The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare
"The Taming of the Shrew" is a comedic play by William Shakespeare that explores themes of love, marriage, and gender roles through the dynamic relationship between Petruchio and Katharina. The story is set in Padua and revolves around the challenge faced by Baptista, a father who cannot find a suitor for his strong-willed daughter, Katharina, until someone marries her younger sister, Bianca. Lucentio, a young scholar, disguises himself as a tutor to woo Bianca, while Petruchio takes on the task of courting Katharina.
Petruchio's unconventional approach to "taming" Katharina involves a series of psychological games, where he denies her food and rest, claiming to act in her best interest. This leads to a contentious yet comedic courtship filled with witty banter and verbal sparring. The play culminates in a bet among the husbands about whose wife will be most obedient, showcasing the societal expectations of women during the era. Ultimately, Katharina's final monologue suggests a complex view of submission and obedience within marriage.
"The Taming of the Shrew" raises questions about gender dynamics and the nature of love, making it a significant piece for analysis and discussion in both historical and contemporary contexts.
The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare
First produced: c. 1593–94; first published, 1623
Type of work: Drama
Type of plot: Comedy
Time of plot: Sixteenth century
Locale: Padua, Italy
Principal Characters
Baptista , a rich gentleman of PaduaKatharina , his shrewish daughterBianca , another daughterPetruchio , Katharina’s suitorLucentio , a student in love with BiancaTranio , his servantVincentio , Lucentio’s fatherGremio andHortensio , Lucentio’s rivalsA Pedant ,
The Story
As a joke, a beggar is carried, while asleep, to the house of a noble lord and there dressed in fine clothes and waited on by many servants. The beggar is told that he is a rich man who, in a demented state, has imagined himself to be a beggar, but who is now restored to his senses. The lord and his court have great sport with the poor fellow, to the extent of dressing a page to pose as the beggar’s rich and beautiful wife and presenting the supposed woman to him as his dutiful and obedient spouse. The beggar, in his stupidity, assumes his new role as though it were his own, and he and his lady settle down to watch a play prepared for their enjoyment.
Lucentio, a young man, and Tranio, his servant, have journeyed to Padua so that Lucentio can study in that ancient city. Tranio persuades his master that life is not all study and work and that he should find pleasures also in his new residence. On their arrival in the city, Lucentio and Tranio encounter Baptista and his daughters, Katharina and Bianca. These three are accompanied by Gremio and Hortensio, young gentlemen both in love with gentle Bianca. Baptista, however, will not permit his younger daughter to marry until someone takes Katharina off his hands. Although Katharina is wealthy and beautiful, she is such a shrew that no suitor will have her. Baptista, not knowing how to control his sharp-tongued daughter, announces that Gremio or Hortensio must find a husband for Katharina before either can woo Bianca. He charges them also to find tutors for the two girls, that they might be skilled in music and poetry.
Unobserved, Lucentio and Tranio witness this scene. At first sight, Lucentio also falls in love with Bianca, and he determines to have her for himself. His first act is to exchange clothes with Tranio, so that the servant appears to be the master. Lucentio then disguises himself as a tutor in order to woo Bianca without her father’s knowledge.
About the same time, Petruchio arrives in Padua. He is a rich and noble man of Verona, come to Padua to visit his friend Hortensio and to find for himself a rich wife. Hortensio tells Petruchio of his love for Bianca and of her father’s decree that she cannot marry until a husband is found for Katharina. Petruchio declares that the stories told about spirited Katharina are to his liking, particularly the account of her great wealth, and he expresses a desire to meet her. Hortensio proposes that Petruchio seek Katharina’s father and present his family’s name and history. Hortensio, meanwhile, plans to disguise himself as a tutor and thus plead his own cause with Bianca.
The situation grows confused. Lucentio is disguised as a tutor, and his servant, Tranio, is dressed as Lucentio. Hortensio is also disguised as a tutor. Petruchio is to ask for Katharina’s hand. Also, unknown to anyone but Katharina and Bianca, Bianca loves neither Gremio nor Hortensio and swears that she will never marry rather than accept one or the other as her husband.
Petruchio easily secures Baptista’s permission to marry his daughter Katharina, for the poor man is only too glad to have his older daughter finally wed. The courtship of Petruchio and Katharina is a strange one indeed, a battle of wits, words, and wills. Petruchio is determined to bend Katharina to his will, but Katharina scorns and berates him with a vicious tongue. Nevertheless, she has to obey her father’s wish and marry Petruchio, and the nuptial day is set. Then Gremio and Tranio, the latter still believed to be Lucentio, vie with each other for Baptista’s permission to marry Bianca. Tranio wins because he claims more gold and vaster lands than Gremio can declare. In the meantime, Hortensio and Lucentio, both disguised as tutors, woo Bianca.
As part of the process by which he seeks to tame Katharina, Petruchio arrives late for his wedding, and when he does appear he wears old and tattered clothes. Even during the wedding ceremony Petruchio acts like a madman, stamping, swearing, and cuffing the priest. Immediately afterward he drags Katharina away from the wedding feast and takes her to his country home, there to continue his scheme to bend her to his will. He gives her no food and no time for sleep, all the while pretending that nothing he has is good enough for her. In fact, he all but kills her with kindness. Before he is through, Katharina agrees that the moon is the sun and that an old man is a woman.
Bianca falls in love with Lucentio, whom she thinks to be her tutor. In chagrin, Hortensio throws off his disguise, and he and Gremio forswear their love for any woman so fickle. Tranio, still hoping to win Bianca for himself, finds an old pedant to act the part of Vincentio, Lucentio’s father. The false father argues his son’s cause with Baptista until that lover of gold promises his daughter’s hand to Lucentio, as he thinks, but in reality to Tranio. When Lucentio’s true father appears on the scene, he is considered an impostor and is almost put in jail for his deceit. The real Lucentio and Bianca, meanwhile, have been married secretly. Returning from the church with his bride, Lucentio reveals the whole plot to Baptista and the others. At first Baptista is angry about the way in which he has been duped, but Vincentio speaks soothingly to him and soon cools his rage.
Hortensio, in the meantime, has married a rich widow. To celebrate these weddings, Lucentio gives a feast for all the couples and the fathers. Following the feast, after the ladies have retired, the three newly married men enter into a bet: Each wagers one hundred pounds that, of the three new wives, his own wife will most quickly obey his commands. Lucentio sends first for Bianca, but she sends word that she will not come. Then Hortensio sends for his wife, but she too refuses to obey his summons. Petruchio then orders Katharina to appear, and she comes instantly to do his bidding. At his request, she also forces Bianca and Hortensio’s wife to go to their husbands. Baptista is so delighted with his older daughter’s meekness and willing submission that he adds another twenty thousand crowns to her dowry. Katharina tells them all that a wife should live only to serve her husband and that a woman’s heart and tongue ought to be as soft as her body. Petruchio has tamed the shrew forever.
Bibliography
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