At the end of the second scene in Act II of The Venetian Twins, Tonino explains the benefits and joys of marriage to Pancrazio, who is trying to dissuade him from marrying Rosaura. This monologue is very interesting because it provides Carlo Goldoni's green world with an anchor to the red and white world of history, as well as providing a modern audience with an accurate look at how marriage was defined in the 18th century.
Since the social institution of marriage was an incredibly significant aspect of the world in 1747, it makes sense for Goldoni to use it as a way to link his fictional world to the realm of reality; it also clearly defines gender roles and societal expectations: “Then you say marriage weighs down your body? Not true. A wife frees her husband from stress. She runs the house, orders the meals, supervises the servants. [She uses her natural instinct for thrift and organization to keep the household economy in order, which saves money.]” This particular section of Tonino's monologue clearly identifies the responsibilities associated with the gender roles of men and women in Italy (and most of Europe) during the middle of the 18th century.
The expectations outlined in this speech are so important that a green world would not be considered feasible without some kind of explicit reference to these social standards. As an audience member/reader, this monologue makes me ponder about the other social constructs that were vital to the successful construction of a green world in the 18th century, and how they were translated successfully and unsuccessfully into fiction.
In “The Argument of Comedy,” Northrop Frye argues how the core pillars of the current society (red and white world) influenced the romanticism of the green world, by constructing an unwavering barrier between uncivilized chaos and socially acceptable green realms. Even with Frye’s explication, I am still left wondering about the evolution of social constructs within literature, theater, and comedy.
Great connection to the other worlds in Frye's argument. It is precisely through the social institution of the theater that these social constructs are demonstrated as being positive or otherwise advantageous. All adventures into the green world seem to lead back to "normal" society, bound by everyday social constructs...but, like you, I wonder how society can evolve if the green world in flux always has to return to "normal".
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