The Taming of the Shrew

We have to keep in mind that the Taming of the Shrew is a play within a play, meaning that Shakespeare is going to pains to actually show us the unreality of a man actually being able to...

It is difficult for modern Americans to understand the institution of marriage in Elizabethan times. First, Americans are romantic when it comes to love. We believe couples are fated to meet: a...

Grumio, Petruchio's manservant, is the first servant to appear, and his characterisation is in line with the traditional comic master-servant relationship. Grumio fails to understand (or, perhaps,...

In Act Three, scene two, of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, I believe that Petruchio arrives to his wedding in old clothes for several reasons, all of which center around Kate and her...

Puns are a form of humorous word play where the individual uses a word which has different meanings to create humor by using one of the meanings of the word in the phrase. The first few...

Looks to me like the language of hyperbole--exaggeration used for effect. Each of the three characters here uses exaggeration to make or emphasize their points. Kate has literally bound her sister...

This line is delivered from Petruchio to Kate at Kate's house. Petruchio is claiming that Kate has won his love because she loved him so much and that she declared her love through oaths and...

In Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, in Act Three, scene two, Kate still believes that if she has a strong enough will, she will get what she wants. She thinks that only a woman who lack...

Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, a play within a play, is about a man who wants to control his woman, when his woman has completely different ideas about the arrangement. Shakespeare's...

The main problem is the conflict between Kate and Petruchio. Petruchio sets out to "tame" Kate who, prior to his arrival, flames every potential suitor to come near her. The question of...

The play doesn't actually tell us how old Katharina is: though we know for certain that she's older than Bianca. She's been played as everything from a young woman (aged around 25) right the way...

In addition to the other very good answer to this question, it helps to think of Katharina as something of a "proto-feminist" character. Katharina, for example, is often a character who appears to...

Mousey is correct in suggesting that part of the purpose of the Induction in The Taming of the Shrew is to set a humorous tone. There is a bit more that can be found in the Induction, however, if...

The wily servant Tranio—disguised as his master Lucentio—needs to find someone who can masquerade as Lucentio's father, Vincentio. This is all part of his elaborate, convoluted plan to negotiate...

As Hortensio watches Lucentio woo Bianca (with some biased reinforcement from Tranio)—in Act Four, scene two, of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew—the man pretending to be a music teacher to...

Katherine's short temper is easily triggered in the early parts of the play. In act 1, scene 1, she seems to be angrily shouting at anyone within earshot and for no particular reason. When her...

Just to take a simpler route to answer this question all in good fun, I would say that Bianca isn't a shrew at the beginning but becomes one in the end because she is a dynamic character and was...

I wonder if you mean similes rather than metaphors? The two are easily confused. I have checked the section that you refer to and cannot find any metaphors, but there are two obvious similes. Let...

In Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, Lucentio wants to woo Bianca. Baptista will not allow Bianca to have suitors until her older sister is wed, so the only way Lucentio can gain access to...

When Situational Irony occurs in theater the audience is expecting the play to progress in one direction, when in fact the story or the situation takes an unexpected turn. Situational Irony deals...

Petruchio certainly tries to charm Baptista during his first meeting at the beginning of Act 2, using the overtly flattering language to describe Katherine. Of course, Baptista is not entirely...

The first answer you've received covers much of what I would say; however, in the movie, Kate is the victim of a bet--pure and simple. She is "shrewish" because she's been burned before and when...

The Induction with Christopher Sly is in fact the only "Induction" of its type in all of Shakespeare's works. The Induction shows Sly, a beggar, falling asleep. He is tricked by some...

I have to concur with my fellow editors on this one. Whilst Bianca spends most of the play appearing to be the meeker and milder sister, she shows her true colours at the end of the play in...

One of the most famous scenes in The Taming of the Shrew is when Katharina and Petruchio meet, starting around 2.1.184. The two of them exchange barbs that are both sharp and suggestive. When...

In Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, we see humorous misunderstanding and slapstick in Act II, scene i. Petruchio has been encouraged to woo and wed Katharina, the shrew in the story. He is...

The title of this play really says it all -- it says exactly what the play is about. It says that the play will be all about how a "shrew" -- an angry, somewhat uppity woman -- gets tamed and put...

In William Shakespeare's comedy The Taming of the Shrew, Hortensio is Petruchio's best friend and sidekick. Like almost every other man in Padua, Hortensio adores the gorgeous Bianca and fantasizes...

This is the scene where Katharina finally gives into Petruchio. Since he heard of her, he planned to marry her for her money and in the process “tame” her. He refuses to give up, humiliating her at...

In Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, in Act Two, scene one, Petruchio makes a list of Katharina's charming characteristics. He describes her as having beauty and wit. He recognizes her...

Good question, and I think there's a good answer. Two things keep Baptista from marrying off Bianca despite the many excellent offers you mention. First, it would have defied the tradition of the...

In Shakespeare's comedy The Taming of the Shrew, Baptista Minola, one of the wealthiest men in Padua, has two daughters—the lovely Bianca and the shrewish Katherina (known as "Kate")—and no sons....

Well, this play is full of humorous misunderstandings. There are definitely no shortage for you to identify! If you are focusing on Act I, however, I would have to pick Act I scene ii and in...

The Taming of the Shrew is set in Padua, Italy, during the Renaissance. On the heels of the medieval time period, which was marked by the rise and fall of feudalism, the Black Plague, and the...

This quote is heavily ironic because it is Katharina that utters these lines expressing her desire to do anything to make her husband happy. This quote comes in a long speech of Katharina's that...

I'm not sure that Baptista can be characterized as a poor father, but he isn't perfect either. He does his best to find good husbands for both his daughters, trying to insure that each of them will...

Many of the references in this section derive from Ovid's Metamorphoses, a work that would have been familiar to all educated people in Shakespeare's period. Apollo: Apollo was a Greek god of the...

Bianca Minola is the younger of the two Minola sisters. Her personality is humble and modest, and she is a dutiful daughter. She is not, however, without considerable strength; there is distinct...

This quote comes of course from the final scene of the play, when Katharina is the only wife who responds to her husband's call. She then uses her example of obedience as a chance to berate the...

How about this one? Kate addresses the crowd of wedding guests as she is waiting with them for Petruchio who is intentionally late for their wedding."No shame but mine. I must, forsooth, be...

You mention certain line numbers in your question, but it would help in future question-asking for you to know that there are different editions of all of Shakespeare's plays, each one edited...

Animal imagery is pervasive in The Taming of the Shrew, especially in regards to Kate. The very title associates her with a shrew, a small mammal, and Kate compares herself with a wasp, claiming...

I'm sure you mean Christopher Sly. First of all, Sly provides a frame for the main story of Kate and Petruchio. He is a drunkard who is thrown out of the tavern. Some lords think would be funny...

This question is a little tricky; because Grumio's comments are sarcastic, we have to know that Gremio is old in order to recognize Grumio's criticism and puns. Other things point to Gremio's age;...

In Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew, in Act IV, scene one, we witness as Petruchio dresses down all of his servants, finding fault with all they do. Even Kate believes that perhaps he is too...

William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew is a boisterous comedy that uses broad farce to satirize courtship and marriage. The play's plot turns around the antics of various suitors to win the...