The Taming of the Shrew - by William Shakespeare
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The Alabama Shakespeare Festival
2014 Study Materials and Activities for
I will be
HA!
master of what
is mine own!
The Taming
of the Shrew
by William Shakespeare
Contact ASF at: www.asf.net Study materials written by
1.800.841-4273 Susan Willis, ASF Dramaturg
swillis@asf.net
ASF 2014/ 1
The Taming
of the Shrew
by William Shakespeare
Wiving It Wealthily in Padua
Welcome to another of Shakespeare's
raucous comedies! The classical model of
comedy is alive and well in The Taming of
the Shrew, with its marriageable young
Characters women, eager suitors, scheming servants,
Baptista, a wealthy citizen and blocking parent, at least in the case of
Katherine, his older daughter one daughter. Kate the shrew, of course,
Bianca, his younger daughter becomes her own blocking character, for
Gremio, an old friend and no one wants to marry a strong-willed
wooer of Bianca harridan, does he? Well, unless she's rich.
Hortensio, a neighbor and Shakespeare wraps this comedy in layers of
wooer of Bianca, later appearance and reality, and most, perhaps,
disguised as "Litio" with Kate.
Lucentio, a student, wooer of Shakespeare's Shrew has become a
Bianca, later disguised as cause celèbre for feminists and others who
"Cambio" have rechristened this farce a problem play.
Tranio, his servant, later It is undeniably built on the framework of
disguised as "Lucentio" farce, but Shakespeare, as usual, pops
Biondello, another of Lucentio's the two-dimensional characters of farce
servants
out toward full three-dimensionality with
Vincentio, Lucentio's father interesting results. Hilarious highlights
Petruchio, wooer of Katherine abound, but we have the chance to feel
Grumio, his servant with and for the characters, to wonder
Curtis, Peter, Nicholas, Joseph, about them and their lives—which is quite
Philip, Petruchio's servants unusual for farce and quite characteristic
A Tailor of the Bard.
A Haberdasher It's not easy wooing a shrew, as Petruchio
(John Preston) finds out in confronting Kate
A Merchant from Mantua, later
(Monica Bell) for the first time in ASF's 1998
disguised as "Vincentio"
production of The Taming of the Shrew
A Widow, new wife to Hortensio
About The Study Materials • Unit 2: The Title's Metaphor
Setting: Padua and near • Unit 3: A Thematic View of the Action
Verona, Italy These study materials are designed • Unit 4: Two Approaches to Kate and
to support and supplement instructors Petruchio: Cultural Roles and
teaching The Taming of the Shrew in Imagery
conjunction with ASF's 2014 production and • Unit 5: Performance and Interpretation
also to support teachers whose classes are • Unit 6: An Italian Context
attending but not studying the play. To that For those not teaching the play, the
end, the material presents a series of units synopsis, the basic elements, and units 1,
focusing on various issues and basic literary 2, 4, and 6 can be useful because those
aspects of Shrew along with discussion units can function independently of textual
and analysis questions and also provides study.
a basic synopsis, a basic elements sheet,
Any of the pages can be used as a
design information (when available), and
class handout or the questions used for
both pre-show and post-show activities.
group discussion or writing prompts. All
The units treat:
such activities and questions are shaded
• Unit 1: Shrew and the Genre of blue in the materials.
Comedy
ASF 2014/ 2
The Taming
of the Shrew
by William Shakespeare
A Synopsis of The Taming of the Shrew
A Man with Two Daughters After the Weddings
Two of Baptista's friends in Padua, Petruchio intends to tame Kate's fiery
Prologue: The Sly Scenes Hortensio and the wealthy, elderly Gremio, temperament by denying her sleep and food
A lord and his huntsmen find want to marry his younger daughter, "sweet" in the name of love. Kate watches Petruchio
Christopher Sly, a passed-out Bianca, but Baptista declares that Bianca destroy a new dress and hat ordered for
drunkard, and decide to play can only marry after her older sister Kate, an her to wear to her sister's wedding. On the
a joke on him—they will take
outspoken shrew, marries. He will welcome road back to Padua he calls the sun the
him home, clean and dress him
grandly, and convince the drunk only tutors, not suitors. Lucentio, a newly moon; in frustration Kate finally agrees to
that he is a lord. Sly only warms arrived young university student, sees his absurd demand and they begin to find
to the possibility when his "wife" Bianca and instantly falls in love. Baptista's harmony. They also meet Vincentio, who is
appears (the lord's page dressed problems have just begun. on his way to visit his son Lucentio.
as a woman). The two watch a Wooing—Schemes and Disguises In Padua the real Vincentio is nearly
play performed by a traveling All the men scheme to woo Bianca. arrested before Lucentio emerges from
troupe, a play about Kate and
Lucentio swaps clothes with his servant the church and reveals the elopement
Petruchio.
Tranio, so he can pretend to be a tutor, and disguises. The shocked fathers are
Shakespeare's text for Sly
"Cambio," in order to woo Bianca, while reconciled to the marriage, and at the
ends here, which is why the
Prologue is often cut. The rest Tranio pretends to be "Lucentio." Hortensio wedding banquet, Kate obliges Petruchio
of the Prologue may be lost, but gets the same idea and disguises himself by heeding his requests when the other
a derivative play, The Taming of as "Litio," a music tutor. Then Petruchio wives ignore their husbands' calls.
a Shrew, continues the story and shows up, a man with a recent inheritance
ends with Sly awaking hungover who is determined to wed a wealthy woman,
outside the tavern, swearing that so he undertakes to woo "Katherine the
he now knows how to tame his cursed."
own shrewish wife.
Baptista readily agrees to match
Petruchio and Kate, then leaves Petruchio
to woo his prospective bride in a stormy
scene. Petruchio arrives at the wedding
late and dressed outrageously. Once
wed, he hauls Kate away before the
Verona wedding feast.
Venice
• • •
Mantua • PADUA
Meanwhile, Lucentio finally wins
Bianca's love, so Hortensio vows
Pisa• • Florence to wed a wealthy widow instead.
