1. MIRANDOLINA
CARLO GOLDONI

2. Read Mirandolina and focus on:
The outline of the plot
Main themes of the play
The characters’ actions, behavior and language
The Cavaliere’s position regarding women
Mirandolina’s challenge to this position
How Mirandolina wins the Cavaliere’s attention (from Act I, scene XXIII to Act II, scene IX + scene XIV)
Function of actors and actresses in the play (Act II, scene X-XIII) Goldoni’s critique of the theater?
Mirandolina’s victory (Act II, scene XVII-XVIII)
Mirandolina’s refusal of the Cavaliere’s present (Act III, scene II-III)
The “Ironing” scenes (IV-VII) The Cavaliere’s final defeat
Mirandolina’s resolution (Act III, scene XIII)

3. Act III, scene XVII: a social critique?
Act III, scene XVIII, turn of events, Mirandolina’s defeat? (concealing as woman’s virtue?)
Have the Cavaliere and Mirandolina changed (Act III, scene XVIII-last scene)
The social classes presented in the play
Mirandolina as representative of a social class
Mirandolina as a female character
Mirandolina’s values
Love and marriage in Mirandolina
Goldoni’s artistry in presenting his characters
Goldoni’s critique of Venetian society
The values of the new society according to Goldoni
The world as theater in Goldoni
The theater as didactic tool in Goldoni
Reason and enlightenment in Mirandolina