SUMMARY

Act I
Taming of the Shrew begins with a group of hunting nobleman tricking a drunken tinker named Christopher Sly into
believing he is a lord. The noblemen give Sly a disguised young page as his supposed wife. They entertain him at
their house with a play by a group of travelling actors, which is as follows.
The student Lucentio arrives in Padua to further his studies. He hears that the merchant, Baptista, has two daughters.
When he sees Bianca, the pretty younger daughter, he decides he must woo her. Bianca already has two suitors,
Gremio and Hortensio, although she cares for neither. Bianca's father, Baptista Minola, says Bianca may not marry
before her strong-willed older sister, Katherina. 
Lucentio hears that Baptista Minola is going to hire tutors for Bianca, and disguises himself as a Latin tutor in order
to woo her. The elderly Gremio hires the disguised Lucentio to woo Bianca on his behalf. Hortensio also disguises
himself as a musician to obtain access to her. Tranio, Lucentio's servant, dresses as Lucentio to convince Baptista to
let Lucentio marry Bianca. 
Act II
At the same time, Petruccio, a young, confident man from Verona, arrives to visit Hortensio, his friend. He learns
about Katherine and resolves to court her, aided by both Gremio and Hortensio. Baptista is enthusiastic about
Petruccio's suit, since Katherine is a burden to him. She continually quarrels with her sister and father. Although she
is resistant to Petruccio's advances, he will not be deterred and fixes their wedding day.

  
Act III
While everyone prepares for the wedding, the disguised tutors Hortensio and Lucentio compete for Bianca's affections. At the church
the next day, Katherine unwillingly awaits her bridegroom. Petruccio finally arrives late, dressed in outlandish clothes, and he causes a
scene. After the ceremony, he immediately leaves for Verona with his new wife.

Act IV
On reaching her new home, Katherine is mistreated by Petruccio and his servants and is refused food and rest. Petruccio's aim is to
'tame' Katherine,
while pretending to act out of a desire for her benefit. Eventually, worn down by her husband's behaviour, Katherina submits and agrees
to all Petruccio's whims In exchange, she has his permission to visit her father in Padua. On the journey, the couple meet Vincentio,
Lucentio's wealthy father. Petruccio tests Kate's obedience, asking her to say that the sun is the moon and that an old man is a beautiful
young woman.

Act V
The three eventually reach Padua. Hortensio, rejected by Bianca, has already married a wealthy widow. They also find that Tranio, still
dressed as Lucentio, has succeeded in convincing Baptista to let Lucentio marry Bianca. A pedant (school teacher) has posed as
Vincentio, Lucentio's father, to give his blessing to the match. Meanwhile, the real Lucentio has organised a secret wedding with
Bianca, which they carry out. When the real Vincentio arrives and discovers a pedant posing as him and Tranio in his son's clothes,
Lucentio is forced to confess to the whole plan. He tells them about his new marriage to Bianca. 
Undismayed, Baptista holds a wedding feast for both his daughters. As the men relax after their meal, Petruccio devises a scheme to
prove whose wife is the most obedient. Bianca and the widow fail to come to their husbands when called. But Katherine returns
immediately and firmly tells the women the proper duties of a wife.
Back in the real world, the visiting players leave. Christopher Sly is abandoned to sleep off his dream of the taming of a shrewish wife.

 
 CHARACTER SKETCH
Petruchio-
He is a gentleman who comes to Padua from Verona seeking a wife. He is loud, stubborn, and boisterous—in some ways
a male version of Katherine. He accepts the challenge of taming Katherine and is confident in his ability to exercise
male dominance over her. Part of what makes Petruchio so likeable is his apparent disregard for social decorum,
particularly when he works to get Kate to abandon her shrewish exterior.

Lucentio-
He is a quixotic character (a romantic idealist), who falls madly in love with Bianca upon first sight. He wants to be a
scholar, a warrior, a rebel, but really Lucentio is only a romantic, in both a modern and literary sense. He arrives in
Padua ready to pursue his studies, along with his servant Tranio. Almost immediately, though, he falls in love with
Bianca, and devotes all his energy to wooing her. He disguises himself as Cambio, a teacher of languages, so that he can
teach Bianca and spend time with her.

