The Taming of the Shrew
A Study Guide
Cummings Guides Home..|..Contact This Site..|..Shakespeare Videos..|..Shakespeare Books
.
Characters
Settings
Themes
Climax
Dates and Sources
Type of Work
Imagery
Dowry: European Custom
Did Shakespeare Visit Italy?
Structure
Study Questions, Essay Topics
Complete Free Text
..
Plot Summary
By Michael J. Cummings..© 2003
.
Induction
.
.......An introductory event called an induction precedes Act I. In the induction, a nobleman returning from a hunt finds a sleeping drunkard named Christopher Sly. Deciding to play a trick on him, the nobleman directs his servants to carry Sly to the best bedroom in his home, dress him in finery, and anoint him with perfumes. When Sly awakens, the servants are to pretend that he is a great lord who has just come to his senses after 15 years of insanity. Sly awakens, and the nobleman then has a traveling acting troupe perform a play for Sly called The Taming of the Shrew.    
 
The Acts
.. 
.......Lovely Bianca Minola has no shortage of admirers in Padua, a prosperous city in northern Italy. In fact, three young gentlemen–Hortensio, Gremio, and Lucentio–are suing for her hand in marriage. However, Bianca’s father, wealthy Baptista Minola, decrees that she may receive no suitors until her beautiful but shrewish sister, Katharina, receives a proposal of marriage and goes to the altar. The three young men then begin plotting to marry off hellcat Katharina. It so happens that a likely candidate for her hand–Petruchio, a rough-hewn gentleman from Verona–is visiting at Hortensio’s house.  
.......Petruchio, whose father has recently died, has come to Padua to seek his fortune and find a wife. While the three rivals for Bianca are at Hortensio’s house, Hortensio tells Petruchio of a beautiful woman with a large dowry whose only drawback is her scolding tongue. If he will woo her, they vow, they will help pay the cost of courting her. Petruchio, relishing the challenge (and no doubt the dowry), agrees to court Katharina.  
.......When Petruchio comes calling at the Minola household, Katharina is chasing Bianca, whom Katharina has just slapped after an argument. After Bianca runs out of the room, Katharina complains to her father that he favors Bianca over her: “She is your treasure, she must have a husband; / I must dance bare-foot on her wedding day” (2. 1. 35-36). Katharina exits just as Petruchio enters with Gremio, Lucentio, Hortensio, and two servants. Lucentio and Hortensio are in disguise–the former as a Greek and Latin tutor and the latter as a music and mathematics teacher–as part of a scheme to gain access to Bianca, upon whom Baptista keeps a close watch. Baptista thinks they have come in response to his earlier-expressed desire to hire schoolmasters to educate his daughters.     
.......When Petruchio and Katharina meet the first time, Petruchio boldly announces that he plans to woo her. She reacts with a volley of insults, and he rejoins with playful taunts, then tries to calm her: 
PETRUCHIO   Come, come, you wasp; i’ faith, you are too angry.  
KATHARINA   If I be waspish, best beware my sting.  
PETRUCHIO   My remedy is then, to pluck it out.  
KATHARINA   Ay, if the fool could find it where it lies.  
PETRUCHIO   Who knows not where a wasp does wear his sting? 
In his tail.     
KATHARINA   In his tongue.  
PETRUCHIO   Whose tongue?  
KATHARINA   Yours, if you talk of tails: and so farewell.  
PETRUCHIO   What, with my tongue in your tail? nay, come again.  Good Kate; I am a gentleman. (2. 1. 209-219)
Katharina she slaps him. He threatens to strike back if she slaps him again. Later, after more verbal fireworks, Petruchio uses reverse psychology on her, telling her that 
I find you passing gentle. 
’Twas told me you were rough and coy and sullen, 
And now I find report a very liar; 
For thou are pleasant, gamesome, passing courteous. (2. 1. 243-246) 
.......When Baptista enters the room and asks how the two are getting along, Katharina denounces Petruchio with more insults. But Petruchio, bold as ever, says Kate has declared her love for him, showered him with kisses, and wooed him with such swiftness that they have agreed to marry on the following Sunday. Baptista, extremely pleased, says the matter is settled: Katharina will marry Petruchio. 
.......Baptista then turns his attention to Bianca, decreeing that, on the Sunday following Katharina’s wedding, Bianca will marry the man who provides the largest dowry. Gremio boasts that his house has the finest furnishings–gold, ivory, pewter, brass–and that his farm has one hundred twenty oxen. Because Lucentio and Hortensio remain in disguise as schoolmasters, they cannot speak for themselves; rather, their servants–pretending to be their masters–do it for them. In the end, Baptista accepts the proposal made on behalf of Lucentio, because his father is said to own three large argosies (merchant ships), two galliasses (fast warships with three masts), and twelve tight galleys (ships using oars and/or sails).
