Summary

Christopher Sly, a drunken tinker, stumbles out of an alehouse. After a brief argument with the alehouses' Hostess, Sly lies on the ground and drifts into a deep, inebriated sleep. While he sleeps, a mischevious Lord and his followers spot the sleeping Sly. The Lord decides to play a trick on the drunkard. He tells his servants to carry Sly to his own noble chambers and pretend that Sly is in fact a lord.

Soon afterward, a troupe of Players arrives at the Lord's house, intent on performing that night. The Lord informs them that "a lord" is visiting the house and will hear them play, and warns them of his "odd behavior." In the meantime, the Lord orders that his page masquerade as Sly's wife. The page will then pretend that Sly has been afflicted by lunacy for many years and has dreamed himself to be no better than a lowly tinker.

Scene two begins as Sly insists that he is his poor and drunken self; in protest, The Lord insists on Sly's nobility and implores him to wake from his malady. Sly finally begins to accept his altered social status when he finds out that he has "a lady far more beautiful/Than any woman in this waning age" (Ind.2: 62-63). At this, the page plays his part as Sly's wife, rejoicing at his "recovery," and a messenger readily announces that the Players are ready to perform. Sly sits beside his "wife" and prepares to take in the spectacle.

Analysis

The Taming of the Shrew opens with a framing story, labeled the Induction in the text. This sort of device was quite common during the Elizabethan era. Nonetheless, it is worth noting the connotations of the word "induction" - as if we the audience were being inducted into a ceremony or institution in our honor. Sly is led to believe as much, falsely "inducted" as he is into the nobility. The entire play thus emerges as a device to fool the drunkard - and, by extension, us. The Lord is thus a representation of Shakespeare himself, staging a set of carefully controlled and convincing illusions. However, whereas the typical theater audience succumbs merely to the illusion of the stage, Sly succumbs to illusions about his own self. He must submit to the new identity the Lord has fashioned for him. In other words, he must become not merely spectator but an actor and character.

This paradoxical position - that we are watching Sly, a watcher, who is himself a spectacle for the Lord - informs The Taming of the Shrew proper. As the play unfolds, the specter of the observing fool, i.e. Sly, permeates the fabric of the Players' "illusion." Indeed, the play as a whole layers its theater to a dizzying degree, as the player's within Shrew also play-act and put on disguises. The results is a hall of mirrors wherein spectator is not easily separated from spectacle, and reality is not distinguishable from illusion.

Thus Shakespeare engages the paradox at the heart of theater: Sly is forced to "forget himself" (Ind.1: 40), to suspend disbelief, in order to make any sense of his new surroundings. In the same way, any audience member submits to the theatrical illusion despite its falseness. Drama and dramatic structure, in a way, become forces of order even as they are forces of fiction. Sly's supposed nobility and the story of his madness tempt him with their very ability to explain away the confusion he faces in the face of the Lord's spectacle; similarly, the audience as a whole can either choose to reject illusion and face confusion, or else to accept illusion and be rewarded with order.

The Induction contains many specific explorations of these questions of theater and illusion. Note that when Sly accepts his role as a lord - signified when he says, "Am I a lord?" (Ind.2: 68) - he immediately launches into a passage of blank verse that recalls the true Lord's poetic speech patterns. For instance, Sly says, "I smell sweet savors, and I feel soft things." (Ind.2: 71) Thus Shakespeare suggests that aristocracy is principally a matter of costume and dialogue - in other words, nothing more than a theatrical illusion.

The ability of illusion to match reality is further elaborated in the Lord's descriptions of paintings which might be fetched at Sly's behest: "We'll show thee Io as she was a maid,/And how she was beguiled and surprised,/As lively painted as the deed was done." (Ind.2: 54-56) The painting of Io is just as lively as the reality. Thus Shakespeare, through the Lord's words, playfully suggests that the play to follow will be as lively as reality itself. Why not, then, like Christopher Sly, submit to the ordering pleasures of illusion, and check our cynical doubts about theater at the door?

Summary

On a street before Baptista Minola's household, Lucentio appears, accompanied by his faithful servant Tranio. Lucentio has just arrived in Padua, and he delivers an introductory monologue in which we learn that he is the son of Vincentio, a wealthy Pisan, and that he would like to add wisdom and virtue to his hereditary endowments. Thus he is ready to immerse himself in Padua's culture and learning. Tranio reminds his master to mix pleasure with learning.