Meanwhile Tranio has imaginatively
outbid Gremio's dowry offer and won
Kate's new hat (ASF 1998, Sonja Lanzener,
Baptista's consent—if "Lucentio's" Monica Bell, John Preston)
father approves. So the servants find
a traveling salesman and convince him Thinking about Plot
to impersonate Vincentio, Lucentio's • Having two marriageable daughters
wealthy father. While Baptista and immediately sets up comparison/contrast
"Vincentio" make the wedding deal, of them and their suitors. Do the
characters and your opinions change in
the servants arrange for Lucentio and
the course of the play?
Bianca to elope. • Disguise plays a big role in Shrew—what
does it say about people and behavior?
The Geography of Shrew • Shakespeare's comedies often end with
weddings. This play has a wedding in the
middle—why? Is getting married the same
thing as being wedded?
ASF 2014/ 3
The Taming
of the Shrew
by William Shakespeare
The Basic Elements of The Taming of the Shrew
ACTION and CHARACTERS • Farce deals with humanity's primal
• The action centers on Baptista and urges—greed, lust, and/or gluttony. Its main
his two marriageable daughters, Kate and plot characters want money or gratification;
Bianca, who are strong contrasts. Baptista servants tend to want food or a sense of
The TEXT says Bianca cannot marry until Kate is power.
• Approximately 2600 lines married. • Within this style, each plot line of
(depending on edition) • All the wooers want to marry younger Shrew has a romantic core—it concerns
• Almost 80% of the play is in Bianca; no one except Petruchio is willing wooing and wedding. Thus, love also plays
blank verse with very little rhyme. to take on headstrong Kate. a large part.
About 22% is prose.
• Bianca's wooers are all "Mr. Wrong" • The basic structure of comedy divides
• The longest roles are until the newcomer Lucentio sees her and and then reunites and offers the audience
Petruchio, Tranio, and Kate
falls in love with her. the chance to sympathize with or ridicule
• All the wooers will go to extreme characters.
lengths to get what they want, including
disguise and manipulation. THEME: MISTAKEN IDENTITY
• A play that uses mistaken identity also
ALTERNATING PLOT LINES inquires what the actual identity is, a major
• The play has a prologue (which is not issue with Kate and perhaps with Bianca.
always performed) and then two plot lines, • The mistaken identity idea begins at
each centering on the wooing and wedding home, where we learn the daughters may be
of one of Baptista's two daughters. different from their father's view of them.
• After the Prologue, the opening three • Bianca's wooers use a series of
scenes combine the plot lines; then the disguises to try to win her hand in marriage.
scenes alternate focus on Kate/Petruchio Disguises are inherently comic but also ask
or Bianca/Lucentio until Act Five, when the how far we will change ourselves to get
plot lines again unite in Padua. what we think we want.
• The pervasive theme of disguise in
SETTING the Bianca/Lucentio plot line echoes in
• There are also the Kate/Petruchio plot as he uses verbal
two settings, Padua strategies and changes or attacks clothes
and Petruchio's, to make his point.
as is common in • The ending involves revelations—both
Shakespeare's unmasking the disguises to reveal the actual
comedies. identities and often deeper psychological/
• Deciding how emotional truths as well.
wealthy or simple
Petruchio's digs are THEME: TAMING a SHREW vs.
is an interpretive WOOING and WEDDING
issue with telling • Male/female dominance questions fill
ramifications. the play, starting with the title and its label
of "shrew." Who we see as shrewish in the
Wedded bliss—do these GENRE: COMEDY play may change or expand.
two people look joyously happy? • The play has farce's lively, fast- • Half the play shows us Kate's
Petruchio makes a fast and paced action. It often relies on physicality adjustment to being a wife; we only get a
unexpected exit with Kate before (beatings, throwing things, chases) and on
the marriage feast in ASF's 2005 glimpse of Bianca as wife. Shakespeare
character stereotypes, such as the rich old builds a comic contrast between being
Shrew.
man who wants a young wife. wooed and being wedded.
ASF 2014/ 4
The Taming
of the Shrew
by William Shakespeare
Genre: The Range of Comedy
Comedy is a wide-ranging genre with Shakespeare, Farce, and Shrew
many approaches to subject, character, and Shakespeare often combines aspects
UNIT 1: The Play and the theme. Its general attributes in literature of comic subgenres in his plays—farce with
Genre of Comedy include: his romantic comedy or romance into his
• a group (society, family) gets divided or darker tragicomedies. Depending on how
fractured one views Shrew, it can be a pure or mixed
• the action works to reunite the group subgenre of comedy.
• the protagonist is like us or worse in
Many commentators call Shrew a
values and behavior
• it has middle class and working class
farce, and it certainly has farcical aspects.
characters, not necessarily The label of farce has implictions for the
aristocrats as in tragedy has, though play, however, so the subgenre needs
Shakespeare often has aristocrats in more definition. To begin, farce asks the
his comedies audience to ridicule far more often than it
• anyone not able to rejoin the group at engages sympathy, a trait directly linked to
the end is excluded its characterization.
• primary emotions aroused are sympathy
In farce, such as the Italian commedia
and ridicule
dell'arte, the characters are stereotypes,
At one end of the spectrum
such as the young lovers (the commedia
of comedy is farce, which
Boy and Girl in White, clueless because in
emphasizes stereotypical
love), the old man who wants the young
characters and active physical
girl (a combination of greed and lechery),
humor—slaps and beatings
the braggart soldier (all blow and no go),
that never do any real harm.
the perpetually hungry or sly, scheming
It is fast-paced, roustabout
servant, and so on.
comedy, usually intensifying
until a chase scene that Shrew includes some of these types—a
culminates the action and lets lecherous old man (Gremio), a potential
the status quo re-establish. braggart soldier (Petruchio), young lovers
(Bianca and Lucentio), and active servants,
Situation comedy plays
including Grumio who gets beaten.
