Finally, in Act V, Scene 1, we arrive at the long awaited discovery scene. As wise connoisseurs of drama, we've known from the beginning that the disguising must be unraveled, and so it is, and in fine comic fashion. Of course, in keeping with comic tradition, little punishment is doled out, although Vincentio's feathers are certainly ruffled. After all, what gentleman wants to find out that not only has his identity been successfully stolen, but stolen by someone of a lower class, at that!
Vincentio's arrival marks a return of order to the play. He is an outside force who is sober in judgment. Innocent of what has transpired in Padua since his son's arrival (and used to being treated as his high rank would dictate), he is unprepared for what he finds upon reaching Lucentio's house and has no reason not to be outraged. The Pedant has successfully assumed Vincentio's identity — so fully, in fact, that he feels comfortable in disparaging the real Vincentio's wife, offering a backhanded slur about her reputation, stating Tranio is really Lucentio "so his mother says, if I may believe her" (33).
Of course before the mistaken identities can be sorted out, confusion must reach its apex, and it does so with Biondello and then Tranio refusing to acknowledge they know Vincentio. What they're doing, in part, is attempting to buy time for their master, Lucentio, who has not yet returned from his secret marriage to Bianca. When Lucentio finally returns (line 101), Tranio, Biondello, and the Pedant all retreat "as fast as may be" (s.d. 105), glad to extract themselves from a situation in which they were not likely to fare well.