At that moment, an arguing group emerges from Baptista's house. Baptista tells Hortensio and Gremio, two suitors of his youngest daughter, Bianca, that he is not prepared to give Bianca away to marriage until his elder daughter Katharina is wed. Both Hortensio and Gremio rail against Katherina and she, in turn, mocks her sister's suitors scathingly. Lucentio, who has stepped aside, is immediately captivated by the weeping Bianca. As he consoles his youngest daughter, Baptista tells the two suitors that he is looking for schoolmasters to instruct Bianca at home and would appreciate their help in finding some. Once alone, Gremio and Hortensio agree to put aside their rivalry until they have found someone to wed the "froward" Katharina.

Lucentio then tells Tranio that he is madly in love with Bianca and vows to win her hand. He hatches a plan to bypass Baptista's kibosh on wooing Bianca by dressing up as a schoolteacher and offering his services. Meanwhile, Tranio agrees to pretend to be Lucentio. They tell Lucentio's other servant, Biondello, that Lucentio must disguise himself in order to avoid persecution for having killed a man in a duel.

As scene two begins, Petruchio, a gentleman of Verona, appears with his servant Grumio. He has come to Padua to see his friends, "but of all/My best beloved and approved friend,/Hortensio." (1.2: 2-4) A comic beating of Grumio leads to Hortensio's enterance, whereupon Petruchio explains that he is looking for a rich wife. Hortensio mentions Katharina, telling Petruchio that she is rich but a shrew; Petruchio however, isn't bothered by Hortensio's description - he is willing to wed anyone with enough money. Grumio interjects that, no matter how sharp-tongued Katharina may be, she could not match the rhetorical weaponry Petruchio has at his disposal.

Hortensio then asks Petruchio to present to Baptista, "disguised in sober robes" (1.2: 130), as a schoolmaster. At the same time, Lucentio appears disguised as the schoolmaster Cambio. Lucentio has convinced the old suitor, Gremio, that he will plead his case to Bianca. Hortensio states to Gremio that he too has found someone who will teach Bianca music, and adds that Petruchio is willing to wed Katharina.

Meanwhile, Tranio appears, dressed as Lucentio and accompanied by Biondello. He announces that he is going to woo the fair Bianca - whom, he claims, he has never even seen. Gremio and Hortensio are worried at the sight of a rival, especially one with the suavity Tranio manages to convey. "What," Gremio exclaims, "this gentleman will out-talk us all!" (1.2: 245) Petruchio, meanwhile, because his wooing of Katharina is primary, is able to wrest payment from all three of Bianca's suitors to cover his expenses.

Analysis

Shakespeare opens his play-within-a-play in a manner that underlines the nature of the illusion. Rather than write a realistic opening, Shakespeare has his romantic lead deliver a lengthy, even ponderous monologue. We learn all there is to know of Lucentio: his family, his whereabouts, his wealth, his reason for being in Padua. He seems on the surface a serious-minded lad, intent on adding virtue to his attributes, on pleasing his father, and on enriching his mind.

And yet, just over one hundred lines later Lucentio's goals have changed drastically. Invoking antiquity, and therefore his cultured upbringing and education, he proclaims to Tranio: "And now in plainness do [I] confess to thee,/That art to me as secret and as dear/As Anna to the Queen of Carthage was,/Tranio, I burn, I pine, I perish, Tranio,/If I achieve not this young modest girl." (1.1: 153-157) In other words, learning and virtue are out the window; sex is all that counts from now on.

This is the comic strategy that Shakespeare employs throughout The Taming of the Shrew: fanciful language and highfalutin hopes are undercut by lustful desires; allusions to antiquity are coupled with bawdy innuendo. Carnality and genteel poetry intertwine, each tempering or "taming" the other, neither prevailing completely.

Even in the first speech of the play, which seems at first glance to be a clumsy attempt at exposition, desire and sexuality seethe below the surface. For instance, consider the following passage: "Tranio, since for the great desire I had/To see fair Padua, nursery of arts,/I am arrived fore fruitful Lombardy,/The pleasant garden of great Italy." (1.1: 1-4) The first normal noun of the play is "desire," which already suggests the sexual desire that will drive the action of the ensuing courtship. Furthermore, Padua is described as "fair," a word used particularly throughout the play to describe the object of Lucentio's affection, Bianca. Padua is also described as a "nursery," evoking procreation. Several other words in the opening passage - "fruitful," "garden" - also suggest sexual maturity and procreation. Altogether, Shakespeare suggests that though Lucentio claims to be filled with desire to be educated, his subconscious mind is in fact preoccupied with sex. No wonder he is so quick to switch pursuits upon seeing Bianca for only a moment!