off of farce, for it puts a well-
known and often beloved In farce's general plot terms, the
character in a series of challenging or lovers cannot help themselves, so the
outrageous contexts and plights, as in servants have to work out the happy ending,
the classic tv series I Love Lucy. thwarting love rivals and maneuvering
opportunities. In this regard, Shrew links
Romantic comedy is
to farce, for the servants make the subplot
Shakespeare's specialty, showing the
happen. Tranio and Biondello, who work
tangles and triumphs of more three-
overtime to help Lucentio win his chosen
dimensional young lovers against
girl, are skilled at overcoming obstacles
blocking parents and problematic
and seizing openings.
situations. It involves or ends
with several weddings and the The harder question is whether the
presumption of a happy ever after. characters in Shrew are two-dimensional
stereotypes that we laugh at without feeling
Comedy of ideas and comedy
for. Shakespeare's use of real feeling from
of manners look at the society and
romantic comedy keeps us aware of how
analyze social and even political
fully formed his characters are—a real
Hortensio tries—and fails— issues or satirize the mores and behavior of
to set Kate straight early in ASF's challenge, given the stereotypical nature
the upper classes, as Restoration comedy
2005 Shrew (Sam Gregory and of farce.
does brittlely and brilliantly.
Kathleen McCall)
ASF 2014/ 5
The Taming
of the Shrew
by William Shakespeare
About Shrews and Other Noisy Creatures
In The Taming of the Shrew, the term be "of gentler, milder mold" (1.1.60),
UNIT 2: The Title's Metaphor shrew is used to describe Katherine, but the presumably more like her sister.
issue of shrewishness extends far beyond To be outspoken, to want to be heard is
her outspokenness. It is worth considering, one thing; to be angry and mean is another.
in fact, whether it is her outspokenness Throughout the play Kate asserts her right
or her temper that causes Hortensio and to be heard, and in her most eloquent plea
Gremio's complaints about her. she also links being heard to expressing
If noise is a factor, if insisting on one's her anger:
own way makes one a shrew, then Petruchio Your betters have endur'd me say my
also quickly becomes a contender for the mind,
title. Is Petruchio inherently a demanding, And if you cannot, best you stop your ears.
Meet The Real Shrew outspoken, brash man, or does he suit My tongue will tell the anger of my heart
So many of us first his actions to match and thereby counter Or else my heart, concealing it, will break,
meet the word shrew And rather than it shall, I will be free
Kate's? On hearing that she is rich but a
either in Shakespeare or Even to the uttermost, as I please, in
shrew, he tells Bianca's wooers, words.
in conversation referring to Think you a little din can daunt mine ears? (4.3.75-80)
some outspoken woman that Have I not in my time heard lions roar? So perhaps the issue comes down
we lose sight of the fact that Have I not heard the sea, puff'd up with to the nature and source of Kate's anger,
in that sense the term is a winds,
the fire that fuels her voice—is it justifiable
metaphor. A shrew is actually Rage like an angry boar chafed with
or not? What makes a person so often
a small, mouselike, insect- sweat?
Have I not heard great ordinance in the angry? Have conditions at home, sibling
eating creature known for
field, rivalry, the presence of suitors, her own
its sharp shrieks. A fight
And heaven's artillery thunder in the need for attention or affection stoked Kate's
among shrews is not physical
skies? shrewishness, or is it just her way, like a
but a "squeaking match," a Have I not in a pitched battle heard, force of nature, an animal instinct? Does
screaming contest. Loud 'larums, neighing steeds, and Petruchio recognize Kate's psychological
In the 14th century, the trumpets' clang? needs and address them in his "taming," or
term shrew referred to "a And do you tell me of a woman's tongue,
does he view her as an animal to be tamed
wicked man," but by the That gives not half so great a blow to hear
by deprivation? Interpreting Kate's "noise"
Renaissance, apparently, As will a chestnut in a farmer's fire?
(1.2.197-207) opens a host of issues in Shakespeare's
the word shrew was an play.
equal opportunity descriptor, The issue is noise—animal noises,
used for men and women war noises, nature's thunderous noises—
compared to the sound a woman can Issues for Discussion and Analysis
alike, but perhaps more • The two noisiest characters in the play are
often for women—if you make. The nagging wife and scolding
Kate and Petruchio. But if one considers
were boisterous, you were a mother-in-law are stereotypes males seem
the most willful characters in the play,
shrew. Slowly the association to treasure; Kate appears unattractive Bianca must be added and perhaps even
focused exclusively on women to the local suitors because she seems Lucentio. In fact, how many characters act
and became synonymous stereotypical in this way. Yet the men also in ways that are "perverse" or "froward" to
with virago and harridan, mention traits other than noise, such as established norms or familial values? Who
associated with "violent her being "froward," that is, perverse, and is the shrew in Act 5?
temper and speech." "intolerable curst," spiteful.
So it is not just the volume level these
men object to, but also the anger or mean-
spiritedness. By contrast, when he sees
Bianca, Lucentio immediately comments
on the "maid's mild behavior and sobriety"
(1.1.71) and Gremio tells Kate she should
ASF 2014/ 6
The Taming
of the Shrew
by William Shakespeare
Taming and Transforming 1: The Prologue
The Prologue and Christopher Sly
UNIT 3: A Thematic View Anyone reading the text of The Taming Depending on one's point of view, it is a
of the Action of the Shrew for the first time is often necessary lesson, a psychological mirror
surprised not to meet Lucentio and Tranio in image of her own obstreperous behavior
the initial dialogue but a character from which she learns tractability, or a
named Christopher Sly, frequently cruel and demeaning lesson in patriarchal
cut in production. Yet thematically supremacy, treatment designed to wipe
Christopher Sly is a very useful out her spirit and turn her into a Stepford
character in the play, and one wife. Or it could be that she and Petruchio
should notice how closely his fall in love and are thus transformed from
experience of being transformed their desires to dominate into cooperative
from a drunk into a "lord" links and companionate spouses.
to Kate's transformation from a What actually happens in the play and
shrew into a wife. Sly is bathed and on stage can prompt lively discussion, for
dressed and obeyed and lavished males and females do not always see the
with attention, while Kate is ignored play the same way, and the value of a
and denied food and chastized in spirited woman and the definition of a "good
her new surroundings. wife" or "good husband" can lead to debate,
The entire issue of nature as Shakespeare surely knew.
