Induction Plot

lord Lady (Married to Sly when he becomes a lord

Christopher Sly (Drunken wino) The Lords Page Note that the quotation marks emphasize that this was all pretend. When the real lord of the house learned that Christopher Sly was hanging around outside his house completely drunk, he decided to trick him by dragging him into the house, dressing him in nice clothes and surrounding him with luxuries. When Sly woke up, the servants (instructed by the real Lord of the house) were supposed to start calling him lord to confuse him. Thus, Christopher Sly became a pretend lord. The real lord of the house had a page (a teenage servant boy) and he told him to dress up in drag and pretend that he was the wife of Christopher Sly (the pretend lord). Thus, the page became a pretend lady, since a lady is a lords wife.

The Bianca Plot

Lucentio (gentleman, master) Vincentio (Lucentios father; nobleman) Cambio (Commoner, teacher) Litio (Commoner, teacher)

Pedant [Merchant] Lucentio (gentleman) Hortensio (gentleman) (Commoner) Note: Again, the quotation marks symbolize the disguise that different people take on during the plot. For example, Hortensio disguises himself as a music teacher named Litio (There isnt really a Litio. Litio is made up and does not really exist) because he wants to be able to spend time alone with Bianca. He cant woo her publicly because Baptista has banned anyone from dating Bianca until Katherine is married.

Tranio (servant)

Petruchio/Kate Plot
Jerk Hubby Obedient Wife

Petruchio (gentleman)

Katherine (shrew; town beeyotch)

Note: Okay, so in this narrative, there is a disguise AND a transformation. Petruchio pretends to be a jerk husband so that Katherine can see how all her nagging and negativity makes her a very unpleasant person to be around. Through negative reinforcement, Katherine realizes that if she behaves more affably and makes Petruchios words law, then he becomes pleased with her and they live a normal, happy existence. The minute she starts to argue, Petruchio starts acting up again to put Katherine in her place. Thus, Katherine transforms into a mild, dutiful wife the way women are supposed to be, during Shakespeares time.