Thus Lucentio's lofty language masks his desire while desire still manages to peep through. And it's not just Lucentio who displays this negotiation of lust and nobility; the play's central theme of counterfeit identity captures this balance as well. Indeed, the play itself is a counterfeit of sorts. It presents itself as adhering to the rules of exposition, helpfully introducing characters and locales, while in fact, under the surface, displaying a preoccupation with prurience. Dramatic convention itself, then, is a kind of rouse in Shrew, disguising the chaotic powers of desire behind a careful veneer of order and form.

Summary

Inside Baptista's home, Katharina has bound her sister's hands. She demands that Bianca say which of her suitors she prefers, and when Bianca does not, Katharina slaps her. Baptista enters and rescues his younger daughter, reprimanding Katharina. Katharina rails against him as well before leaving Baptista alone to greet the arrival of Gremio, Lucentio (disguised as Cambio), Petruchio, Hortensio (disguised as Litio), Tranio (disguised as Lucentio), and Biondello.

Shocking Baptista, Petruchio explains that he has come to Padua from Verona to verify reports of Katharina's modesty and meekness, and has brought with him musician to instruct Katharina. Baptista is skeptical until Petruchio remarks that he is the son of Antonio, whereupon Baptista, who knows the man well, welcomes the suitor to his house. Gremio, in turn, presents Lucentio as a Latin teacher. Appropriately, Gremio introduces the disguised Lucentio as Cambio (Italian for "change").

Tranio next explains that he is a suitor to Bianca, alludes to his wealthy parentage and requests to be granted as much access as her other suitors; as a token of appreciation, he presents a lute and a packet of Greek and Latin books. As soon as Tranio notes that he is "son to Vincentio" of Pisa (2.1: 103), Baptista grants him the access he seeks. Baptista then calls for a servant to escort the tutors to his daughters.

Petruchio then abruptly demands of Baptista what dowry he will receive when he marries Katharina, upon which Baptista replies: "After my death the one half of my lands,/And in possession twenty thousand crowns." (2.1: 121-122) Petruchio is satisfied, and reassures Baptista that he will successfully woo the feisty Katharina. Just then, Hortensio reenters with a broken lute on his head, explaining that, when he tried to correct Katharina's fingering on the instrument, she promptly attacked him with it. Petruchio, far from disturbed, declares that he is all the more eager to "chat with her."

Soon Katharina appears and the others leave Petruchio to woo her. A battle of wits ensues, filled with sexual puns and insults. Petruchio indicates that, whether she wants to or not, he will take her for his wife. Baptista, Gremio, and Tranio join them and Petruchio happily informs the men that he has won Katharina's heart and that the two will be married on Sunday. Katharina snaps back: "I'll see thee hanged on Sunday first." (2.1: 296) Petruchio reassures his companions that Kate and he have agreed that while in public she will remain "curst" though they will be affectionate in private.

He takes Katharina by his arm and exits, leaving Baptista, Gremio, and Tranio to marvel at the speed of his conquest. Now that Katharina seems to be taken care of, Baptista moves on to the subject of his younger daughter, promising her to whomever procures the "greatest dower." It is soon clear that it Tranio's (that is, Lucentio's) wealth is greater. However, Baptista notes that he requires Tranio's father's "assurance" (2.1: 385) that Tranio has the wealth available. If this assurance is procured, Bianca belongs to Tranio; if not, she goes to Gremio. Tranio determines to find someone to play the part of Vincentio, in order to allow him to win Bianca.

Analysis

Paradox is central to the comedy of Shrew. While preparing himself for Katharina's entrance, Petruchio proclaims his intention to believe the opposite of whatever Kate tries to say about herself: "Say that she rail, why then I'll tell her plain/She sings as sweetly as a nightingale." (2.1: 170-171) This strategy dominates the following interaction, in which language itself comes under close scrutiny. Although Petruchio stubbornly refuses to accept the things Kate says - and, vice versa, she is unable to accept the things he says - there is a clear affinity in the way they say them. Their connection is through rather than content; through rhetoric rather than meaning. They share little more than a style of delivery. But that alone seems to be the basis of a genuine compatability. Consider these lines:

KATHARINA: "Asses are made to bear, and so are you."

PETRUCHIO: "Women are made to bear, and so are you."

KATHARINA: "No such jade as you, if me you mean."

