a closed door—and turn desire into a dangerous game?
La Cintia is a stage comedy by Giambattista della Porta, a scholar and playwright from Naples. It belongs to the learned Italian comedy of the Renaissance, with roots in the Roman plays of Plautus and Terence. Enter a theatrical world shaped by quick talk, tangled households and clever tricks, where disguise and hidden identity keep a plot moving.
Love, family and appearances pull against one another in this comic tradition. Young people desire each other, while parents, money and social rank stand in their way. A borrowed identity can win trust or bring a secret within reach. Read with an ear for timing: a pause or a line at the wrong moment can carry the joke.
What you’ll discover
- Disguise with a purpose Explore a comic tradition where different clothes can offer access, trust and the chance to overhear.
- Love meets resistance Discover how desire collides with parents, money and rank in Renaissance comedy.
- Roman roots, Renaissance wit Meet a theatrical tradition that draws on tight plots and familiar comic figures.
- Dialogue that moves Follow the quick talk and listen for pauses that help a joke land.
- Schemes and hidden identities Enter a world where clever tricks and mistaken people give comedy its momentum.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy farce, mistaken identity, comic braggarts and clever plots in the style of Plautus and Shakespeare, and anyone curious about how Italian theatre of the sixteenth century played with love and gender.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A girl raised as a boy confesses
- A night of disguise leads to pregnancy
- A boy in a woman's dress
- Erasto doubts his friend
- The dark night of mistakes
- Anger, despair and a bare side
- What the play is about
- How the play is told
Who’s who
- CintiaA young woman raised as a boy named Cintio, who loves her friend Erasto and tricks her way into his arms.
- ErastoSinesio's son, a gentleman who loves Amasia and trusts his own senses more than his servant.
- AmasioA young man from Bologna raised as a girl named Amasia, who is in love with Lidia.
- LidiaErasto's sister, who loves Cintio and cannot be persuaded to love anyone else.
- DuloneErasto's servant, who suspects Cintio of treachery and keeps trying to warn his master.
- The CaptainA boastful soldier who claims to be in love with Amasia and runs from every real fight.
- PedofiloAmasio's father, an old man from Bologna who hid his son's sex to keep him safe.
- SinesioFather of Erasto and Lidia, who presses his friend to marry his son to Amasia.
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- Audiobook
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- 15-minute summary
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- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Read and hear La Cintia in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
La Cintia
In Naples, a girl raised as a boy tricks her closest friend, while a boy dressed as a girl woos Lidia.
Medium level2–5 hours to read25 languages
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In short
La Cintia is a comedy in five acts by Giambattista della Porta, who died in 1615. It is set in Naples and opens with a speech by the river Sebeto, the small river of the city, who welcomes the audience and the noble amateur actors.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A girl raised as a boy confesses
The play begins with Mitieto, an old servant, pressing young Cintio to marry. Lidia, a beautiful and rich neighbour, loves Cintio, and Cintio's father Arreotimo wants grandchildren. Cintio refuses every bride, and at last confides in Mitieto: Cintio is a woman.
Cintia tells how this came about. Her mother Ersilia was poor, and Arreotimo promised to marry her only if she bore a son. When a daughter was born, Ersilia had a midwife find a boy to show him and let the girl be raised in his place. She was named Cintio and told almost no one the truth.
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What is La Cintia about?
It is a comedy set in Naples about Cintia, a girl raised as a boy, who loves her friend Erasto and tricks him into believing she is another woman, while a boy dressed as a girl pursues Lidia.
Who is who in La Cintia?
Cintia lives as Cintio, Amasio lives as Amasia, Erasto loves Amasia, Lidia loves Cintio, Dulone is Erasto's servant, and the Captain is a boastful suitor. Sinesio, Pedofilo and Arreotimo are the fathers.
Who was Giambattista della Porta?
He was a writer from Naples who died in 1615. He wrote many comedies and is also known for his interest in nature and magic. La Cintia is one of his plays.
The author
Giambattista della Porta
1535–1615 · Italian scholar and dramatist
Italian alchemist and dramatist.
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