.......On the day of Katharina’s wedding. Petruchio arrives late on a decrepit horse. He is wearing common clothes and is accompanied by an untidy servant, Grumio. During the wedding, he behaves badly. First, he curses. Then he kisses the bride with “a clamorous smack” (3. 2. 155). Snubbing the wedding feast, he carries Katharina off to his country house. Grumio accompanies them. It is a long, cold, miserable ride made worse when Katharina falls from her horse into mud. Petruchio blames Grumio for Katharina’s fall and beats him until Katharina comes to Grumio’s rescue. Once at the country house, Petruchio means to please his new wife in every way, and woe unto anyone who thwarts his efforts.  
.......So he browbeats and nitpicks the servants for every shortcoming, real or imagined. When meat arrives, he pretends that it is burnt and hurls it to the floor; so, too, cups, saucers, everything. When he scolds the servants, Katharina attempts to pacify him, saying the meat was well prepared. But Petruchio insists that it was burnt and declares it would be better if both of them ate nothing at all. Katharina goes to bed on an empty stomach. All night long, Petruchio complains about the arrangement of the bed covers, and Katharina cannot sleep. Through it all, he sings the praises of Katharina, thus leaving her little room to complain about his conduct.  
.......After Petruchio and Katharina travel to Padua for a visit, Petruchio orders new clothes for his wife. When the outfitter arrives and displays her new apparel, Petruchio finds fault with every garment even though Katharina dearly loves a cap. Exasperated, she declares, “Love me or love me not, I like the cap, / And I will have it, or I will have none” (4. 3. 93-94). She gets no cap, no gown, no anything.
.......On the way back to Padua, Petruchio observes that the moon shines “bright and goodly” (4. 5. 4). Katharina tells him that the sun, not the moon, is shining. When Petruchio insists that it is the moon, Katharina–now ready to agree with Petruchio about anything for her own peace of mind–says, 
And be it moon, or sun, or what you please.  
An if you please to call it a rush-candle,   
Henceforth I vow it shall be so for me. (4. 5. 15-17)
Petruchio replies, “I say it is the moon” (4. 5. 18). When Katharina agrees with him, he says, “Nay, then you lie: it is the blessed sun” (4. 5. 20). In a final display of submission to his will, Katharina says, 
Then God be bless’d, it is the blessed sun:  
But sun it is not when you say it is not,  
And the moon changes even as your mind. (4. 5. 21-23) 
Katharina has been tamed.  
.......Back in Padua, Lucentio has eloped with Bianca; but because Lucentio’s father, Vincentio, has vouched for his son and approved the marriage, Baptista is satisfied. Meanwhile, Hortensio has successfully wooed and wed a widow. While celebrating their marriages at a feast at Lucentio’s house, the men converse over a banquet table while the women chat in a parlor. Amid the merriment among the men, Tranio–a servant of Lucentio–taunts Petruchio, claiming that Katharina controls him. Baptista, well aware of Katharina’s bellicose ways, agrees with Tranio. Petruchio then proposes a wager. Each husband will send for his wife. The husband of the wife who responds first wins the bet. They all agree to the wager and set the prize at a hundred crowns. The three husbands issue commands, but only Katharina comes forth; the other ladies continue chatting idly in the parlor. Later, when the other two wives come forth, Katharina lectures them on the importance of wifely submission: 
Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,
Thy head, thy sovereign; one that cares for thee,
And for thy maintenance commits his body
To painful labour both by sea and land,
To watch the night in storms, the day in cold,
Whilst thou liest warm at home, secure and safe;
And craves no other tribute at thy hands
But love, fair looks and true obedience;
Too little payment for so great a debt.
Such duty as the subject owes the prince
Even such a woman oweth to her husband. (5. 2. 164-174)
Petruchio says, “Why there’s a wench! Come on, and kiss me, Kate” (5. 2. 198).
. 
Characters...........................................................................................................Shakespeare Films on DVD, VHS 
.. 
Protagonist: The Warring Couple (Katharina and Petruchio) 
Katharina's Antagonist: Male Machismo (Petruchio) 
Petruchio's Antagonist: Female Resistance (Katharina) 
. 
The Induction 
. 
Christopher Sly: Tinker found drunk by a lord. 
Lord: Nobleman who finds Sly. 