PETRUCHIO: "Alas, good Kate, I will not burden thee,/For knowing thee to be but young and light."

KATHARINA: "Too light for such a swain as you to catch,/And yet as heavy as my weight should be."

PETRUCHIO: "Should be? Should-buzz!"

KATHARINA: "Well ta'en, and like a buzzard." (2.1: 199-206)

Read the above lines aloud. Get a sense of their rhythm and punch. Sure, they are disagreeing on the surface, but Kate and Petruchio share one another's language, spinning puns out of insults and insults out of puns. The first two lines quoted above echo one another syllable for syllable, with a play on the word "bear" (used here to signify both "carry" and "give birth"). After an interjection by Katharina, Petruchio launches into a couplet which is swiftly answered by the woman.

This pattern of call and response, of rhyme and repetition gives way, in line 206, to a single line stretched between two speakers, so that the meter suggested by "Should be? Should-buzz!" is completed by "Well ta'en, and like a buzzard." Thus Kate and Petruchio have subtly merged in a single verse. Though they don't seem to get along at all, this cooperative insulting foreshadows their coming marital union. This paradoxical combination of combat and compatibility makes The Taming of the Shrew one of Shakespeare's most influential plays. Shrew is perhaps the first of a host of romantic comedies, ranging from the theatrical works of Shaw to Hollywood's screwball comedies and beyond, that use this strategy.

Katharina finally becomes Petruchio's because he is the only man around who can match her in a battle of wits. The game of love is a game of poetic one-upmanship. Grumio recognizes this when he assures Hortensio back in Act One that Petruchio will conquer the feisty Katharina, no matter how sharp-tongued she may be: "I'll tell you what, sir: an she stand him but a little, he will throw a figure in her face and so disfigure her with it that she shall have no more eyes to see withal than a cat." (1.2: 111-114) In describing his master, Grumio seems to adopt some of his facility: the noun "figure" becomes the verb "disfigure," leaving no doubt that Petruchio's language is a decidedly violent weapon. Indeed, words replace blows when it comes to Petruchio and Katharina. Whereas Katharina physically smashes a lute over Hortensio's head, she relies on her tongue when it comes to Petruchio.

Tranio, too, demonstrates the power of language in the play. He plays Lucentio's part well, convincing Baptista and the others. Tranio's ability to pull of the trick is based in part in his costume, but more so in his language. The imagery of riches he conjures up in his contest with Gremio easily beats that of his old and foolish rival. Words, therefore, break down social barriers. That said, words are not enough for the time being in Tranio's case. Baptista demands that Tranio obtain his father's "assurance," declining to trust Tranio's words alone. Yet Tranio will prove able to provide assurance through yet more theater - yet more masquerade and trickery. So far in the play, there is little that a successful manipulation of illusion, whether of words or appearances, can not accomplish.

Summary

Lucentio and Hortensio, disguised respectively as Cambio and Litio, vie for the attention of the fair Bianca. Bianca seems thoroughly amused by the competition, and decides that Lucentio may lecture her while Hortensio tunes his lute; once the instrument is in tune, Hortensio may then take over the lesson. Lucentio leaps into action with his "lesson," confessing his identity and his love under the guise of a Latin translation. Bianca responds with her own variant of the game, telling him, through her own "translation," that she does not know him and cannot trust him - but that he should "despair not." (3.1: 44) Hortensio fares less well than Lucentio when he tries to confess his love through a scale on the lute. Bianca dismisses the rouse and all but Hortensio exit at a servant's bidding to help prepare Katharina's room for her wedding tomorrow. Alone on stage, Hortensio notes that Cambio appeared to be courting Bianca, and declares that if Bianca is unable to be faithful to him, he won't be faithful to her either.

The next day, the company all wait in preparation for Katharina's wedding. Petruchio, however, is no where to be seen. Katharina, for her part, breaks down and runs from the scene weeping, and for once Baptista sympathizes with her. At that moment Biondello rushes in and says that Petruchio is on his way, wearing outrageously distasteful clothes, riding a diseased horse only a step away from death, and accompanied by a servant as badly dressed as his master. When Petruchio finally appears, with Grumio at his side, his appearance lives up to Biondello's fanciful account. Baptista and the others are mortified. Petruchio, however, refuses to dignify his appearance, and they follow him to his wedding.

Lucentio and Tranio remain while the rest attend Petruchio's wedding. Tranio explains that Baptista requires Vincentio's assurance and declares his intention to disguise someone as Vincentio. Their plotting is cut short, however, as Gremio appears and provides a detailed account of the raucous wedding, wherein Petruchio scandalized the company.

