It is true that Lucentio, in the opening speech,
is good enough to inform Tranio who he is and what he is doing
there--facts with which Tranio is already perfectly acquainted. But this
was merely a conventional opening, excused by the fashion of the time;
it was in no sense a necessary exposition. For the rest, the crisis of
the play--the battle between Katherine and Petruchio--begins, develops,
and ends before our very eyes. In _The Winter's Tale_, a brief
conversation between Camillo and Archidamus informs us that the King of
Bohemia is paying a visit to the King of Sicilia; and that is absolutely
all we need to know. It was not even necessary that it should be
conveyed to us in this way. The situation would be entirely
comprehensible if the scene between Camillo and Archidamus were omitted.
It is needless to go through the whole list of comedies. The broad fact
is that in all the plays commonly so described, excepting only _The
Tempest_, the whole action comes within the frame of the picture.
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