Hostess, Page 
Players, Huntsmen Servants 
. 
The Acts 
. 
Katharina Minola: Temperamental, strong-willed daughter of Baptista. She has a sharp tongue with which she can carve men into insignificance.  
Petruchio: Boisterous and domineering gentleman of Verona who woos and wins Katharina against all odds.  
Baptista Minola: Wealthy gentleman of Padua who bears the burden of being Katharina's father.  
Bianca: Gentle but somewhat spoiled daughter of Baptista. She has many suitors who vie for her hand with the power of wealth and position.  
Vincentio: Elderly gentleman of Pisa.  
Lucentio: Vincentio's son who loves Bianca.  
Tranio, Biondello: Servants of Lucentio  
Gremio, Hortensio: Suitors of Bianca.  
Grumio, Curtis, Nathaniel, Nicholas, Joseph, Philip, Peter: Servants of Petruchio. 
Antonio: Father of Petruchio. Antonio does not appear in the play, but Petruchio–to commend himself to Baptista–says his father is famous throughout all of Italy.  
Minor Characters: Pedant, Widow, Tailor, Haberdasher, Servants  
.  
.
Settings  
. 
The action in the induction takes place in the English countryside, first on a heath in front of an alehouse and then in a bedroom in the house of a lord. The action in the five-act play takes place in various locations in Padua, Italy, and at a house in the nearby countryside. Padua is in northern Italy on the Bacchiglione River. Padua is about 30 miles west of Venice. 
. 
Climax 
. 
The climax of a play or another narrative work, such as a short story or a novel, can be defined as (1) the turning point at which the conflict begins to resolve itself for better or worse, or as (2) the final and most exciting event in a series of events. The climax of The Taming of the Shrew occurs, according to the first definition, in the fifth scene of Act IV when observes during the daytime how brightly the moon is shining. Katharina corrects him, saying he means the sun. No, he says, it is the moon. Katharina insists that it is the sun. Petruchio says it shall be a moon or a star or whatever he says it is. Frustrated, Katharina agrees: It is the moon. Petruchio then says she lies: It is the sun. All right, says Katharina, it is the sun. But if he says it is the moon, she adds, then it is the moon. Whatever he says it is, it is. This exchange marks Katharina's complete submission to Petruchio's will. He has tamed her. According to the second definition, the climax occurs when in Act V when Tranio attempts to bruise Petruchio's ego, saying Katharina controls him. Baptista says it is a fact that Petruchio has a shrew as a wife. Petruchio then lays down a wager with Lucentio and Hortensio. Each man will send for his wife. The husband of the wife who arrives first wins a hundred crowns. Katharina, of course, proves the most obedient. She arrives pronto while the other two women sit chatting in a parlor. 
. 
.
Themes  
. 
Renaissance Italy promotes inequality of females by forcing them into submissive roles. The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy that satirizes silly and unfair social customs and behaviors that favor males. Consider that Baptista Minola treats his daughters, Bianca and Katharina, like marionettes, expecting them always to do his bidding. It is he who decides whom Bianca will marry (the richest bachelor), and it is he who orders Katharina's betrothal to Petruchio, a man she says she despises. Consider, too, that Petruchio forces Katharina to acknowledge that he is always right, even when he says the sun is the moon. At the end of the play, all of the husbands brag about what they apparently believe is an important quality of a wife: submissiveness. 
Some women must be tamed, like wild animals. Petruchio uses the same tactics to tame Katharina that he uses to tame hunting birds and other animals. For additional information, see Imagery.
Money makes the man–and woman. Lucentio gets Bianca because he has the most money. Katharina gets a suitor, Petruchio, because she has a handsome dowry. 
Love at first SLIGHT. When they first meet, Katharina and Petruchio engage in a battle of insults. It is clear during their exchange that opposites attract and that they are destined to marry and become strange bedfellows.  
Don't drink and drowse. In the induction, Christopher Sly dozes on the side of a road in the English countryside after getting drunk. Mischievous passersby play an elaborate trick on him (as described in Induction, above), deceiving him into believing that he is a lord who has just come through 15 years of insanity. All of which proves that in vino, there is no veritas.  
Kill with kindness. Using reverse psychology, Petruchio praises, pampers, and coddles Katharina in order to rob her of occasion to complain and thereby kill her scolding tongue. 
.  
Imagery