versus nurture is raised by the
interplay between prologue and Issues for Analysis
main plot. Ironically, of course, • How does the Prologue and the trick played on
Sly could never become a lord; Christopher Sly affect our idea of the play?
he insists on calling for "small • What issues raised by the "transformation" of
Sly are also applicable to Kate?
beer" when offered finer liquors,
• How would the fact that we see a page (a young
for instance. But whether Kate adolescent boy) temporarily take on the role
changes, and if so how and why, of Sly's wife affect a Renaissance audience's
is a major concern of the play—or, view of the other women characters in the
"Lord" Sly watches the play from more accurately, the play-within- play—all of whom would also have been
his box seat (ASF 1987) the-play, since Kate's story is actually a played by boys?
performance by a traveling troupe for Sly • What does Sly have to gain or lose if he goes
Christopher Sly at ASF
and the actual lord's benefit. along with his changed role? What does Kate
The Taming of the Shrew
have to gain or lose if she goes along with
has appeared three times at The presence of that acting company her changed role?
ASF in Montgomery, and only in also highlights the idea that everyone on • Sly supposedly wakes up as himself once
its first production, in 1987, did stage is an actor, playing a part, as perhaps again at the end of the play. What is the
the Prologue and Christopher the characters are, too, and as we all do comparable "wake up" action in the play-
Sly make an appearance. In the
every day in our lives. within-a-play?
other two productions, the play
Laughter and Lessons • Since Sly is (one assumes) not permanently
began with the 1.1 entrance of
What Sly experiences is a joke, the transformed, does that affect the way we
Lucentio and Tranio.
interpret Kate's tranformation? Is Kate truly
In 1987, having Sly on stage lord's whim, and at the end Sly is returned
transformed? How and why?
the entire show watching from a to his place outside the pub. What Kate • If the Sly scenes are performed, then the rest
"box seat" added an interpretive experiences, however, is not quite a joke. of the action becomes a play-within-a-play, a
level to the play, and he became theatrical event, a fiction rather than a reality.
involved when the actors used Does that affect the way one interprets Kate's
him as the merchant who change, as a fiction?
becomes the faux "Vincentio," • Should the Sly scenes be performed or cut
adding another layer to his role- when Shrew is performed?
playing. This doubled role worked
so well Shakespeare might have
played it that way!
ASF 2014/ 7
The Taming
of the Shrew
by William Shakespeare
Taming and Transforming 2: Baptista's Daughters
Baptista's House Questions about the Opening Situation
Two households, both alike in comic • How does one interpret the family dynamic
indignity, are where we lay our scene at Baptista's house? Are Kate and her
in Shrew. As a single parent, Baptista willful temper the problem in the house, or
is Baptista's obvious preference for spoiled
"… No mates for you, faces the singular challenge of raising
Bianca, Daddy's baby girl?
Unless you were of two maturing daughters. He makes the • Is Bianca innocent or conniving? Or is it more a
mistake of playing favorites, letting Bianca
gentler, milder mold." result of the girls' having grown up apparently
be his "pet." That behavior may date from without a mother and now posing adult
—Gremio, 1.1
the girls' childhood, but it has continued, challenges, including marriageability?
by habit or choice, and now has unhappy What are the production implications of each
adult ramifications for all three members option?
of the family. • Is Bianca what we would call a "princess" and
what does that mean about her attitudes and
Bianca is the younger child and assumptions in life? What does it take to woo
is accustomed to being spoiled and or be married to a "princess"? How does one
pampered. Kate may, of course, naturally achieve a happy marriage?
be shrewish, but she may also be driven • Is Kate a "shrew"? Does shrewishness start
to this behavior as a way to get her father's at home? What does being (or being called)
attention: she acts out. Both women a "shrew" mean about her attitudes and
may be trapped in childhood roles, or assumptions in life? What does it take to
they may have grown into this behavior woo or be married to a "shrew"? How does
one achieve a happy marriage?
over time. Something is clearly broken
• No one seems to have a mother in the play. Is
in the family relationship, and Baptista this simply a fact of theatre practicality, since
thinks it is Kate. Is it? Having unsuitable the boys in the company played the women's
wooers has added new stresses. Trying parts? Is it a fact of the patriarchal culture?
to analyze the source of familial problems Would a mother have made a difference in
in the Baptista household is worth the Kate and Bianca's upbringing and characters?
effort, for it gives insight into the play's In Petruchio's? In Lucentio's?
major characters. • Compare the various households—Baptista's
The Other Household—Petruchio's at the start of the play, Petruchio's in the
middle, and then the projected household of
It is also worth asking the nature of
each newlywed couple. What is the dynamic
Petruchio's household—is it a bachelor of each? Do we have "happy-ever-after" all
pad or a well-ordered domestic machine, around?
an old family estate or a working farm?
His father has recently died, and he,
too, seems to have lived motherless for
some time.
Our assumptions about his situation
Sisterly affection and rivalry in affect his character and Kate's future. Is
ASF's 1987 Taming of the Shrew Petruchio living in his own home, or has
(Evelyn Carol Case, Greta
Lambert) he inherited the family home in which he
has been living as the son? What effect
will a woman's presence, a woman's touch
in his household have on his everyday
life? For her part, what is Kate walking
Right: Daddy's pet, Bianca (Julia into? How experienced is she at running a
Watt and Paul Hebron, ASF 2005) household? As the older daughter, has she
been running Baptista's household since
her mother's death?
ASF 2014/ 8
The Taming
of the Shrew
by William Shakespeare
Taming and Transforming 3: Marriage Negotiations
About Arranged Marriage Questions for Discussion and Analysis
In the Renaissance, most middle class • How important is the business/financial aspect
children and virtually every aristocratic child of marriage? Were Renaissance customs
would expect to have an arranged marriage. prudent in making financial arrangements
for marriage?
