If the teachings given by the old Medici forged the important character that Cosimo can shoulder the family's prosperity, then the sharp edge that allows Cosimo to lead this great family to overcome obstacles on the way forward is his firm belief that remains unshakable under great pressure. . The Florentine congregation is often full of various conspiracies. Cosimo and Albic are on the same political stage. The two families confront each other and poach each other. It is commonplace. Cosimo obstructed Albic's war taxation plan, and Albic exposed that Cosimo had misappropriated the Pope's tax to build the dome of the church. It's a close match, and should Cosimo's several victories really come down to luck? I think it's more of a quality, belief, that plays a role. There are a few things about Cosimo in the show that impress me indescribably:
One was that a plague broke out when Cosimo was building the dome of the church. His opponent, Albic, took this to put pressure on the ruling group. At the same time, he incited the workers’ strike sentiment on the construction site by “God brought the evil of Medici usury to the workers with a plague”. When Cosimo returned to the church, he found that the workers' good faith in building the dome had been destroyed, and they had eaten fists and stones. At this time, the family was also on the line. They wanted to save the family through a loan from Siena. Unexpectedly, the bank there was bankrupt. The housekeeper had to find a way to sell the fixed assets. Danger of being expelled from the Tribunal. Late at night, Cosimo tortured himself in torment, was it because I was guilty? At this time, his artist blamed Cosimo with resentment, but Cosimo was inspired by the phrase "God saves the sick", and decisively turned the patient into the church with two birds with one stone, which not only ensured that the dome of the church would not be demolished, but also Let the patient get a good environmental treatment. In the end, because of this dedication, Cosimo has gone through hardships to realize the dream that he has been insisting on many years ago.
Second, when Cosimo was plotted by Albic and was trapped in a cell and faced a verdict, everyone in the family seemed to be calm. His younger brother Lorenzo took violent measures to deter the ruling group in a hurry, and his son Piero fantasized about it. In order to be able to rescue his father through evidence, his wife Contansina is also anxious and does not know what to do, but at this time, the most calm person is our male protagonist, who never gave up the first chance to fight against Albic. Knowing that it was impossible for him to survive the next day, he still did not stop thinking about what the family should do next. Not only did he not get occupied by anger and despair, but he also soberly told his wife Contansina not to indulge in grief and let her Buying all of Rinaldo's debts, in order to reduce the strength of the Albic family so that it cannot fight against the Medici family, this feeling of putting life and death out of the picture, no one wants to die for him after seeing it. What about impulse? He firmly believed that his family would not decline because of his own loss, and that the people of Florence would open their eyes to recognize the facts, and later it turned out that neither of them let him down. The scene where the regiment hall finally rescued her husband, and the people of Florence later made great contributions to overthrowing Albici and welcoming the return of the Medici.
Third, after Albic was killed by mercenaries, the Pope once suspected that Cosimo was the mastermind behind the scenes, cancelled the authority of the Medici family as the Pope's bankers, and let the Patch family take over the Pope's account. The housekeeper once suggested to Cosimo to give up the Pope's account and wait for the opportunity to make a comeback. Cosimo is of course unwilling to accept such a conservative approach. He hired the army to prepare for the capture of Rome, and arranged for Piero to collect taxes in the consul, and his younger brother Lorenzo was also lost because of the evidence of the crimes of Pachi and the Duke of Visconti. After paying a heavy price for his life, Cosimo finally found the key evidence. The Pope once satirized Cosimo: A Pope would not hire a murderer as a bank agent. As a result, such a pious and righteous sentence was returned to him intact. Rather than saying that the Pope was slapped in the face, it is better to say that Cosimo's persistence to the last moment in the crisis brought him a decisive 180-degree reversal.
There is also a character in the play, Contansina, who has a pivotal influence on the entire family. A beautiful, kind, aristocratic, and family-oriented perfect wife is not treated well in this family, nor is the love she gets. As expected, his husband did not give her the love she was looking forward to, but only fulfilled a little bit of the responsibility that a husband and wife should have. Moreover, Cosimo also intends to keep a distance from his wife, and also brings his mistresses outside under the eyes of his own daughter-in-law, which can really be reviled in minutes. Compared with her husband's bohemianism, his wife Contansina is more restrained in love. When her old lover Ezio reunited with her, expressed her love to her and asked to go away with her to make up for her regrets, Contansina did not forget it. She already belongs to the Medici family and shoulders the responsibility of saving the family from the disaster. She decisively chose to betray Ezio's trust, just to pass an important message to her husband. Although she lost Ezio forever, she fought for Cosimo's return. A critical opportunity has come.
Some people may ask here, what did Contansina get? She may never have had such a sincere and fiery love in her life as Piero and Lucrezia, not even her husband's love for his mistress. I think the end of the play gives the answer, for women, there is something more important than love - a stable home. Some excellent women have bright love, but lack a stable family. Is this another tragedy? Contansina has countless enough reasons to leave the Medici family. She married into a family that she did not want, and did not get the love she wanted. However, this family was shrouded in various conspiracies, and she was dying from time to time. In a situation of hanging by a thread, her husband, her husband's younger brother, and her son and daughter-in-law all rely on her to take care of all kinds of emotions. There is one scene in the play that touched me the most: Contansina was so angry that Cosimo's mistress was pregnant, she strongly filed for divorce from Cosimo, only to find out that Lorenzo was dead, and Cosimo could no longer bear any more grief. In fact, they are all at the breaking point of mental breakdown, but how did Contansina do it? She forgot all the grievances and pains she had suffered before, held Cosimo's hand, and stood behind Cosimo again, only remembering that she was Coismo's wife and that she should fulfill the responsibility of being a wife. And this time Cosimo finally opened his eyes and recognized who is the most important person around him, but he has been ignoring her for so many years.
History books will only record the glory and greatness of the various deeds of the Medici family about Cosimo and Lorenzo, but it is easy to miss the same great moments as Contansina's performance. So what does Contansina get? What unbearable thing could destroy the impregnable home that Contansina had built?
December 5, 2016
View more about Medici reviews