Animals and Objects 
.   
Shakespeare frequently uses imagery that compares Katharina to animals. For example, the title is a metaphor comparing Katharina Minola to a shrew, a mouse-like mammal that is extremely mean-tempered. Other metaphors compare her to animals that require considerable training before they are docile enough to serve their masters. These animals include hawks, falcons, asses (known for their obstinacy), and horses. Shakespeare also uses Imagery that compares Katharina to objects, such as flowers and hazel nuts. Both types of imagery appear in a passage in Act III, Scene II, when Petruchio says:
.
..............I will be master of what is mine own:
..............She [Katharina] is my goods, my chattels; she is my house,
..............My household stuff, my field, my barn,
..............My horse, my ox, my ass, my any thing.
.
It is not only Petruchio who regards poor Katharina as a mere thing. Earlier, in the first scene of Act I while Hortensio and Gremio evaluate their chances of finding a husband for her, Hortensio–assessing Katharina's qualities–says, "There's small choice in rotten apples" (Line 137). Katharina herself likens her worth, and that of all womankind, to a thing in Act V, Scene II, when she says: 

..............A woman moved is like a fountain troubled,  
..............Muddy, ill-seeming, thick, bereft of beauty. (Katharina, Act V, Scene II, Lines 143-144)  

Epigrams and Other Memorable Passages

In the dialogue of The Taming of the Shrew and other Shakespeare plays, characters sometimes speak wise or witty sayings, or epigrams, couched in memorable language. Among the epigrams in The Taming of the Shrew–as well as other memorable passages–are the following:

There’s small choice in rotten apples. (1. 1. 118)
In a metaphor, Hortensio compares Katharina to a rotten apple.
 
A little pot and soon hot. (4. 1. 3)
The rhyming of pot and hot, as well as the homely wisdom, makes memorable this line spoken by Grumio.
 
A woman mov’d is like a fountain troubled,
Muddy, ill-seeming, thick, bereft of beauty. (5. 2. 160-161)
In a simile, Katharina compares a woman mov’d to the muddy waters of a fountain.
    
And if the boy have not a woman’s gift
To rain a shower of commanded tears,
An onion will do well for such a shift. (Induction, Scene 1, Lines 123-125)
The Lord uses a metaphor to compare the crying of a woman to a rainstorm. This passage suggests that actors in Shakespeare’s day–and perhaps Shakespeare himself when he performed in plays–used onions to coax reluctant tears from their eyes in emotional scenes. 
Key Dates and Sources 
. 
Date Written: About 1592  
Probable Main Source: Shakespeare based a subplot in The Taming of the Shrew on Gli Suppositi (The Suppositions), by Ludovico Ariosto (1474-1535). Ariosto’s work was translated into English as The Supposes, by George Gascoigne (1525-1577). Some scholars believe A Pleasant and Conceited History Called the Taming of the Shrew (probably 1594) was a source, but other scholars believe that play was a corrupt version of Shakespeare’s play.  
First Performance: Not established. Historical records indicate, however, that actors may have performed the play in 1594 at Newington Butts near London Bridge. 
First Printing: 1623 as part of the First Folio. 