The wedding party arrives and Petruchio claims that he must leave and cannot stay for his own wedding dinner. Katharina entreats that her husband wait for her. However, Petruchio sweeps Katharina away dramatically. The scene ends with the dazed Baptista telling Tranio that the feast will go on as planned, and that he and Bianca may take the seats of the bride and bridegroom.

Analysis

Having spent some time with the disguised Tranio, the audience is now shown Lucentio's acting abilities as Cambio. It is appropriate that Lucentio has disguised himself as a scholar, for he originally claimed to come to Padua to pursue education. Just as Tranio uses lofty language to contribute to the illusion of nobility, Lucentio uses lofty Latin words to sneak in the truth of his pursuit of Bianca. Thus the tension between superficial education and belo-wthe-surface desire continues.

The Latin passage that Lucentio pretends to translate for Bianca is fitting, as it describes Priam's palace, thus evoking several Classical images of lust. The Trojan War began with Paris's abduction of Helen - just as Lucentio intends to "abduct" Bianca. Also, that war was won with the Trojan Horse; Lucentio is, in his way, a Trojan Horse wheeled into the enemy's gates under the guise of a gift. Moreover, the name "Priam" evokes phallic imagery, as the Greek god of fertility was called Priapus.

That Lucentio is able to use legitimate figures and allusions to Greek history in order to woo Bianca furthers the tendency in Shrew to balance erudition and lust. He has not strayed far from his intention to pursue education, yet he finds himself embroiled in an undercover seduction. Shakespeare, it seems, prefers living the passions and lessons of the ancients to merely reading about them. In his way, Lucentio is merely living out Tranio's advice at the play's opening - he's mixing pleasure with academics, or, as Tranio put it, mixing Ovid with Aristotle. This could be taken as a motto for the play as a whole, which mixes the bawdiness and eroticism of Ovid with the Classical orderliness of Aristotle's rules of drama.

Hortensio is not as successful as Lucentio in balancing his roles as teacher and wooer. Where Lucentio speaks his words of love to Bianca, Hortensio writes them; where Lucentio reveals himself for who he truly is, Hortensio never does. Bianca's hint to Lucentio - "despair not" - suggests that his method may be working; she offers no such consolation to Hortensio. She does not smash his lute against his head, as Katharina did, but her words strike nearly as fierce a blow: "Call you this gamut? Tut, I like it not./Old fashions please me best; I am not so nice/To change the true rules for odd inventions." (3.1: 78-80)

Her invocation of "old fashions" lingers in the mind, especially when Petruchio appears in the following scene. His behavior flouts convention and tradition at every opportunity: he is tardy, when he does appear he's dressed outlandishly, he curses in church and he refuses to stay for his own wedding dinner. This strategy of exagerrating his beastliness as much as possible is designed to tame Katharina. Indeed, that famous convention-flaunter and "scold" is unable to get a word in edgewise; she is reduced to defending the status quo against Petruchio's outrageousness. His bombast overwhelms her capacity for bombast. She does try to reassert her power, insisting that Petruchio remain for the wedding feast: "Father, be quiet. He shall stay my leisure" (3.2: 217). But her refusal to be subjugated only spurs Petruchio to even more outrageous behavior, as he orders Grumio to draw his sword and steals away with Katharina from the threat of "thieves." (3.2: 236) His closing line is full of pompous masculinity and false chivalry: "Fear not, sweet wench, they shall not touch thee, Kate!" (3.2: 238)

However obvious Petruchio's dominance appears, there is ambiguity in who really has the upper hand as the scene ends. Old Gremio remarks, "I warrant him, Petruchio is Kated." (3.2: 245) This suggests many interpretations. Perhaps he means that Petruchio is in store for a severe scolding. Perhaps that it is Petruchio who has been swept away by Kate - and not the other way around. But most likely of all, it seems, is that Petruchio, in adopting the bombastic ways of his wife, has been more changed by her than she has by him. Shakespeare's exploration of their power struggle continues in the final Acts of the play.

Summary

Inside Petruchio's country abode, Grumio is busy making a fire and complaining about the cold in preparation for his master and mistress' arrival. Curtis, another of Petruchio's servants, has not yet met the new bride and asks if she is as shrewish as reported. Grumio assures him that Petruchio is the greater shrew of the two.

