In Wharfinger’s The Courier’s Tragedy, Francesca is a noblewoman who is connected through incest to both the houses of Squamuglia and Faggio. She is Angelo’s sister and lover, but she was also the former lover of the Duke of Faggio, who is the father of her son Pasquale. Before the events of the play, Angelo killed the Duke of Faggio and replaced him with Pasquale instead of his legitimate heir, Niccolò. Then, he insists that Francesca marry her son Pasquale in order to unite the two duchies. Francesca objects, but Angelo insists that Francesca cannot complain about sleeping with her son if she is already sleeping with her brother. In some versions of the play, she does marry Pasquale, while other versions include a disturbing sex scene between her and Angelo.
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Francesca Character Timeline in The Crying of Lot 49
The timeline below shows where the character Francesca appears in The Crying of Lot 49. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3
...to unite Squamuglia and Faggio under his rule, Duke Angelo tries to marry his sister Francesca to Duke Pasquale, who happens to be Francesca’s son. Francesca objects to the incest, even...
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...Two, Angelo’s men torture and kill a priest who objects to the incestuous marriage between Francesca and Pasquale, and Niccolò learns that a group of 50 Faggian knights mysteriously disappeared just...
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