Type of Play 

The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy that satirizes silly or unfair social customs and courting practices, often through farce. Farce is a type of comedy that relies on exaggeration, horseplay, and unrealistic or improbable situations to provoke laughter. In a farce, plotting takes precedence over characterization.
Number of Words in Public-Domain Text: 22,183 
Individual Copies for Schools: Folger Shakespeare Library Edition (Low Cost) 
. 
Structure: A Story Within a Story

The Taming of the Shrew is a story within a story. The play resembles the structure of the so-called frame tale, a literary work in which one story presents another story, or several stories. For example, The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer, begins with the story of a group of pilgrims on their way to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas á Becket. To entertain themselves on the way, various pilgrims tell stories. Thus, the outer story about the pilgrimage becomes the frame of the inner stories, which focus on unrelated topics. The inner stories are like a painting; the outer story is like its frame–hence, the term frame tale. In The Taming of the Shrew, the story of Christopher Sly is the frame. The five-act play, presented before Sly by an acting troupe, is the inner story. The play has two story lines: the main plot, involving Petruchio and Katharina, and the subplot, involving Bianca and her suitors.
.
Did Shakespeare Visit Italy?
. 
Shakespeare's writings suggest that he visited Italy, although no other evidence is available to indicate that he ever set foot outside of Britain. As for the evidence in his writing, consider that more than a dozen of his plays–including The Merchant of Venice, Romeo and Juliet, All's Well That Ends Well, Othello, Coriolanus, Julius Caesar, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Taming of the Shrew, Much Ado About Nothing, and The Winter's Tale all have some or all of their scenes set in Italy. Consider, too, that plays not set in Italy are often well populated with people having Italian names. For example, although The Comedy of Errors takes place in Ephesus, Turkey, the names of many of the characters end with the Italian ''o'' or ''a'':–Angelo, Dromio, Adriana, Luciana. In Hamlet's Denmark, we find characters named Marcellus, Bernardo and Francisco. Practically all of the characters in Timon of Athens bear the names of ancient Romans–Lucullus, Flavius, Flaminius, Lucius, Sempronius, Servillius, Titus, Hortensius. Of course, it is quite possible that Shakespeare visited Italy only in his imagination 
Taming of the Shrew  Film From the Shakespeare Collection 
Taming of the Shrew  Film Starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor 
Taming of the Shrew: 1929 Production  Film Directed by Sam Taylor 
Taming of the Shrew: 1996 Production  Film Directed by Peter Dews 
Kiss Me Kate  Film (Musical) Based on Play; Available at Amazon.com 
 

What Was a Dowry?

In Europe, it was customary for a bride or her family to provide the groom a dowry. In The Taming of the Shrew, Baptista Minola offers a generous dowry to the man who marries his daughter, Katharina. Generally, a dowry was a grant usually consisting of real estate, valuables, or money. It was not an outright gift to the husband. Rather, it was a reserve asset with any or all of the following purposes:

  • To insure fair treatment of the wife by the husband. For example, if a husband committed a serious wrong against his wife, he had to forfeit the dowry. He also had to forfeit it to her or her family if he divorced her.
  • To provide income for household necessities as the husband and wife were beginning their marriage.
  • To provide the wife income if the husband died.
The husband maintained complete control of the dowry. Although he could not transfer it to another person, he could accrue investment income from it for the family. 

Study Questions and Essay Topics

1.. Baptista Minola arranges marriages for his daughters, Katharina and Bianca. How widespread was the practice of arranged marriages .....in the age of Shakespeare? 
2.. Do any countries observe this practice today? What are the advantages and disadvantages of this practice? 
3. .How does the divorce rate in arranged marriages compare with the divorce rate in marriages of people who choose their spouses?
4.. How important is (or was) money in your choice of a spouse?
5. .How import are (or were) position and social status in your choice of a spouse?
6. .Which character in the play do you most admire? Which character do you least admire?
7.. In an essay, analyze the psychology that Petrucchio uses to tame Katharina.
8. .In an essay, argue that the courting and wedding customs of today are just as silly as those in the time of the fictional Petruchio and .....Katharina. (Or argue that these customs are beautiful and memorable.)        
9. .Write an essay comparing and contrasting Katharina and Bianca.
10. Write an essay comparing and contrasting Petruchio with Bianca’s successful suitor, Lucentio. 
11. At the end of the play, are Petrucchio and Katharina in love?  