Marriage was considered a business deal,
"I come to wive it • Does Baptista look out for Kate's best interests
a financial settlement between families, when he makes his deal with Petruchio, or
wealthily in Padua; rather than a love match, because love is he just glad to get rid of her?
If wealthily, then happily was seen as far too unstable an emotion to •Why does Kate storm out of the wooing scene
in Padua." base so important a bond as marriage on and yet show up for the wedding when earlier
—Petruchio, 1.2 (as our current divorce statistics perhaps she so firmly says, "I'll see thee hanged on
attest). Sunday first"? Is there any advantage for
her in being Petruchio's wife rather than just
Getting the money right was very
Baptista's daughter?
important, and that is one reason that the
• How might the two different marital negotiations
average age of marriage varied by class. reveal or affect the two relationships and what
Marriages could occur at younger ages might they say about the people involved?
if the families were monied, but working • One approach to wedding is traditional and
class men (and women) were often over one non-traditional (or perhaps we might
25 when they married, because they had consider it traditional in comedy—the
to be financially stable and independent lovers make their own decisions). How
(that is, not in their apprenticeship, which appropriate are the approaches for the
entire wooing/wedding process in each
lasted seven years from age 14 to 21) to
case? How does it fit the play's pattern as
be able to support a family; the money had
a whole?
to be there first. • Do the couples in Shrew make their own
"Arranging" Marriages in Shrew decisions in both cases? Is the traditional
We see a normal Renaissance aspect of the negotiations for Kate's hand
marital negotiation between Baptista and and dowry and the public wedding an
Petruchio, who, since his father has died, indication of some traditional element in
is representing himself. Petruchio inquires her nature feeding into her last speech or
about Kate's dowry—how much property a quick means to an individual end?
and/or cash he will get if and when he
marries her. For his part, Baptista asks
about Kate's widow's settlement, that is,
One way to get a shrew's what happens to her dowry and any other
attention while wooing, but inheritance from Petruchio if she survives
not for long; Greta Lambert him. Each man is very clear and specific in
and Daniel Kern as Kate and
these negotiations, and they make the deal
Petruchio, ASF 1987
before Petruchio even meets Kate.
When it comes to Bianca's match,
Baptista turns it into a bidding war. He
"Ay, when the special offers no dowry; instead, he asks what
thing is well obtained, he is offered for Bianca's hand as if he
That is, her love; for that were auctioning her off, and Gremio
is all in all." and "Lucentio" (actually Tranio, who is
—Baptista, 2.1 fabricating his entire offer) try to outbid each
other. Since Gremio is telling the truth and
Tranio is embellishing, it is not difficult for
Tranio to win in the name of "Lucentio."
ASF 2014/ 9
The Taming
of the Shrew
by William Shakespeare
Taming and Transforming 4: Disguise
Disguise and Discovery Questions for Discussion
Much of the Bianca plotline is concerned •What kind of love is Lucentio's for Bianca? Hers
with an elaborate series of disguises by for him? Compare the secrecy and speed of
her suitors. Both Hortensio and Lucentio this love with Romeo and Juliet's. Is there ever
any love between Kate and Petruchio? If so,
are willing to move out of their privileged
where and how does it come about?
roles and become "tutors" •How does love fit with disguise? Do lovers
for her sake because they disguise themselves as well as reveal
want to be near enough to themselves in the wooing game? What does
woo her. disguise say about identity and/or honesty?
Lucentio's disguise as Are identity and selfhood important concepts
"Cambio" begets even more in this play?
•Does Petruchio use a form of disguise with Kate
disguises—for someone
just as Lucentio uses disguise with Bianca?
must seem to be Lucentio Are the wedding garb and his demanding
and work on Baptista while banter at home a reality or a role, a disguise
the real Lucentio works to achieve his goal?
on Bianca—so Tranio
experiences the opposite
switch, from servant to The Subplot's Source
privilege. The social fun of Educated Renaissance audiences
changing class or status noticed the similarity between Shakespeare's
would be acute in the subplot and a popular Italian play, Ariosto's
Renaissance, when class Gli Suppositi (1509), based on classical
was more rigid than it is comic plotlines and translated into English
today. Tranio may even lay by George Gascoigne as Supposes (1566).
it on thick in his "lording" (perhaps a bit like In this play a student, Erostrato (note the
Christopher Sly, since Tranio's experience "eros" in the name), has disguised himself
parallels Sly's). as a servant to woo Polynesta and has
How effective should Tranio's indeed won her favor. For some months
embodiment/impersonation of a rich young they have been secretly sleeping together, a
man be—what serves the comedy? collusion aided by her nurse, and Polynesta
Another layer of disguise becomes is now pregnant.
necessary when Tranio wins the bidding war Her father, who knows none of this, is
for Bianca's hand; that ruse necessitates trying to arrange her match among several
that he must have a father to sign the rich but unsuitable suitors, among whom is
agreement, and they cannot use the real Erostrato's servant Dulippo disguised as his
Vincentio. Instead, a credulous passerby master. The plot tangles in a familiar way
gets dragooned into service. On stage with Erostrato's father making a late and
the various roles double before our eyes plot-clarifying appearance. Interestingly,
as if in a set of fun house mirrors, and two servants in this play are named
as the deceptions get more complicated Petruchio and Litio.
they are more and more fun to watch The idea of "supposes" plays with what
as the deceivers try to rise to each new those on stage suppose reality and identity
challenge—and we especially enjoy when to be and the audience's suppositions
Tr a n i o a n d t h e r e a l the real Vincentio appears to burst their about reality and make believe. Notice how
Lucentio (John Pasha and elaborate bubble. Shakespeare changes the Italian comic
Craig Pattison, ASF 2005), and Since the real Vincentio's appearance reality of illicit love and pregnancy to a more
Tranio disguised as "Lucentio"
resolves the subplot, whose "real Elizabethan assumption of virginity.