Hortensio-
He is a young man of Padua, a suitor to Bianca's hand. Despairing of ever even having a chance of wooing her, due to
her father's insistence that the elder sister marry first, he is delighted when his old friend Petruchio comes for a visit,
looking for a wife. Hortensio is an outgoing person and has many friends and both in Padua and beyond, one of his
greatest friends is Petruchio.
Katherine-
She is the daughter of Baptista Minola, with whom she lives in Padua. She is sharp-tongued, quick-tempered, and prone
to violence, particularly against anyone who tries to marry her. Her hostility toward suitors particularly distresses her
father. She constantly insults and degrades the men around her, and she is prone to wild displays of anger, during which
she may physically attack whomever enrages her.

Biondello-
He is one of Lucentio's servants. He is shocked to see his master and Tranio exchange their clothing, but accepts to play
along with their switch. He is fascinated by Petruchio's wild attire and manner on his wedding day, and rushes to tell
Baptista of it.

Baptista-
He is the wheeling and dealing father in search of suitable husbands for his daughters, Bianca and Katherine. Baptista
treats marriage negotiations like a business – his girls go to the highest bidders and he's not above taking a bribe or two
from any suitor looking to get on his good side. He is one of the wealthiest men in Padua, and his daughters become the
prey of many suitors due to the substantial dowries he can offer. He is good-natured, if a bit superficial.
 ROLE OF
WOMEN IN
‘THE
TAMING OF
THE SHREW’
Does The Taming of the Shrew advocate sexual inequality, or does it show and critique men’s attempts to
subordinate women? Rachel De Wachter discusses how we should think about relations between the sexes in
the play, and examines how writers, directors and actors have explored this question over the past four
centuries.

How should we interpret the dynamics between men and women in The Taming of the Shrew? This question has
echoed around the play since it was first performed. We need only look at its incredibly varied production history to
see that directors have convincingly interpreted the play in many different, even contradictory, ways. The play’s
nebulous quality makes it difficult to pin down, and just a few examples of productions reveal the interesting scope
it offers to directors. Gregory Doran’s 2003 production showed ‘Kate trying to rescue a madman she genuinely
loves’. Phyllida Lloyd has cast only women in her 2016 production to caricature the brutality of men enabling the
actors ‘to throw the behavior of the men into a particular relief and be playful with that aspect of the play in a larger-
than-life way’. Caroline Byrne’s 2016 Globe Theatre production presents a darkly violent relationship between the
protagonists set against a desperate and brutal political backdrop, with references to the 1916 Easter rising
suggesting a common cause between feminism and Irish nationalism. While these different ways of presenting the
play offer different insights into its meaning, one fundamental question haunts every interpretation: is this a play
that advocates sexual inequality, or does it show and critique men’s attempts to subordinate women?
Quoting lines from the play,
‘’She is my good, my chattels, she is my house,
My household stuff, my field, my barn,
My horse, my ox, my ass, my anything’’
By describing Katherina in this way, whether he is in
jest or in madness, Petruchio deliberately positions
her alongside animal and inanimate household
positions. It seems that he is trying to endow her with
all the characteristics of things which might be
desirable to him: voicelessness, obedience, usefulness.
 Shakespeare seems to be highlighting the inequality of
the relationship in which the rational, free man
subjugates the woman who, like a wild animal, has her
access to food and sleep controlled. 
 The hunting-related diction which Shakespeare uses
throughout the play suggests that he is drawing our
attention to an uncomfortable correlation which his male
characters make between hunting and the treatment of
their social inferiors either due to their class or gender.
This apparent caricaturing of these attitudes suggests a
critique of patriarchal attitudes rather than an advocacy
of the methods used by the male characters.
Many responses to the play are critical of the apparent inequalities it presents. This includes the earliest
substantial response – John Fletcher’s The Woman’s Prize, or the Tamer Tamed (c. 1611) – which
concludes with the lesson that men ‘should not reign as Tyrants o’er their wives’ (Epilogue, l. 4).
Indeed, Fletcher’s play aims ‘to teach both Sexes due equality / And as they stand bound, to love
mutually (Epilogue, ll. 7-8).’ Interpreting the power dynamics between men and women, in The Taming
of the Shrew, an in particular the central couple Katherina and Petruchio, is a problem from the outset.
Whether you see the relationships in the play as harmlessly boisterous and knockabout or tragically
violent and oppressive, Shakespeare is clearly offering us his take on that perennial trope in both
comedy and tragedy: the battle of the sexes. Before readers even consider critical or directorial
interpretations, they face a perplexing text whose meaning, perhaps more than many of Shakespeare’s
plays, seems to shift depending on the approach taken. These ambiguities can usefully be scrutinized by
focusing on the language and structure.
WHAT WAS LIFE LIKE FOR A WOMEN IN THE
MIDDLE AGES?
A day in the life of a medieval woman could include working alongside men in the fields, teaching their
children how to read, or even influencing politics at court, all while enduring fashion trends and health and
hygiene practices that we might find questionable today.
The Middle Ages, or medieval period, lasted from the 5th century to the late 15th century, between the fall of
the Roman Empire and the beginning of the Renaissance. It was marked by momentous events including the
building of the great cathedrals, the Crusades, the bubonic plague, the rise of cities and universities, the official
break between the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox churches known as the Great Schism, and the
flourishing of the arts, including manuscript illumination. Throughout the centuries, women persevered against
strictures placed on them by virtue of their sex, making essential contributions in literature, politics, agriculture,
and family life.
What kinds of jobs could women have during the Middle Ages?
The vast majority of people in the Middle Ages worked the land, and women were just as active as men in
agricultural activities. But we do know of women who were also writers, artists, and active as tradespeople in a
family business.