When Petruchio arrives he behaves tyranically, beating his servants for trivial faults. Kate begs her husband not to behave so unjustly. When they sit down to dinner Petruchio claims that the meat is overcooked and storms off to bed with Kate. He reappears and explains his intention to tame the shrew by out-shrewing her: he will mistreat her and deprive her of what she needs, all under the guise of kindness and love. Thus, by insisting that neither her food nor her bed are worthy of her, he will wear out her spirit with lack of nourishment and sleep.

Meanwhile, in Padua, Hortensio is disgusted by the flirtation of Bianca and "Cambio," and shares his disgust with Tranio, who he takes to be noble. At Tranio's suggestion, the two vow to cease pursuing Bianca if she would flirt with a lowly schoolteacher. Hortensio states that he has decided to wed a wealthy widow instead of Bianca, leaving "Cambio" to woo Bianca alone. Biondello rushes in to aid their attempt, claiming that an old Pedant from Mantua approaches. Tranio tricks the Pedant into assuming the guise of Vincentio of Pisa after concocting a story that any Mantuan is to be summarily executed in Padua. The Pedant agrees to the disguise and Tranio fills him in on his courtship of Bianca.

Scene three of the Act finds us back at Petruchio's house, where Kate complains that she is famished. Grumio, like Petruchio, refuses to bring her any food, protesting that none of it is good enough for her. Katharina then loses her temper and beats Grumio. Petruchio enters with a plate of meat and Hortensio by his side. He demands that Katharina thank him for the meat while telling Hortensio to eat it all himself.

Petruchio next tells Katharina that the two of them will shortly return to her father's house, dressed in the best finery. A Haberdasher and Tailor appear, with a cap and gown respectively. Petruchio violently dismisses both items over the protestations of Kate, who likes them. She seems polite and kind compared to Petruchio. Her husband, however, refuses to allow her to dress up, declaring that clothes are of little importance and that he and Kate will arrive at Baptista's "in these honest, mean habiliments." (4.3: 166) He calls for the horses and proclaims he will be at the house by noon. Katharina notes that it is already two o'clock, prompting her husband to berate her for constantly contradicting him.

Scene four takes us to Padua again, where Tranio and the Pedant (disguised as Vincentio), meet with Baptista. "Vincentio" grants his permission for his son and Bianca to be wed and guarantees Bianca a large dower. These claims prove satisfactory for Baptista, who readily agrees to the marriage, but decides against conducting the formal contract and agreement inside his own house, for fear that Gremio and his servants may be listening and might interrupt. Tranio offers his own house, noting that the banquet will not be a grand affair but promising a better one later on in Pisa. Lucentio and Bianca, meanwhile, on Biondello's advice, elope to be married post-haste while Baptista is with Tranio and the Pedant.

In scene five, Kate and Petruchio are on the road to Padua again. Petruchio continues his shrewish behavior, insisting that the sun is the moon and threatening to turn the cart around if Kate doesn't agree. Kate finally begins to play along, agreeing that the sun is the moon and then changing her opinion when Petruchio changes his. This game is interrupted by the appearance of the real Vincentio, Lucentio's father, whom Petruchio refers to as a "gentlewoman" (4.5: 29); he insists that Kate agree, and she does so, calling him a "budding virgin."

A bit shaken by their jesting, Vincentio introduces himself, noting that he is on his way to Padua to visit his son. Petruchio informs the man that they are now family - for Lucentio has married the sister of Katharina. Vincentio is shocked and asks Petruchio if he is joking. Petruchio assures him that he is not and invites Vincentio along. The party leaves, after which Hortensio, alone on the stage, confides that he is encouraged and will now go to the widow he intends to wed.

Analysis

The fourth act of Shrew is by far the longest of the five acts. In it Shakespeare divides his narrative into two entirely separate strands, separated by a sizeable expanse of geography. Almost cinematically, The Taming of the Shrew "cuts" between city and country, between Petruchio's rural abode and Padua. Only when Kate and Petruchio set off for Padua do the two narrative strands begin to reconnect, which they do in the final Act.

Shakespeare does not simply separate the two plotlines in terms of space, however. He separates them in terms of tone; indeed, at times it may seem that we have on our hands two entirely different plays. That which occurs in Padua is gentle and sweet, full of disguises - Hortensio as Litio, Lucentio as Cambio, Tranio as Lucentio, the Pedant as Vincentio - and playful gamesmanship. The action occurs in the country, on the other hand, is loud and abrasive, full of misery and cold. The humor at Petruchio's house is bawdy and violent. Petruchio himself sets the tone, behaving so outlandishly that Katharina appears a saint in comparison, as when she intervenes on the behalf of the abused servants or the insulted Haberdasher and Tailor.

