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Angelo
The protagonist of Wharfinger’s fictional play The Courier’s Tragedy, Niccolò is the legitimate heir to the Dukedom of Faggio. Long before the events of the play, Niccolò’s illegitimate brother Pasquale plotted with the evil Duke of Squamuglia, Angelo, to take power by killing Niccolò. But the dissident Ercole saved Niccolò’s life and raised him in secret. The play revolves around Niccolò’s attempt to regain his rightful place in Faggio, and he spends much of the play in Angelo’s court, disguised as Thurn and Taxis employee. When Angelo sends him to deliver a letter to Gennaro, Niccolò realizes that he is about to finally win control over Faggio. But Angelo also sends Tristero bandits to kill Niccolò, and they do in a bizarre scene that convinces Oedipa to start investigating the mysterious Tristero for some deeper meaning.
Niccolò Quotes in The Crying of Lot 49
The The Crying of Lot 49 quotes below are all either spoken by Niccolò or refer to Niccolò. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 3
Quotes
He that we last as Thurn and Taxis knew
Now recks no lord but the stiletto’s Thorn,
And Tacit lies the gold once-knotted horn.
No hallowed skein of stars can ward, I trow,
Who’s once been set his tryst with Trystero.
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Get the entire The Crying of Lot 49 LitChart as a printable PDF.
Niccolò Character Timeline in The Crying of Lot 49
The timeline below shows where the character Niccolò appears in The Crying of Lot 49. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3
...malicious Duke of Squamuglia, plotted to kills the Duke of Faggio and his young son Niccolò. This would allow Angelo’s ally, the Duke of Faggio’s illegitimate son Pasquale, to take power....
(full context)
After explaining this lengthy backstory, an adult Niccolò reveals that he is working in disguise at Duke Angelo’s court in Squamuglia. Angelo refuses...
(full context)
...scenes of medieval torture and murder. First, Ercole tortures a friend who tried to betray Niccolò. In Act Two, Angelo’s men torture and kill a priest who objects to the incestuous...
(full context)
After the intermission, in Act Four, Angelo learns that Niccolò is really alive and that Gennaro is planning to attack Squamuglia. He sends a cryptic...
(full context)
Meanwhile, at the same lake where Faggio’s soldiers disappeared, Niccolò reads Angelo’s letter to Gennaro and realizes that he is about to win back his...
(full context)
Later, Gennaro and his men find Niccolò’s body at the lake and share another moment of suspicious, uncharacteristic silence. They realize that...
(full context)
...at Oedipa the same way that the actors looked at one another instead of naming Niccolò’s assassins—Trystero.
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Chapter 4
...dressed in black. Apparently, one of the victims traced out a cross—which reminds Oedipa of Niccolò’s stuttered “T-t-t-t-t…” in The Courier’s Tragedy.
(full context)
