In this play, both Pancrazio and Florindo were
initially cherished as friends, by the Professor’s family and Tonino,
respectively. Unfortunately, they both betrayed the trust that was invested in
them for lust and greed. Pancrazio was secretly plotting to stop Rosaura from
marrying anyone so that he could one day have her and her wealth to himself,
despite his old age. Florindo was entrusted with protecting the love of
Tonino’s life, Beatrice, but he ended up preventing them from reuniting.
Both their betrayals played crucial roles in the play. Pancrazio’s only aim was to manipulate everyone to stay out of his way from getting his hands on Rosaura. His transformation was seen as he started by telling harmless lies then it took a turn for worse when he decided to take someone else’s life away. It was Pancrazio who caused the ultimate death of Zanetto and his demise. Pancrazio’s betrayal brought out the innocence and foolishness in Rosaura and Zanetto for believing everything they hear. Pancrazio’s betrayal also hinted at the human nature of avarice that is somewhat present in everyone. The only difference is in fact how much our principle is controlling us, keeping us from going too far.
On the other hand, Florindo’s betrayal towards Tonino demonstrated how much weight is on each side of the pendulum between friendship and love. Florindo realized that Beatrice was put under his protection because of Tonino’s confidence in his loyalty. Florindo’s loyalty caused him to hesitate telling Tonino the location of Beatrice but his desire towards Beatrice convinced him otherwise. Florindo’s betrayal also showed how much emphasis is put on a woman’s appearance. It was only a week since Beatrice arrived in Verona and I doubt there was much chance for anything romantic to occur between her and Florindo but that one week was sufficient to ignite the desire in Florindo because Beatrice was beautiful.
Both their betrayals played crucial roles in the play. Pancrazio’s only aim was to manipulate everyone to stay out of his way from getting his hands on Rosaura. His transformation was seen as he started by telling harmless lies then it took a turn for worse when he decided to take someone else’s life away. It was Pancrazio who caused the ultimate death of Zanetto and his demise. Pancrazio’s betrayal brought out the innocence and foolishness in Rosaura and Zanetto for believing everything they hear. Pancrazio’s betrayal also hinted at the human nature of avarice that is somewhat present in everyone. The only difference is in fact how much our principle is controlling us, keeping us from going too far.
On the other hand, Florindo’s betrayal towards Tonino demonstrated how much weight is on each side of the pendulum between friendship and love. Florindo realized that Beatrice was put under his protection because of Tonino’s confidence in his loyalty. Florindo’s loyalty caused him to hesitate telling Tonino the location of Beatrice but his desire towards Beatrice convinced him otherwise. Florindo’s betrayal also showed how much emphasis is put on a woman’s appearance. It was only a week since Beatrice arrived in Verona and I doubt there was much chance for anything romantic to occur between her and Florindo but that one week was sufficient to ignite the desire in Florindo because Beatrice was beautiful.
I really enjoyed reading this post and comparing and contrasting the betrayals of both Florindo and Pancrazio. One major difference is that Pancrazio may have had true feelings for Rosaura which is why he took his own life, when he was caught and may realized that he would never be with her; whereas, Florindo accepted not being able to be with Beatrice and begged for forgiveness from his good friend, Tonino. It may be as you pointed out, Florindo did not have time to form any real feelings and was just superficial.
ReplyDelete