The Lord's Role In The Taming Of The Shrew

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In the Induction of The Taming of the Shrew, the lord plays a joke on the drunk Sly and tricks Sly into thinking that he is a mighty noble and has been asleep for fifteen years. The lord also acts like a servant to Sly instead as an equal. The pair switching roles is interesting for two reasons. One, since it is a trick, Sly does not know that he is switching roles; he is completely ignorant and is convinced this is his real life. Second, it is interesting to note that the lord became a servant instead of acting himself. In my opinion, Shakespeare purposely wrote the lord becoming a servant in order to start the pattern of a reversal of roles in The Taming of the Shrew.