| Quote #1 What, would you make me mad? Am not I Christopher |
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 #2 Tranio, since for the great desire I had |
Lucentio arrives in Padua with good intentions – he believes his commitment to his studies will please his family. This plan is quickly abandoned, however, when Lucentio falls in love with Bianca and decides to dress up as a "tutor," an ironic twist. Bianca, however, is the one who teaches Lucentio a lesson when she turns out not to be the silent and obedient woman Lucentio expects her to be.
| Quote #3 Let's be no stoics nor no stocks, I pray; |
Tranio's insistence that Lucentio study "Ovid" is actually a clever way of promoting the relevance of real–life experience – falling in love. Critics point out that Shrew tends to agree with Tranio's point of view. Formal education is often usurped by worldly learning.