with his own gaudy style
appearance" concludes the main plot?ASF 2014/ 10
The Taming
of the Shrew
by William Shakespeare
Taming and Transforming 5: Taming a Spouse
Taming Questions for Discussion
In his 4.1 soliloquy, Petruchio compares • What is the value of obedience or conformity
FALCONRY his treatment of Kate to taming a hawk; his and why is that trait the central focus of the
• Have an individual or small goal is "To make her come and know her last scene? Is the promise to "obey" still part
group research the practice of most marriage ceremonies today? What
keeper's call." Now we may feel somewhat
of taming and flying falcons does "obedience" imply?
differently than did the Renaissance about
for sport in the Renaissance. • Bianca proves willful in the last scene. Is that
Petruchio uses the sport as animal training and spousal abuse, the new behavior on her part, or have we seen it
a basis for his "taming" plan spectrum within which his treatment falls. previously? Is Kate the only potential shrew
for Kate. How humane was If Petruchio is well intentioned and has in the play?
the treatment of the falcons seen a way to release Kate from being • How should we interpret Kate's last long
in the Renaissance? How trapped in outbursts and unhappiness, we speech? Is she cowed, brainwashed,
do most trainers "break" an more nearly accept his plan. If we see him "tamed"? Is she in love? Is she playing a
animal and what does the game as in the sun/moon scene (4.5)? Is
as just being selfish, willful, or patriarchal,
term imply? What would she using a verbal disguise?
Shakespeare's audience
out for himself or inflicting the social • Petruchio wins the bet and is also rewarded
know about the sport and system on Kate, we may worry about Kate by Baptista with a second dowry. For a man
the practice of taming a and consider the match a dysfunctional who said he sought only money, he has
raptor? marriage. succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. How
In the nineteenth century, the most do we assess Petruchio? Does the hawk/
famous prop used in a production of taming image link to the action of this last
Shrew was Petruchio's bullwhip, which he scene?
cracked in the homecoming scene—though
See The Taming of the he never actually hit anyone. What is
Shrew: Texts and Contexts,
ed. Frances E. Dolan (Boston: seen as behavior for show, in either Kate
Bedford, 1996) for good period or Petruchio, and what is behavior in
information. earnest determines much of the balance
of any interpretation of The Taming of the
Shrew.
Some Renaissance punishments for a scold—above,
the dunking (or cucking) stool: the woman was dunked until
she stopped talking back. Right, a "scold's bridle" which
had a tongue suppressor to keep her from talking.ASF 2014/ 11
The Taming
of the Shrew
by William Shakespeare
Gender Roles: Dominance and Defiance in Acts 4 and 5
It always seems to start with the Garden not spoken. Cultural deafness—the history
UNIT 4: Two Approaches to of Eden—our views of being created of what happens when women speak. Is
Kate and Petruchio— human so often drop out of focus in the it any wonder Kate yells? The men don't
Cultural Roles and Imagery blur of our having been created male and hear her, or if they hear her, they do not
female. Which aspect is more important listen to or heed her, but label and reject
may depend on the context. her out of hand, which is much the same
Today we often describe the marital thing. Is Kate wrong to speak?
or quasi-marital bond as a partnership, Kate has a voice and wants to use
"my partner" equating to "my husband" it, wants her opinion heeded, wants her
or "my wife." In this belief, implying joint perspective and preferences taken into
governance and mutual power if the account as they do not seem to have been
partnership is 50/50, we perhaps allude to in her life. Petruchio, for his part, assumes
a business model that is not so far from the he knows best; he has the responsibility of
financially-based arranged marriage of the ownership and power and has grown up in
Renaissance, except that relationship was a world that supports his dominance.
not considered 50/50. It involved patriarchal So what actually happens in the play?
power and female obedience. Some argue the two fall in love; some
"And obey…," a phrase implying that argue Kate really wants to submit and be
power demands a compliant response. For dominated; views abound. Look at the
thousands of years, obedience was bred wooing and wedding scenes, but, more
in the bone of a world ruled by angry gods importantly, look at the wedded scenes—if
and monolithic rulers. Through time, from there is change, that is its most likely place,
ancient Athens to the French Revolution and and ask questions.
today's world, the assumption of totalitarian
The iconic Petruchio moment government has been challenged with Interpretive Questions to Consider
in theatre history, the wielding ideals of democracy and with the voice of the • Does Petruchio stomp Kate into
of the whip (from a 1838 many rather than only the voice of one ruler submission, making her a tame, responsive
edition of the play, based on or an oligarchy being able to determine law animal? That's one use of power and one kind
stage practice). To this day, and justice. Voice is a concern that history of marriage.
productions will often include a shares with Shakespeare's Shrew. • Does he mirror her own demanding nature,
whip among the props, usually either because he shares such a nature or
as a theatre joke. Shrew's Gender Roles
In Shrew, the nature of the marital because he wants to get her attention? That's
another use of power, one that may acknowledge
relationship is a central issue. The play
that she's there.
sports with the wooing and winning of
• Does he recognize her as a person,
Bianca, but the more challenging and
perhaps a trapped or troubled person, and bother
interesting dynamic is the wedding of to help her out of the trap? (Is he, too, in a mental
Katherina and Petruchio, which occurs in trap?) That's yet another use of power, one that
the middle of the play, not at the end. Thus wants to improve or make a difference.
we watch them try to become a couple, • Does he hear her voice and ask that she
Compare/contrast Shrew's
try to define and establish what their new hear his? That, too, is a use of power, but the
discussion of gender roles
in marriage to Chaucer's relationship will be, how they will proceed results in personal, emotional terms may be
"Wife of Bath's Prologue with their now-joined lives. quite different from dominating an animal into
submission.
and Tale," with its interest in The assumption of patriarchal power
maistrye [mastery]. precedes this interpersonal negotiation, • What has happened between Petruchio
and Kate while they're away from Padua, and
for Petruchio bargained for Kate's hand
who are they as a couple when they return?
before he met her. When they do meet,
she assumes she has a say and says "no,"
but Baptista joins their hands as if she hadASF 2014/ 12
The Taming
of the Shrew
by William Shakespeare
The Clothing Makes the Man—Imagery at Work
Can a bird change its feathers? A tiger Shakespeare emphasizes the clothing
its stripes? Display is a vital part of nature, element by making clothes a major plot
"Training" Does Not Mean but it would seem to be ingrained. Is that point, especially in this scene, for one could
Obedience? also true for us? Human display seems to scarcely get a bigger set-up than Biondello's
In her book Adam's Task,
involve far more than one's psychic birthday description of Petruchio's garb and horse.
