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All Site ContentTaming of the ShrewAct 1Scene 1
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“whose sudden sight hath thralled my wounded eye”
Mythological Allusion
Act 1,
Scene 1
Lines 213-217

An explanation of Lucentio’s “wounded eye” in Act 1, Scene 1 of myShakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.

Tranio

I am content to be Lucentio,
Because so well I love Lucentio.
[They exchange clothes]

Lucentio

Tranio, be so because Lucentio loves,
And let me be a slave t’achieve that maid,    
Whose sudden sight hath thralled my wounded eye.    

Lucentio is combining the idea that he’s been captivated by the mere sight of Bianca with the mythical notion that being struck by one of Cupid’s arrows causes you to fall in love.

Cupid's Arrow, Walter Krane, c. 19th century