Petruccio About Nothing Act 4 Analysis

If men talking to other men shows the camaraderie between them as they plan to deceive and not be deceived by others, men talking about one another draws distinctions between the amount of power held by each group. Here, men construct power by using words associated first with different classes of people. In act 4, Petruccio calls his servants “knaves” (4.1.100) and he himself is compared to a “footboy” when Biondello says “a monster, a very monster in apparel, and not like a / christian footboy or gentleman’s lackey” (3.2.63-64). In equating a negative appearance with another particular group of people or an occupation, Biondello continues to craft a place-conscious culture. These verbal markers of status show that the men are aware of the
Oppositely, men in this play use belonging to a higher class as a reason that someone should be respected or given more power. Specifically when Pendant is speaking with Tranio about Biondello, he says, “Twere good he were schooled” (4.4.9). In Shakespeare’s time, being schooled or “well trained, skilled, or have an understanding about a particular circumstance,” meant that you had the economic standing to attend school and therefore assumed a higher class (Rodriguez 1). By having male characters referring to other men with status-based words, Shakespeare continues to highlight the heavily stratified culture and emphasizes the way that social standings and place-consciousness influenced the social power held by each
Only two of the most important words chosen were men addressing women, and both of these words veil themselves in passion. During Lucentio attempt to woo Bianca he says, “I read that I profess, The Art to Love,” to which Bianca replies, “And may you prove, sir, master of your art,” (4. 2 .8, 10). Lucentio uses the word love to elicit a romantic response from Bianca. He seeks to assert his power over her and win her submission out of romance. Similarly in act 5, scene 2, Petruccio says to Kate, “Why, there’s a wench! Come on, and kiss me” ( 184). Once again in this line, a man speaks to a woman in order to elicit a romantic response and compliance from her. In calling her a wench he uses the less-derogatory meaning of the word, simply referring to her as “an obedient woman” (Sayler 1). He kisses her as a response to her long speech where she seemingly becomes tamed. In this calling on her obedience and using romance as a manipulation tool, he shows his power over her and further embodies Shakespeare’s criticism of the perception of