Synopsis
Mustafa, the Bey of Algeria, has grown tired of his wife Elvira and sends Haly, the captain of his guard, to find an Italian wife for him. Lindoro, an Italian slave at the Bey’s court, bemoans the absence of Isabella, his Italian fiancée. Isabella is conveniently shipwrecked on the shores of Algeria, while roaming the seas searching for Lindoro. Her traveling companion is the foolish Taddeo, who loves her. Haly brings his captives to the Bey, and Isabella is reunited with Lindoro. The Bey, however, insists that Lindoro marry Elvira to take her off his hands and free him to marry Isabella. Isabella manages to avoid being alone with Mustafa, declaring that she will marry only on condition that he go through an ancient and noble ceremony of proving that he will make a completely docile husband. At the end of the ridiculous initiation ceremony, a boat which Isabella has ordered appears; she and Lindoro embark with the rest of the Italian colony in Algiers. Realizing that he has been hoodwinked, Mustafa perforce forgives his departing captives and returns to Elvira.
