About the work
Carlo Goldoni wrote "La locandiera" for impresario Girolamo Medebac's company and had it premiered at the Teatro Sant'Angelo in Venice in December 1752 (often counted as 1753 under the Venetian calendar of the time). In German-speaking theatres the play is usually known by its heroine's name, Mirandolina.
Plot
The shrewd innkeeper Mirandolina runs her house without a husband and is courted by two noblemen, the impoverished Marchese di Forlipopoli and the newly rich, trade-made Conte d'Albafiorita. When the woman-hating Cavaliere di Ripafratta checks in and shows no interest in her, she turns his indifference into a game, methodically winning him over — only to reject all three suitors in the end and marry her servant Fabrizio.
Cultural significance
The play is considered one of Goldoni's most mature character comedies and a model of his theatrical reform, which replaced the fixed masks of commedia dell'arte with psychologically drawn figures. It has since been adapted repeatedly into opera and film.