Assunta Spina is a 1909 tragic play by the Italian writer Salvatore Di Giacomo, based on his earlier short story of the same name.

It premiered at the Teatro Nuovo in Naples with Adelina Magnetti in the title role and a cast that also included Gennaro Pantalena and Francesca Bertini, who would subsequently play Assunta in the 1915 film.

The protagonist Assunta Spina is a young woman of Naples who has many male admirers, including Michele Boccadifuoco a butcher.

Despite her efforts to cover up for him, he is arrested and sentenced to two years imprisonment in Avellino.

In the meantime she begins an affair with a court official, not knowing that he already has a family.