Consider the abrupt switch from Scene One to Two. Here are Petruchio's famous closing words: "This is a way to kill a wife with kindness;/And thus I'll curb her mad and headstrong humor./He that knows better how to tame a shrew,/Now let him speak. 'Tis charity to show." (4.1: 196-199) The diction says it all: "kill," "curb," "mad," "headstrong," "tame," "shrew." In contrast, scene two drops us into the middle of a quiet conversation between two disguised characters, Tranio and Hortensio, as they walk before Baptista's abode. The opening words provide a pointed contrast to Petruchio's: "Is't possible, friend Litio, that Mistress Bianca/Doth fancy any other but Lucentio?/I tell you, sir, she bears me fair in hand." (4.2: 1-3) Out of excessive politeness, Tranio addresses his companion as first "friend Litio" and then "sir," and refers to the object of his affection as "Mistress Bianca." Hortensio responds by likewise calling Tranio "sir." The two men, though secretly at odds with one another, treat each other with restraint and respect.

This gentle, superficial tone continues in the discourse of Lucentio and Bianca. When they speak we are miles away from physical aggression - or anything physical at all:

LUCENTIO: "Now, mistress, profit you in what you read?"

BIANCA: "What, master, read you? First resolve me that."

LUCENTIO: "I read that I profess, The Art of Love."

BIANCA: "And may you prove, sir, master of your art!"

LUCENTIO: "While you, sweet dear, prove mistress of my heart!" (4.2: 6-10)

Rhythmically, the dialogue is subdued, lilting - quite unlike the choppy and staccato rhythms of Petruchio and Katharina's first conversation. The words themselves are equally gentle. From a brash and bawdy household Shakespeare has ushered us into a discrete and refined world, in which love is conducted through subtle disguises and books.

If for Lucentio and Bianca love is an art, for Petruchio and Katharina it is a sport. The witty repartee between the latter couple is more or less on hold in this act, replaced by Petruchio's overarching plan to tame rather than court. Katharina, in other words, is no longer worthy of being treated as a romantic opponent or companion. She is an animal. Petruchio suggests as much in his harshly sexist speech to his servants, in which he refers to his wife as a "falcon" (4.1: 178) and a "haggard." (4.1: 181) His plan is "to make her come and know her keeper's call." (4.1: 182) And yet the supposedly wild Kate does not seem to live up to her label in these scenes - with the exception of her beating of Grumio. Curtis foreshadows our own impression with his response to Grumio's tale of the fallen horse: "By this reckoning he is more shrew than she." (4.1: 76)

Then who really needs to be tamed? Is it possible that, by the "shrew" in the play's title, Shakespeare means to refer to Petruchio rather than Katharina? By the end of the fourth act, Katharina is treating her husband as if he were a whimpering baby who demands to be constantly humored. With more than a hint of mocking in her words, she tells Petruchio: "Then, God be blessed, it is the blessèd sun./But sun it is not, when you say it is not,/And the moon changes even as your mind./What you will have it named, even that it is,/And so it shall be for Katharine." (4.5: 18-22) This is the language of a woman wise enough to be in charge, but who subjagates herself to please - or perhaps to control - her husband. Whereas Shakespeare's play is often considered sexist, it is possible that, in keeping with the theme of disguise, the Bard has disguised the "shrew" of his title. It could in fact be Petruchio. While at first glance Petruchio seems to be doing the taming, Kate's willingness to play along with his games is its own form of power. Keep in mind, additionally, that during Shakespeare's day both male and female roles were performed by men; indeed, Shakesperean theater already emphasized the performative nature of gender. Shrew's final Acts seem to take this awareness to an extreme.

Whatever the case, the power-struggle that occurs between Petruchio and Katharina is an extension of their courtship. Yes, they have already married, but the wedding was such a hasty affair that a lasting arrangement has yet to enter the bargain. Thus, these two find themselves in much the same position as Lucentio and Bianca, and Shakespeare is in effect offering two types of courtship - both grounded in play-acting, and both therefore belonging in spirit to his own domain of the theater.

Summary

Lucentio, no longer disguised as Cambio, steals away with Bianca to church just before Petruchio, Katharina, Vincentio and Grumio arrive. Vincentio knocks on Lucentio's door, which the Pedant answers. When Vincentio claims to be Lucentio's father, the Pedant denies this and insists that he himself is Lucentio's father. A heated argument ensues and escalates as Vincentio sees Lucentio's servants, Biondello and Tranio, complicit in the deception. Vincentio beats Biondello and accuses Tranio of murdering and impersonating Lucentio. Petruchio and Kate, meanwhile, step aside and enjoy the unfolding farce.

