ABSTRACT
This chapter is devoted to class as fundamental to Carlo Goldoni's gender portrayal, in terms of relations both between the genders and within each gender, with the theatrical aspects of class representation in Goldoni's plays a primary consideration. In addition to its relevance to the plot in a variety of ways, class belonging also affects female stage presence in outdoor scenes. One of the most revealing aspects of the staging of gender portrayal from a class perspective in Goldoni's plays, however, lies in the dramatic representation of subversion, which can be aligned with character and thought, but also spills over into action and spectacle. Goldoni dramatizes the overt aspirations of lower-class female characters to better their class position by marriage to their masters. This is one of several forms taken by class ambition in the comedies. The widest class differentiation in the plays is that between household servants and their masters and mistresses.
