Lucentio the Loser

Lucentio serves a large role in Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew". He is the secondary character to Bianca in the subplot of the story, making him probably the fourth most important character after Kate and Petruchio. Lucentio is a smart man who thinks he has fallen in love. However, even though it seems like Lucentio is a character of most noble intentions, unlike Petruchio who is pursuing Kate for fiscal reasons, he is ultimately chosen by Baptista over the other suitors simply because he is the wealthiest.

Lucentio serves a large part in the story, particularly in the beginning where Bianca's potential husbands have more focus than Kate's. Lucentio's disguise switch with Tranio represents a theme in this play, as it seems half the characters in the play are disguised at any given point. There is the induction disguise of Sly as a Lord, the disguise of Lucentio as Cambio, Tranio as Lucentio, Hortensio as Litio and the Merchant as Vincentio. The theme of disguise creates an interesting contrast, as three of the men trying to pursue Bianca are in disguise, and the only one trying to pursue Kate is not. This raises the question of how genuine the love is for Bianca, and questions the character of a man that must disguise himself to get Bianca. So it seems, despite Lucentio's nobler qualities, he still has to pretend to be someone else, and then is ultimately chosen solely for his wealth.

Lucentio as a whole serves to provide an idealized typical characterization of the charming suitor, or what seems to be a charming suitor before looking deeper. Ultimately, Lucentio's relationship with Bianca is turned on its head by the fact that Petruchio and Kate end up being the happier couple in the end. Lucentio serves as a sort of a foil, not by demonstrating negative qualities, but rather by setting up a idealized relationship with Bianca that can then be contrasted with Petruchio's relationship with Kate. Lucentio and Bianca represent the typical love story, which we, the audience, originally think we will witness. However, it turns out that the story of Petruchio and Kate is much more interesting, and that Lucentio’s idea of love is rather shallow.