Venetian Twins: Dissecting Tonino's Angry Set of Insults

“Two-faced hypocrite, false friend, miserable bag of wind, empty dote, thick-skinned heap of bluff, lily livered lapdogs, mealy mouthed braggats, canteen humbugs, wind bags”. At the end of Act II, Tonino hurled a mouthful of his insults at Florindo and Lelio as he defended his honor and love for Beatrice. (I used the lines in the Youtube video rather than that in the printed script on pg. 60.)  As being part of the audience, I found this hilarious because of how Tonino delivered the insults rather than the actual meanings of the insults themselves. For Goldini’s intended audience in his time, they may have laughed more at the actual meanings because the audience in his time probably used those insults too. Personally, I don’t think today’s people use such insults the way Tonino did: today’s people in the U.S. mostly add in curse words now. Today, Tonino’s insults would be either laughed at or seem like a weak insult because the words he used don’t evoke much anger/passion as a taboo/curse word would. (I will admit it’s based from where you’re from, like which region or whether you live in the rural or urban areas, too.) To illustrate this, I would feel more insulted if someone called me a bi*** than if someone called me a wind bag. (I’d probably be surprised and think, “Wind bag…. Hmmmm… That’s new.”)

                Sure, Tonino can be seen angry in this scene, yet the audience is able to laugh. Why? When he entered the scene, he spouted NOT one, but multiple insults at Florindo and Lelio. This bombardment of insults not only amplifies Tonino’s anger in this scene, but it also lessens the severity of the words because he is made to look immature to the audience by losing his cool with his babbling. For example, I would be more hurt if a stranger comes up and calmly and coldly insults me once than if that person comes up and insults me by ranting crazily. I would think a ranting person is a lunatic and is immature, and his/her insults shouldn’t be taken too much to heart. However, with one insult delivered in a calm fashion, I am able to feel the impact of that one word and dwell on my guilt because I don’t know if it’s true or not. (At least that’s how I view insults.)

                Also, Tonino’s interruption of Lelio speaking made the scene comical. Lelio started with “May I say….” It’s supposed to be rhetorical yet, Tonino responded with “No, you may not say!” To further escalate the humor of this scene on the Youtube video, the insults at the end were delivered differently than in the printed script. The printed script on pg. 60 has Tonino giving his final insults before leaving with Beatrice. In the video, Tonino leaves with Beatrice and light music is played in the back ground to set the romantic lovey-dovey mood between Beatrice and Tonino. However, this music was paused twice to allow Tonino to further insult Florindo and Lelio, ruining the illusion of that romance. The contrast between the romantic mood and angry/insulting mood makes this scene seem ridiculous and, therefore, funny.(By the way, I'm not sure if this performance crew in the video made the scene that way because they thought it'd be more funny or if they used a different translation.)

                In addition to all this, Tonino uses some alliteration in his insults: “false friend, lily livered lapdogs, mealy mouthed braggats.” Alliteration is a literary device in which two or more words start with the same letters. The words can be placed right after one another or be used nearby each other. Alliteration has that repetition of similar sounds, making that phrase sound light-hearted or silly. A modern day example of alliteration in insults would be this: conniving, crazy, cruel criminal.

                In conclusion, this scene of Tonino’s anger is made comical by use of ranting, alliteration, interruption, and sudden interjections.

Tonino = Arrogance

According to Merriam-Webster, arrogance is “an insulting way of thinking that comes from believing that you are better, smarter, or more important than other people.” In think that word best describes Tonino in The Venetian Twins.

A few times during the play, Tonino proclaims to others that he is a “gentleman” and a “honest man.” An example is after he is given Zanetto’s jewels and money by Arlecchino, “A casket of jewels, a purse full of money, it would have made a good haul for somebody, but I’m an a gentleman, and I don’t take other people’s things.” However, I believe his true character shows as the play progresses. Not long after he acquires the money and jewels and swears to find who they belong to, he uses them for his own amusement at the Professor’s house, “she’s [Colombina] picked the wrong pigeon this time. But this could be fun” and decides to play detective. He also revokes his friendship with Florindo after seeing that he is trying to steal Beatrice from him and insults those he views as inferior to him, (to Lelio) “what about you, you little caricature.” Tonino does redeem himself by defending his friend Florindo before he is murdered in the street and with his speech on why women and marriage do not destroy a man, but instead men allow themselves to be destroyed. In between these great actions, though, he seems to strut about the place finding the faults in others while not realizing his own.

In my opinion, Tonino’s character was one that the audience could learn a lesson from. That lesson being: no one is perfect, no matter how much one thinks they are. People in the 18^th century may have seen how heroic and kind-hearted a person Tonino was at the beginning of the play, when he saved Florindo, and thought to themselves, “this character is just like me” and by the end of the play had them thinking, “I know I try to do good, but what am I doing that is causing harm to others?”