What beauty standards of the time would we find odd today? Which ones
continue?
It was a popular fashion among high-ranking French and Flemish women in the 15th century to pluck hair from
the forehead, giving the impression of a higher hairline—not something that’s considered desirable these days!

Any interesting works of art created by women during this time? Or

music/literature?
Art workshops were often family affairs in the Middle Ages.
How much schooling were women allowed to have, compared to men?
Women could be educated. Noblewomen and nuns, in particular, had access to books and were often literate.
Women were also trained in domestic skills like sewing. However, education for both women and men tended to
be limited to the upper classes and the clergy.

Are there any significant bits of writing from women?

One of the most famous authors of the Middle Ages was a woman named Christine de Pizan. De Pizan wrote
numerous works and worked for many nobles at court. A brilliant intellect, she championed the role of women
in society.

Did women really wear cloaks all the time?

Yes, the most common kind of outerwear for women was a garment called a “mantle,” basically an unhooded
cape that could be made out of a variety of materials, including felted wool and fur. They were popular
especially in northern countries for travel and keeping warm.
 MARRIAGE SYSTEM

In the elizabethan world view marriage had a strict hierarchy which can be observed in “the taming of the shrew” and the fact that husbands dominated their
wives. The prince was superior to the husband and god was above all. As the disguised page in the induction points out “my husband and my lord, my lord
and my husband;/I am your wife in all obedience.”[11] the superiority of a husband to his wife is supported by the marriage service of the book of common
prayer: “wilt thou obey him, and serue him, loue, honor, and kepe him in sickness and in health?” And alludes to the wives future role.[12]
this chapter deals with the two different motives for marriage in the 16th century. The reasons for marriage are explored in the three married couples –
petruchio and katherina, lucentio and bianca and hortensio and the widow. The two main reasons for marriage are the romantic and the conservative –
materialistic one.
The materialistic reason for marriage can be seen in petruchio’s example. Petruchio is not romantic at all, he has no illusions and expectations about being
married. “I come to wive it wealthily in padua; if wealthily, then happily in padua.” he is a fortune-hunter and looking for a rich wife; it does not matter how
shrewish she is as long as she is wealthy. For petruchio, love is a bonus, not the main reason for getting married. This is a rather conservative and
materialistic understanding of marriage; it is clearly made for financial reasons. The romance is subjugated to his idea of marriage as a business. Petruchio is
only attracted to katherina because of her dowry. He did not pay anything to baptista to woo katherina. He was fortunate, and the dowry was paid by the
men who wish katherina out of the way in order to marry bianca. Petruchio won the bet on the wive’s obedience. Baptista was so impressed by katherina’s
obedience that he rewarded his son-in-law with a second dowry. Petruchio clearly makes a considerable financial gain from this transaction.
 
