Commentary on extract The Taming of the Shrew

Commentary on The Taming of the Shrew  - Act One, Tranio and Lucentio dialogue

This dialogue between Lucentio and Tranio, which takes place immediately after the exit of Baptista and his daughters, pursues several ideas presented in the Induction – female objectification, social hierarchy and deception. As Sly was hypnotised by the trappings of aristocracy and impatiently still waits to bed his beautiful ‘’wife’’, so Lucentio is now entranced by feminine beauty, and therefore must win the ‘’maid,’’ or prize, at any cost. Women are seen entirely from the male point of view, the roles of master and servant are reversed, and men resort to trickery and disguise to get what they want.

The female object of desire is Bianca, who having been  ‘’looked so longly on’’by Lucentio has managed in the space of a few minutes to entirely bewitch the young man; rather ironically, she has barely spoken more than two words. This notion of the power of feminine mystique is a dichotomy; while men are apparently portrayed as slaves to female charms, women are nevertheless their captives according to the dictates of patriarchal gender roles. They may be on a pedestal, but they can’t move. With his ridiculously exaggerated allusion to ‘’the daughter of Aganor’’ Lucentio confers on Bianca the supernatural power of bringing even the king of the gods to his knees. Lucentio removes her even further from reality by elevating her with romantic tropes such as ‘’sweet beauty’’, ‘’coral lips’’ and ‘’breath’’ that did ‘’perfume the air,’’ but simultaneously reduces himself to a ridiculous love-struck teenager. In the eyes of both Tranio and the audience, he is an amusing fool, but his cliched and superficial reaction is unfortunately familiar. It is left to the servant to ‘’stir him from his trance,’’ by reminding him of the obstacle that lies in his path; the ‘’curst and shrewd’’ sister. Now, in her turn, Katherine is described as a woman who can ‘’scold and raise up such a storm That mortal ears might hardly endure the din.’’ The contrast between the sisters is made clear with the juxtaposition of imagery that evokes heaven and hell. It seems that the female characters fall into one of two camps: goddess or demon, neither one human. The dialogue is played for laughs as the characters conjure up hyperbolic images of good versus evil, yet as we laugh, we are reminded of the uncomfortable truth that women are often unheard, objectified and reduced to stereotypes. Lucentio may be seen as a figure of fun, but at least he has the luxury to determine his own destiny.

Interestingly, it falls to the servant to save his master, first by waking him from his besotted fantasy, and later by suggesting the solution to the problem; Bianca’s father has ‘’closely mewed her up,’’ and she has become a prisoner in her own home.  Tranio takes the upper hand throughout the dialogue and comes up with the plan for his master to woo his love. The lexical field of vision and perception is clear from beginning to end; all that Lucentio ‘’saw’’ was beauty, and yet it paradoxically seems to have blinded him from the truth. Tranio may be the servant but is clearly more able to ‘’see’’ the bigger picture and think more strategically about the dilemma. While his master swoons and sighs, Tranio’s pragmatic question ‘’Saw you no more?’’  is rather impatient, and his aside ’’Nay then ‘tis time’’ betrays a certain frustration. He takes the situation in hand and urges the young man to ‘’bend thoughts and wits to achieve her’’ which reveals his resourcefulness and foresight. We are reminded once again of the dynamics of power; the difference between those who seem to be in control, and those who really exercise control. In the very first scene of the play, we could already infer that Tranio was equal to his master in eloquence and learning and gave wise council. He is a lively and quick-witted figure, who will later easily assume the identity of his master, yet at no time will he usurp Lucentio’s position. He willingly helps and carries out the functions of a loyal servant, always deferring to his superior in rank, and in this scene, makes sure that Lucentio takes equal credit for the ‘’device.’’ They ‘’meet and jump in one,’’ as they are complementary and complicit. The dialogue at no time betrays a lack of love or respect on Tranio’s part towards his superior, thus Shakespeare plays safe and maintains the traditional hierarchy. His intention is perhaps to lightly mock but not threaten the natural social order of Elizabethan England.

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