Scene 1

The real Lucentio and Bianca depart from Lucentio’s home to marry in secret. Meanwhile, Petruchio and his party, including the real Vincentio, arrive at Lucentio’s home—where Baptiste, Tranio, and the pedant have gathered to discuss the details of the marriage. The disguised pedant sees the group out of a window, and Vincentio announces that he has come to visit his son, Lucentio. However, the pedant claims that he is the real Vincentio and that the man at the door is an imposter. Lucentio’s servants—terrified by the implications of their roles in this deception—all refuse to acknowledge the real Vincentio.

When Tranio emerges from the house, the real Vincentio recognizes him as Lucentio’s servant. However, when everyone else addresses him as a gentleman, Vincentio fears that Tranio has murdered the real Lucentio in order to assume his identity. A distraught Tranio is forced to call the police and have Vincentio arrested as an imposter. 

Just as Vincentio is about to be taken to jail, the newly married Lucentio and Bianca arrive. Tranio, the pedant, and the other servants make their escape as the real Lucentio is forced to reveal his deception. He explains both his own scheme and the role Trania and the pedant played, begging forgiveness from both Baptiste and Vincentio. Lucentio asserts that everything he did was out of love for Bianca, which helps further pacify the crowd. 

Petruchio and Katherine, who have been watching the chaos unfold, remain behind after everyone else departs. Katherine wishes to follow the others to see how events play out, but Petruchio asks that she kiss him—in the middle of the street—before they go. Though she is at first embarrassed by the request, Katherine eventually concedes, and Petruchio seems satisfied by her apparent submission. 

Scene 2

Some time later, Lucentio throws a banquet to celebrate the three recent weddings in Padua: Petruchio and Katherine, Hortensio and the widow, and himself and Bianca. During the feast, Hortensio’s new wife makes a disparaging comment about Katherine and Petruchio’s marriage. The two men then encourage Katherine and the widow to argue, but Bianca calms them down, and the three women depart from the feast together. 

The men mock Petruchio for his apparent misfortune, still believing Katherine to be the ill-tempered shrew they have known. Petruchio, however, proposes a wager: each of the married men will send for his wife, and the man whose wife arrives the quickest will win. Lucentio and Hortensio are both confident, but when they send servants to bring their respective wives, they are told Bianca and the widow are busy. When Petruchio sends a servant for Katherine, she arrives immediately, to the shock of everyone assembled.

Petruchio, further cementing his victory, then sends Katherine to bring the other wives back. He then instructs her to “tell these headstrong women what duty they do owe their lords and husbands.” Katherine delivers a speech outlining the importance of loyalty, duty, and submission in marriage, explaining that men work hard to provide for their wives, so wives should in turn be obedient. Petruchio and Katherine then depart for bed, with the other men once again marveling at Petruchio’s ability to “tame a curst shrew.”