Plautilla is Alessandra's mother. Plautilla is the typical woman of her time. Plautilla lives her life anticipating the moment she will be married and then spends all her days looking forward to having as many children as possible. When her first child is born, Plautilla sends her into the country with the wet nurse, more interested in making babies than raising them. However, Plautilla is devastated when her daughter dies of the plague. Plautilla annoys Alessandra and represents everything Alessandra does not want to be. However, when Alessandra learns that her sister has died in childbirth, she immediately names her own daughter Plautilla.