Vicki Hearne asserts that
"training is only superficially suit—our mental feathers or stripes. Once he has arrived, everyone protests that
about obedience; what it's really Since clothing is one of the major image this won't do. Clearly Petruchio is raising
about is constructing a language patterns in the play, Shakespeare asks if we the issue of what is essential and what
in which you can have this also put on attitude as we put on clothing. superficial in an individual and in social
conversation that will carry on The first time Petruchio meets Kate he plans behavior; he focuses the comments on
for your entire life, a conversation to use reverse psychology on her—"Say himself, but what he says is equally true of
about what matters and what Kate and people's reactions to her. It also
that she rail,/ I'll say she sings as sweetly
doesn't matter. Does it matter has implications for Lucentio's attraction to
if you come when I call you, or
as a nightingale." The second time he sees
Kate he uses clothing, specifically his wild Bianca, given where the action ends: "The
does it not matter? … the training
is the means to an end, and the wedding garb, for effect. When Baptista more fool you for laying on my duty."
end is not obedience. It's just and others challenge his unseemly attire,
better understanding, better he simply replies, "To me she's married, Issues for Discussion and Analysis
communication." not unto my clothes. / Could I repair what • Does Petruchio see the difference between
(from interview with David she will wear in me / As I can change these Kate's "self" and the way she manifests
Wroblewski, author of The Story of poor accoutrements, / 'Twere well for Kate that self? What prompts his strange and
Edgar Sawtelle, which includes dog quite conscious behavior at the wedding?
training) and better for myself."
Is he just acting out or does he have a
• Is Petruchio's "taming" about purpose?
dominance or communication? • In a play with such an emphasis on disguise,
should we also see Petruchio's wedding
garb as a disguise? If so, what is the
nature of the disguise? Why this, in context
of the other men's disguises?
• How much of conventional behavior is
bound up in one's clothing—the right look
for the right setting: a funeral, a pool party,
Friday casual at work versus a business
meeting with a major client? Do people
judge each other by their apparel?
• How much of our clothing is non-essential, a
product of the fashion and clothing industry
rather than need? How often do we buy
new clothes? How long do we keep them?
Do we "own" fashion or does it "own" us?
Just married! And who's the shrew now?
Who's acting out and not "garbed" properly?
Who wants whom to behave? (ASF 2005, Chris
Qualls, Doug Rees, Kathleen McCall)ASF 2014/ 13
The Taming
of the Shrew
by William Shakespeare
How Kate Is "Garbed": Clothing Imagery 2
Later in the play, after Petruchio's What, is the jay more precious than the
outrageous garb at the wedding, lark,
Shakespeare gives Petruchio another Because his feathers are more beautiful?
major piece of action related to clothing. […] O, no, good Kate; neither art thou the
worse
Petruchio has ordered new clothes for Kate
For this poor furniture and mean array.
to wear to her sister's wedding. When Kate If thou account'st it shame, lay it on me.…
sees them, she admires how fashionable (4.3)
they are—"I never saw a better-fashioned Petruchio shares with Kate the view
gown" and "this doth fit the time, / And he earlier expressed to the wedding party,
gentlewomen wear such caps as these." that externals are not most important. He
But Petruchio rejects the garments. also implies that she herself is valuable
Specifically answering Kate's description and perhaps also her "singing," her voice.
of the cap, he responds, "When you are The image pattern completes in the final
gentle, you shall have one too, / And not scene when, on Kate's unexpected return
till then," a comment that warns, assesses, when summoned, he tells her to doff her
and inspires. Later he explains, cap because it "becomes you not." What is
Well, come, my Kate; we will unto your unbecoming is cast aside, and this action
father's leads into Kate's speech on obedience.
Even in these honest mean habiliments;
Our purses shall be proud, our garments
poor; Issues for Discussion and Analysis
For 'tis the mind that makes the body rich; • Has Kate learned that anger and her shrewish
And as the sun breaks through the darkest behavior, like an unbecoming cap, should
clouds, be removed? Or, as with the sun/moon
So honor peereth in the meanest habit. debate, has she learned to play the game
Kate in ruined wedding of embellishing whatever wild proposition
dress tries to figure out her Petruchio makes? Or both?
new husband in ASF's 1987 • The verbal "attire" Kate wears in the last scene
Shrew set in the 18th century has caused intense critical discussion and
(Greta Lambert and Daniel debate. Does it fit her as the docile, quiet
Kern). How apt is it that stereotype so valued in women early in the
they're both redheads? play, or has she created a new fashion more
appropriate to her husband and herself?
Watch and join the debate.
• Given the nature of the clothing imagery,
analyze Petruchio's next demands—about
time and about sun/moon. What is he serious
about in these demands and what does he
want from Kate? What does he get?
On the journey to his house,
Petruchio manages to ruin Kate's
wedding dress in the mud. He
then destroys the new dress
he promises her, but in some
productions, as Susan Branch's
2005 ASF designs show, the
"new" Kate gets to wear that
stylish new dress and hat.ASF 2014/ 14
The Taming
of the Shrew
by William Shakespeare
Shrew on Video—Fascinating Productions to Compare
Using available video resources is a great Whether you are teaching the play or not,
UNIT 5: Performance and way to introduce students to ideas about genre moments from any of these productions can
Interpretation and the play. Using them also makes fine help engage students in the vivacity of Shrew
comparative analyses about interpretation of by piquing their curiosity. If you are teaching the
character, scene, and issue. The Taming of play, comparing the endings can be especially
the Shrew has a number of good productions useful about the range of interpretation possible
available on video (none of which includes the for this play. Moments to watch:
Prologue scenes), especially: • Kate/Bianca/Baptista (early 1.1 or 2.1)
• Franco Zeffirelli's 1966 film starring • Kate/Petruchio wooing scene (2.2)
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton • wedding scene
(playing off of their reputations, hers
• arrival at Petruchio's or sun/moon scene
for attitude, his for alcohol), set in a
Renaissance Italian Padua. Sumptuous • the end of the final scene
design, physically active and fun, with
subplot much cut.
