none of a higher office bore. / To lewdness every night the lecher ran;/ Show me, all London, such another man, /”. Otway's invitation to find a “such another man” has allowed several critics to connect Senator Antonio with Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, who was a Whig politician. Antonio's key scene in Venice Preserv’d is the "Nicky Nacky" scene where Antonio attempts foreplay with Aquilina by pretending to be a bull, a toad, and a dog. According to Derek H. Hughes, Antonio's relationship with Aquilina mirrors other relationships in the play by portraying prostitution, submission, and self-abasement, which can be subtly seen in the relationships between Renault and Belvidera, Jaffeir and Pierre, and Jaffeir and Belvidera. Aquilina Aquilina is a courtesan who is romantically involved with Pierre and sexually involved with the senator Antonio. Aquilina allows Pierre to meet with the conspirators in her home (II.i.48.) Aquilina appears in the play three times: Act II, Act III, and Act V (8). When the Lyric Theatre performed Venice Preserv’d in 1920, Edith Evans performed as a successful Aquilina. Aquilina was played by Stephanie Beacham at the Lyttelton Theatre in 1984. Belvidera Belvidera is a noblewoman who is the daughter of Priuli and the wife of Jaffeir. “Belvidera is affectionate, constant, and pure” character who remains faithful to Jaffeir and gains pardon for the conspirators who were plotting to murder her father (1). According to Derek Hughes, Belvidera is a complex character; sometimes Belvidera is an admirable character, particularly in comparison to those who surround her. When Jaffeir tells Belvidera of the plot to destroy the senate, she recognises the corruption of the senate, but does not condone the plan of the conspirators (4): she says to Jaffeir, “Can thy great heart descend so vilely low, / Mix with hired slaves, bravoes, and common/ stabbers,… and take a ruffian's wages/ To cut the throats of wretches as they sleep?” (8). Her argument persuades Jaffeir to not partake in the conspirators’ plan, but to instead turn them in to the senate. On the other hand, Derek Hughes also says, “Belvidera is not different in kind from the other characters. She is the highest product of the world of Venice Preserv’d, but she is of that world to the very end” (4). Belvidera is also resourceful and cunning when it comes to getting what she wants. Belvidera persuades Jaffeir to discontinue