Comparing Poetry And Prose In Grumio's The Taming Of

With words such as “thee,” “thy,” and “thine,” it is clear that language plays a significant role in society during the Shakespearean era. While prose is usually spoken by those of the lower class, poetry is the language that only the well-educated posses. Those who are better educated, and thus speak in poetry, have more benefits than those who speak in prose. The afterward effects of Sly’s interchange between prose and poetry, Grumio’s usage of prose, and Tranio’s poetic language depict the power one has depending on the speech they employ in The Taming of the Shrew, by William Shakespeare. In order to obtain what he wants, Sly switches between the two forms of speech. From the very beginning, he speaks in prose. As a drunken beggar, it makes sense for him to be utilizing the language of the lower class. Even as he is being offered expensive food and drinks, fancy forms of entertainment, and servants at his power, he refuses …show more content…
As a servant to Petruchio, Grumio isn’t well-educated enough to speak in poetry, though he does attempt in doing so. For example, from time to time, he is able to stick a couple of lines of poetry into his speech. He manages to say, “Whom, would to God, I had well knocked at first,/ Then had not Grumio come by the worst,” (I. ii. 36-37). While Grumio is able to speak a couple of line of poetry, he speaks majorly in prose and as a result only understands prose. Thus, he is often taken advantage of by his master. For instance, when Petruchio commands Grumio to “knock me here soundly,” (I. ii. 8) the master uses very poetic language to instruct Grumio to knock at the gate. However, Grumio, unable to comprehend, takes this as a meaning of having permission to hit Petruchio and refuses, since he foreshadows the devastating consequence of that action. As a result, the only thing that Grumio gets out of when he uses prose is being pushed and punched