Tranio and Baptista call for an officer, claiming that Vincentio is mad, and the controversy rages until Lucentio and Bianca return from their hasty wedding. Seeing that their game is finally up, Tranio, the Pedant, and Biondello all scatter away. Lucentio pleads for his father's forgiveness, explaining the situation to him and assuring him of Tranio's innocence in the matter. Though still fuming, Vincentio grants his approval of Lucentio and Bianca's union and assures Baptista: "Fear not, [...] we will content you." (5.1: 127) The scene ends with Kate bantering with Petruchio and granting him a reluctant kiss.

In the play's final scene, the assembled company enjoys a banquet in Lucentio's home. There are three newlywed couples - Kate and Petruchio, Lucentio and Bianca and Hortensio and the Widow. The women leave and Baptista remarks that Petruchio has married "the veriest shrew of all." (5.2: 64) Petruchio heartily disagrees, and proposes a wager - the men agree on a hundred crowns - to determine "whose wife is most obedient." (5.2: 67) Both Hortensio and Lucentio bid their wives to come as part of the bargain, and both wives refuse. The one wife who does follow the order is, to all but Petruchio's surprise, Katharina. Petruchio, to prove the point even further, asks Katharina to bring forth the other two wives, which she promptly does. Petruchio then requests that she "tell these headstrong women/What duty they do owe their lords and husbands." (5.2: 134-135) Katharina does as asked, delivering a long speech on a wife's duty to her husband.

Analysis

The crux of most negative criticism of The Taming of the Shrew is Katharina's final monologue. Indeed, it is hard to accept such lines as these: "Such duty as the subject owes the prince,/Even such a woman oweth to her husband;/And when she is forward, peevish, sullen, sour,/And not obedient to his honest will,/What is she but a foul contending rebel/And graceless traitor to her loving lord?" (5.2: 159-164) How are modern audiences to take such a blatant affirmation of sexism, of female subjugation before the male "lord"?

But perhaps we need not take the speech at face value at all. A strong current of irony runs through it. To consider first its role in the dramatic symmetry of the play as a whole, Kate's speech can be read as an answer, from the woman's part, to Lucentio's own opening monologue. These lengthy chunks of speech serve as bookends to the drama. Both follow the mold of classical convention laid out in ancient Greek theater: the expositive salvo at the beginning and the moralistic coda at the end, in which the lessons learned are summarized and the meaning of the play is made clear.

Needless to say, these conventions had been tampered with well before Shakespeare's time. Even the Greeks themselves didn't always rigidly follow them. Nonetheless, Shakespeare went farther than any dramatist before his time in approaching comedy with tongue firmly in cheek. Katharina's closing monologue may be an elaborate joke. Just as Lucentio's lofty language at the play's beginning was coupled with an erotic undertone, so too the pomposity of Katharina's language contrasts with her subject matter.

She repeatedly alludes to royalty and to the machinations of government: "thy lord, thy king, thy governor" (5.2: 142); "thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,/Thy head, thy sovereign" (5.2: 150-151); "tribute" (5.2: 156); "prince" (5.2: 159); "loving lord" (5.2: 164); "rule, supremacy, and sway" (5.2: 167); "duty" (5.2: 182). She invokes war and battle - "our lances" (5.2: 177) - and the hardships of nature - "To painful labor both by sea and land,/To watch the night in storms, the day in cold." (5.2: 153-154) And what is she actually talking about? Marriage. True, marriage may be an important institution, but one would never know it from the way it is treated in Shrew. Courtship and marriage is the butt of jokes, games, disguises, innuendoes. In short, marriage is theater in The Taming of the Shrew. Just so, Katharina's speech, in the context of the play that precedes it, is deeply ironic. It would be one thing if, after subjecting her to such a cruel battery of taming techniques, Petruchio made the speech; but the fact that Katharina is given the last word - and also the longest speech in the play - is itself enough to raise an eyebrow. Perhaps Kate's speech is her way of putting on yet another act, of wryly offering one more illusion. According to this reading, Kate's subjection is a form of grand sarcasm, as she pretends to genuflect before the childish men who have spent so much of the play in comic confusion. This is how you play their game, she seems to say between the lines, and this is how you beat them at it.

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