.
Shakespeare DVD's Available at Amazon.com
.
Film Director Actors
Antony and Cleopatra (1974) Trevor Nunn, John Schoffield Richard Johnson, Janet Suzman
As You Like It (1937) NR Paul Czinner  Henry Ainley, Felix Aylmer
Hamlet (1948) NR Laurence Olivier Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons
Hamlet (1990) NR Kevin Kline Kevin Kline
Hamlet (1991) PG Franco Zeffirelli Mel Gibson, Glenn Close
Hamlet (1996) PG-13 Kenneth Branagh Kenneth Branagh, 
Hamlet (1964) NR John Gielgud, Bill Colleran Richard Burton, Hume Cronyn
Hamlet (1964) NR Grigori Kozintsev Innokenti Smoktunovsky
Hamlet (2000) NR Cambpell Scott, Eric Simonson Campbell Scott, Blair Brown
Henry V (1989) PG-13 Kenneth Branagh Kenneth Branaugh, Derek Jacobi
Henry V( 1946) NR Laurence Olivier Leslie Banks, Felix Aylmer
Julius Caesar (1950) NR David Bradley Charlton Heston
Julius Caesar (1953) NR Joseph L. Mankiewicz Marlon Brando, James Mason
Julius Caesar (1970) G Stuart Burge Charlton Heston, Jason Robards
King Lear (1970) Grigori Kozintsev Yuri Yarvet
King Lear (1971) Peter Brook Cyril Cusack, Susan Engel
King Lear (1974) NR Edwin Sherin James Earl Jones
King Lear (1976) NR Tony Davenall Patrick Mower, Ann Lynn
King Lear (1984) NR Michael Elliott Laurence Olivier, Colin Blakely
King Lear (1997) NR Richard Eyre Ian Holm
Love's Labour's Lost (2000) Kenneth Branagh Kenneth Branagh, Alicia Silverstone 
Macbeth (1971) R Roman Polanski Jon Finch, Francesca Annis
Macbeth (1978) NR Philip Casson Ian McKellen, Judy Dench
The Merchant of Venice (2004) R  Michael Radford Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons
The Merchant of Venice (2001) NR Christ Hunt, Trevor Nunn David Bamber, Peter De Jersey
The Merry Wives of Windsor (1970) NR Leon Charles, Gloria Grahame
Midsummer Night's Dream (1996) PG-13 Adrian Noble Lindsay Duncan, Alex Jennings
A Midsummer Night's Dream  (1999) Michael Hoffman Kevin Kline, Michelle Pfeiffer
Much Ado About Nothing (1993) PG 13 Kenneth Branaugh Branaugh, Emma Thompson
Othello (1990) NR Trevor Nunn Ian McKellen, Michael Grandage
Othello (1955) NR Orson Welles Orson Welles
Ran  (1985) Japanese Version of King Lear R Akira Kurosawa Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao
Richard II (2001) NR John Farrell  Matte Osian, Kadina de Elejalde
Richard III (1912) NR André Calmettes, James Keane  Robert Gemp, Frederick Warde
Richard III - Criterion Collection (1956) NR Laurence Olivier Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson
Richard III (1995) R Richard Loncraine Ian McKellen, Annette Bening
Romeo and Juliet (1968) G Franco Zeffirelli Leonard Whiting, Olivia Hussey
Romeo and Juliet (1996) PG-13 Baz Luhrmann Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes
Romeo and Juliet (1976) NR Joan Kemp-Welch Christopher Neame, Ann Hasson
The Taming of the Shrew (1967) Franco Zeffirelli Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton
The Taming of the Shrew  (1976) Kirk Browning Raye Birk, Earl Boen, Ron Boussom
The Taming of The Shrew (1983) NR Franklin Seales, Karen Austin, 
The Tempest PG Paul Mazursky John Cassavetes, Gena Rowlands
The Tempest (1998) Jack Bender Peter Fonda, John Glover, Harold Perrineau,
Throne of Blood (1961) Macbeth in Japan NR Akira Kurosawa Toshirô Mifune, Isuzu Yamada
Twelfth Night (1996) PG Trevor Nunn Helena Bonham Carter
The Winter's Tale  (2005) NR Greg Doran Royal Shakespeare Company