The Venetian Twins: For the Love of Money

"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.