Quote 1
FIRST SERVANT
My lord, you nod. You do not mind the play.
SLY
Yes, by Saint Anne, do I. A good matter, surely.
Comes there any more of it?
PAGE, as Lady
My lord, 'tis but begun.
SLY
'Tis a very excellent piece of work, madam lady.
Would 'twere done. (1.1.259-264)
The last time we see or hear from Christopher Sly, our attention is drawn away from the action on the main platform stage to focus on Sly. Sly's boredom and rude behavior seems to be a parody of bad behavior at the theater and a friendly warning for audience members who can't seem to pay attention.
Quote 2
SLY
What, would you make me mad? Am not I Christopher
Sly, old Sly's son of Burton Heath, by birth a
pedlder, by education a cardmaker, by transmutation
a bearherd, and now by present profession a
tinker? (Induction.2.17-21)
This passage does a lot to demonstrate the formal education divide in the play – as it is today, formal education in the play is indicative of social class and power. Its distribution between the haves and the have-nots becomes clear when Sly reveals a laundry list of low-level trade jobs.
Quote 3
SLY
Are you my wife, and will not call me 'husband'?
My men should call me 'lord.' I am your goodman. (Induction.2.105-106)
Sly's ignorance of the social customs of the nobility is pretty evident here, as he is upset when his "wife" calls him her "lord." It's not apparent that Sly will ever learn how to be like a nobleman, calling into question the idea that experiential learning is useful and valuable.