Ilse Wendt

The film is set during the Italian Renaissance in the 14th century. Petruccio lives in Ferrara with his wife, Fiametta. Initially, he works as a scribe at the city court. Under the pseudonym Giovanni Boccaccio, he writes amorous tales that divide opinion within the city. While the women read the texts with delight, the men are outraged by their moral licentiousness.

At the start of the 18th century, British Queen Anne, inspired by her German born lady in waiting, emancipates the country's farmers and peasants.