"The point is ladies and gentlemen that greed, for lack of a better word, is good."
This contrarian statement made by Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko (Wall Street - 1987) is what rings in my ears when I ponder Carlo Goldoni's The Venetian Twins.
Greed is the intense and selfish desire for something. Usually it is wealth, or food, or power. It is an emotion that ever present in human society. It is that emotion which drives people, corporations, economies, politics, civilizations, and plays.
Greed is, arguably, the foundation of this story. Without the greed of the Professor (his folly, if you will), the play would not have been nearly the same. It would have been a completely different tale altogether; it would most assuredly not have been a comedy either.
Consider for a moment if the Professor had lost his biological daughter and had taken the time to grieve as any rational father would have. He would have lost the inheritance he was offered to his nephew. That is not the same story and nor is it funny. Let us mull over an alternate scenario: the Professor lost his daughter and adopted the orphan child because of his need to fill the hole in his heart with the love and trust of a young infant instead of cold hard cash. He would have raised the girl to be a normally functioning member of society without the ulterior motive of essentially selling her to a rich husband. Paying no mind to how superficial or vapid he may be. Heart warming? Yes. Comic? No.
In The Venetian Twins, it is greed that drives the story. It is greed that creates the conflict. It is greed that give the audience the opportunity to laugh.
Greed, for lack of a better word, is the crux.
In this post your statement, “it is greed that drives the story. It is greed that creates the conflict. It is greed that gives the audience the opportunity to laugh.” This I do agree with, however, I disagree that there could not still be comedy if the Professor had been a loving father in this story. What if Zanetto had not met with Rosaura at the beginning of the story and instead been taken aside into a room where he met with the Professor? Being the loving father that he is, the Professor would have made Zanetto prove to him why he wants to marry Rosaura and since Zanetto was a foolish man, the scene would have been funny as the audience slowly watches Zanetto ruin his chances to marry Rosaura during this "interrogation". To add even more comedy, the Professor could have been cleaning a sword or firearm while talking to Zanetto. A modern version of the scene I am creating here can be best presented by Rodney Atkins in his song "Cleaning This Gun."
ReplyDeleteIf the Professor was not so focused on money, like he was in the play, I cannot see him even arranging the marriage the way he did. I feel it is more likely that Zanetto and Rosaura would not have even met each other. But to do what you suggested would only require a minor re-write, anyway. I feel like this discussion was slightly off topic...
ReplyDeleteYou offer an exciting new lens through which we can approach this text. "Greed" as a motivation of character and/or plot is not so clear, as Stevan points out. We must always consider how "greed" is portrayed in a text, its positive and negative forms, and its consequences for the plot.
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