Tuesday, August 16, 2011

In Act I Scene 1 of The Taming of the Shrew, how is Tranio's intelligence and education recognised even though he is Lucentio's servant?

It is Tranio, let us remember, that seems to try and bring
his master down to earth after he has fallen so violently in love with Bianca at first
sight. Shakespeare shows that Tranio is more than capable of trying to debate with his
love sick master, and that he can quote various texts in support of his argument. Note
the following example:


readability="9">

If love have touched you, naught remains but
so,


"Redime te captum quam queas
minimo."



This is a quote from
Terence, which translated means "buy yourself out of bondage for as little as you can."
Tranio is here showing his intelligence and how well-read he is as well as gently poking
fun at his master, talking about the negatives of being in
love.


Likewise note that it is Tranio that points out the
various realities of the situation whilst Lucentio looks upon it with his pink lenses of
love. It is Tranio that needs to remind Lucentio about the existence of Katharina, and
then also it is Tranio who decides to "stir" his master from his "trance" and help him
to practically think of how to win Bianca. Although he is careful not to overstep the
bounds of his position as servant, one could argue that he cunningly directs his master
to the plan that he has already formed, encouraging his master to play the role of tutor
and himself to become Lucentio. It is Tranio throughout this scene who is shown to be
intelligent and resourceful.

No comments:

Post a Comment

What accomplishments did Bill Clinton have as president?

Of course, Bill Clinton's presidency will be most clearly remembered for the fact that he was only the second president ever...