Critique of the Play The Servant of Two masters - Essay Example

The Servant of Two Masters is about a great many things: Love, relations between master and servant, duty, marriage. It's a light-hearted comedy, but that doesn't stop it from having some themes. The word “poor”, used both as a description of wealth and as a description of sympathy, dots the play. First, there is the point in the play where Dr. Lombardi is establishing that Rasponi is dead. “The poor fellow was slain. A scandal involving his sister. He was stabbed to death and died on the spot”.

Brighella responds, “In Turin, wasn't it? Alas poor Rasponi. I knew him a little bit. Three years I lived in Turin. Knew his sister too. Dressed like a man, rode like a man”. Rasponi was betrothed to Clarice, Clarice only doing so out of duty to her father. This scene literally establishes that Rasponi is dead, in a way that is hard to fake (which makes later events a little strange) and also establishes a common theme of the play: That Beatrice looks like a man, dresses like a man, and acts like a man.

Since Beatrice did this even before pretending to be a man, this not only helps the audience believe she is capable of it, but also tells us something about Beatrice's character. Afterwards, Truffaldino introduces himself, establishing several puns and word-plays in the process. “Poor guy. deaf as cheddar. My master is Signor Federigo Rasponi”. Truffaldino, once being told that Rasponi is dead, makes a quick exit: “Dead's dead, he's not cheese, he won't improve with age. Still, I should take a look myself”.

Truffaldino is first introducing who is master is, then making clear that he has no business with these people if his master is dead. This humorous sequence not only sets up the shock of Beatrice introducing herself as Rasponi and therefore causing Clarice to be in a position to have to marry her but also serves to show that Truffaldino seems unaware of the whole situation. That having been said, Truffaldino's apparent lack of concern for these people aside from the master-servant relationship is clearly false, and the way he transcends the master-servant relationship is much of the play.

Another theme is established when Truffaldino is left alone on the dock as Beatrice goes about her business. “This one – NOOOO, this one leaves his luggage at the dock, traipses off to pay visits, forgets about his poor, starving servant”. Truffaldino is describing his situation as a servant and saying that his master is visiting others while he has to handle business. This establishes a theme of Truffaldino's comical and lighthearted resentment of his role as servant, or at least mistreatments within that role, as well as his being hungry constantly.

Finally, as the meta-textual part of the play is being introduced where the players tell that they'll be performing the play, the way that the servant-master relationship is much like the patron-artist relationship is established. “Signor Padrone, I cannot tell you how grateful we poor players are to you for providing us our food, our drink, our lodging, our per diem.” The player is thanking the presumed producer of the play for providing the “poor players” an extensive retinue of benefits.

This serves to not only get the audience laughing but also to establish the themes of class relationship and serving multiple masters that are core to the play. Overall, the play is clearly a classic of rough-and-tumble impromptu comedy. Truffaldino brilliantly makes numerous asides, a wonderful Trickster character: Seemingly buffoonish, he is actually gifted with extreme insight into the workings of situations, and is actually capable of arranging a highly sophisticated plot while managing pretending to work for two people.

The most interesting thing is, that as the Servant of Two Masters, Truffaldino is a servant of no one.