 PATRIARCHAL SOCIETY
The play element in Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew permits it to combine patriarchy and companionship in its picture of
marriage. The presentation of Petruchio's taming as a series of games of pretense in which Kate joins emphasizes companionship,
although Petruchio's continuing initiative is consistent with patriarchy. The frequent references to hierarchy and tradition are often
undercut by their use as pretext for self-assertion, and the verbal transformation of old Vincendo to a young woman suggests the
arbitrariness of social categories and inequalities. Kate's final speech uses patriarchal language while it demonstrates her comic
flexibility in playing a new role that gives her social approval. The emphasis on the game-like privacy of their marriage makes
possible the coalescence of patriarchy and companionship; analogously, historical evidence from Elizabethan England shows
increased concern for privacy as well as concern for both patriarchy and companionship in its ideals of marriages.
Shakespeare both presents and challenges patriarchy and the authority of men as leaders in society and the family. He upholds
male authority in the social, political and economic organisation of society and in plays such as Macbeth order is closely
linked to patriarchal social structures and the chain of being which placed the king as head of the social order. He also
challenges weak figures who fail to fulfil their patriarchal obligations, such as Lear, the monarch who renounces his authority
in King Lear. 
 At the same time, Shakespeare’s plays interrogate aspects of patriarchy, questioning the authority of fathers in family settings
(e.g. The Taming of the Shrew and Romeo and Juliet) and of men in marriage and family life (e.g.  The Taming of the
Shrew and Much Ado About Nothing). His strong female characters, among them Rosalind in As You Like it and Portia in The
Merchant of Venice, resist restrictive patriarchal structures and develop an intelligent and witty authority of their own. 
 ELIZABETHEAN SOCIETY
 Men as masters were allowed to use domestic violence in order to maintain order and resolve disputes. There were legal
rights to correct and discipline subordinates. According to “The Shrew” it means Petruchio was bound by laws and
regulations to treat Katherina the way he did. He was forced to act like that because the household was seen as the
miniature government of a larger society. It had to function properly to prepare everybody in the household for their roles
in public life. The household was the foundation for public life and disorder in it would affect the social order of larger
society negatively. Books like “Law’s Resolution of Women’s Rights” justify women’s subordination through reference to
Genesis where God took a rib and flesh of Adam in order to make a women. [7] The wife has got a double function; she
rules with her husband over all creatures and is subordinated to him.[8]
 There is evidence that contemporaries like William Gouge and William Whately did not agree with the idea of wife
beating as a correction because of the Bible’s quote “they two [husband and wife] are one flesh.”[9] They saw the
importance of correcting a wife, but domestic violence should be only the last resort. Both men’s publications,
Gouge’s “Of Domestical Duties: Eight Treaties” (1622, 1626, 1634) and Whately’s “A Bride-Bush, or A Direction for
Married Persons” (1612, 1619, 1623), brought them into trouble with the church and government.[10] The fact that both
men were in trouble because of their liberal opinion shows once more that Petruchio’s way of treating Katherina cannot
be seen as sexist in that cultural and social context.
 SHAKESPEARE’S VIEW OF WOMEN
IN HISTORICAL CONTEXT
 Thecreation of any literary works is bound to be influenced by the background ofthe author's
time. Therefore, when analyzing Shakespeare's view of women and the female consciousness in
his works, we must interpret it in combination with the cognition of women's social orientation in
Shakespeare's time. Specifically speaking, Shakespeare was in the Elizabethan period during
which the female king had been in power for a long time and women's social status had been
significantly improved. Women in this period began to show their pursuit of independent status,
which is the real source of this work. However, due to the limitations of the times, the discourse
power of the society at that time was controlled by men, and the relative taming theme was more
in line with the mainstream values of the times. Therefore, there are a lot of elements advocating
that men are superior to women in this work, which is also the main content attacked by later
critics. However, from the perspective of artistic treatment in Shakespeare's works, whether the
absurd nature of the play in the actual metaphor of the prelude or the soft means used by Petruchio
in the process of "taming" all show Shakespeare's humanistic view of women. Although there are
limitations in Shakespeare’s feminist consciousness, his feminist consciousness cannot be ignored
in terms of his time background.
 GENDER AND MISOGYNY
Issues
centers related to gender are hugely important in this
around Petruchio "taming" Katherine and play, her
forcing whichinto
the traditionally
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be against
ordered
around by a man. In the last scene
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and Lucentio tease each other over
who is
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together, in order to surprise Baptista and the other characters.   she are pretending
Different productions of The Taming of the Shrew may choose to interpret this ambiguity differently, but with the
play's emphasis on performance and swapping roles (more on this below), Shakespeare may be seen as
suggesting that gender roles are just that: roles to be played, rather than natural, true identities. This is furthered by the
cross-dressing servant in the beginning of the play who convinces Christopher Sly that he is his wife, and perhaps by
the fact that in
Shakespeare's day, women's parts on the stage were played by young male actors.In the end, the fact that the play
portrays a heavy dose of misogyny is unavoidable, and much of Shakespeare's audience would doubtlessly have
laughed at the sexist joking
and slapstick abuse in the comedy. Whether Shakespeare would have shared in this reaction, or whether the play
endorses this misogyny.