“I'll slit the villain's nose”Cultural ContextAct 5,Scene 1Lines 111-112An explanation of Vincentio’s line, “I’ll slit the villain’s nose” in Act 5, Scene 1 of myShakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. Lucentio What Tranio did, myself enforcèd him to; Vincentio Then pardon him, sweet father, for my sake. In Shakespeare’s England, criminals often had their noses or ears slit while in jail so that they could be identified later as convicted felons.