Continuing from the quote in the title, “The normal individual
is freed from the bonds of a humorous society, and a normal society is freed
from the bonds imposed on it by humorous individuals.” The structure in The
Venetian Twins fits this perfectly.
In the end of the play, Tonino
figures out that Zanetto has been in Verona and has been the cause of all of the
misunderstandings. This frees him from
the humorous society and allows him to continue with his plans. Without his
brother causing all of these problems, Tonino would have been in a normal
society with no problems to his plans. In
the same way, the normal society is freed from the rules that Zanetto, the
humorous individual, has imposed on it.
The normal society is freed when Zanetto is tricked into being poisoned
and dies. Once Zanetto is gone, the
society in the play goes back to normal and the conflicts of the play are
resolved.
These
two releases are really the same. Removing
Zanetto from the play is the cause of both of them and the effect is that the
society goes back to normal.
I agree that Zanetto's death caused a social reconciliation by making everyone aware that there were twins in town. However, I think that even with the absence of Zanetto in the play, it still would have been a comedy. Tonino did not know that Zanetto was in town when he asked to be called by his brother's name. If Zanetto was indeed not in town, I think misunderstandings still would have occurred with Tonino pretending to be Zanetto.
ReplyDeleteGood points, Tim and Megan. Zanetto is a bit of a sacrificial lamb here in the text, no? He has to be "removed" as Tim claims so that society can "work" again, but...does he need to die? I am always of two minds when I analyze this text...
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dr. Sheehan that Zanetto seems like the sacrificial lamb in order to reestablish the 'normal' society. I do not think that death is the ONLY essential solution to free the 'normal' society. It really adds a sense of tragedy into this comedy with the death of Zanetto, as stated in the previous post. It is really heartbreaking to watch the death of such bubbly and humorous character!
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