• American Conservatory Theatre of San
Francisco's 1976 commedia dell'arte
style stage production taped for
television by PBS's Great Performances
series. Superb commedia style and
acting, terrific fun, pure farce (or is it?).
• The BBC 1980 made-for-television
production (part of the BBC's Complete
Canon series) starring John Cleese as
a sober, Puritanical Petruchio (except at
Clockwise from above: his wedding). Conceptualized design and
Elizabeth Taylor as an fiery non-farcical interpretation for those who
Katherina; the 1976 ACT want more than knockabout.
commedia production; the 2005 • The 2005 BBC "Shakespeare Retold"
Shakespeare Retold version; version, a cut script in a modern setting
and the 1980 BBC series with Kate as a workaholic Member of
production. Parliament.ASF 2014/ 15
The Taming
of the Shrew
by William Shakespeare
Shrew's "Time" on Stage—What Is "Doing Shakespeare"?
Changing the locale of Shakespeare's On the other hand, some argue that
plays in modern productions is as common because Shakespeare's stage almost
as a singer covering a hit song in her always performed in Renaissance garb, so
own style. Yet for theatre audiences, how should we; Shakespeare should be done
the plays "should" be done generates an "as it was meant to be," so the words and
ongoing debate. the garb fuse—and time doesn't move.
Part of the debate about These are sometimes called "museum"
setting and time period argues productions. Yet all the social clues that
that on Shakespeare's stage Renaissance clothes provided for a
almost all the costumes were Renaissance audience are lost on us. We
Elizabethan garb. In other usually can't tell a tacky gown from a fine
words, he produced his plays one in that period. If Shakespeare lived
in "modern dress," so the now, how do we know what decision he
characters on stage looked would make?
much like the audience, The most common recent production
whether the play was Macbeth approach for most directors has been to
or Twelfth Night. Therefore, find a congenial setting in time and place,
we should perform them in the one that can illuminate the action of the
same spirit, in our modern dress, play, whether it be Stonehenge for King
so the action will be as immediate Lear, the High Middle Ages for Richard II,
to a modern audience as it was to or outer space for The Tempest. ASF has
his. (This view does tend to overlook used both the Renaissance and "other eras"
the fact that the language is four approaches, performing the history plays in
hundred years old no matter what historically accurate costumes and Troilus
clothes the actors wear.) and Cressida in modern military uniforms,
Romeo and Juliet both in Renaissance
tights with jerkins and in polo shirts with
khakis, and even Twelfth Night once as a
1930s' Busby Berkeley musical. The setting
is an interesting part of the interpretive
discussion, not a rule.
Design for ASF's 2014
Taming of the Shrew
Detailed design information such
as period, set, and costumes is not yet
available for ASF's spring 2014 production
of The Taming of the Shrew. When it is, it will
A very fashionable 18th- be added to the study materials, so check
century Lucentio in ASF's 1987 back for design ideas and sketches.
Shrew (David Harum with
Steven David Martin); ASF's all-
American 1950s Shrew in 1998
(Monica Bell and John Preston);
and ASF's 1950s Italian Shrew in
2005 (Doug Rees and Kathleen
McCall)ASF 2014/ 16
The Taming
of the Shrew
by William Shakespeare
Italian Wedding Proverbs
• At the start of the play, which characters believe one or more of these proverbs?
UNIT 6: An Italian Context • Who believes which proverb at the end of the play?
• How true are these proverbs in general? Are they stereotypes or insights?
La buona moglie fa il buon marito. — A good wife makes a good husband.
Chi ha moglie ha doglie. — Who has a wife has strife.
Chi non ha moglie non ha padrone. — Who has no wife has no master.
Casa senza fimmina 'mpuvirisci. — A house without a woman is poor.
Casa il figlio quando vuoi e la figlia — Marry your son when you choose,
quando puoi. your daughter when you can.
Donna danno, sposa spesa, — The husband reigns, but the wife governs.
moglie maglio.
Italian Wedding Customs
A critical commonplace about The Reception
Shakespeare's comedies asserts that, • Guests toss small bundles of candy-
although he sets many of these plays in covered almonds at the couple as a
Italy, they actually reflect English society wish for fertility and a sign of "the union
and customs. Many aspects of the plays, of bitter and sweet." How appropriate
such as the Prologue scenes of Shrew, would this "bitter and sweet" message
bear this out, but perhaps the plays are be for the couples married at the end of
not without their Italian aspects. Consider Shrew? Or for any marriage?
some Italian wedding customs in context • The best man greets everyone arriving
of the action of Shrew: at the reception with a drink to toast the
Engagement bride and groom; a typical toast is "per
• Some Italian marriages are still discussed cent'anni" [for a hundred years].
if not arranged by the families. • The men kiss the bride for luck and to
Litio's serenade of Bianca brings • A groom who proposes himself usually make the groom jealous.
disaster at Kate's hands in this 1950s serenades his beloved first. (Compare • Food is very important, and the wedding
production with "Litio" as an Elvis feast often lasts well into the night with
to Hortensio's approach as Litio)
clone (Ray Chambers, ASF 1998)
The Wedding as many as 14 courses, music, and
• On the day of the wedding, it was bad dancing. A wedding, a feast, and/or a
luck for the bride to wear gold before dance are the standard elements of a
she gets the wedding ring comic ending. Shrew provides a comic
• Sunday weddings are supposed to be the bonanza.
luckiest. (On which day of the week are • Friends play tricks on the new couple.
Kate and Bianca married?) In Shrew, does the wager amongst the
• The bride arrives last at the wedding husbands count as a trick?
mass while the groom waits in front of • A band plays mazzurcas and tarantellas,
the church with his groomsmen. "Her usually danced as a group dance.
lateness, depending on the number of
minutes, would have a different meaning How many related customs appear
to the groom." (Consider how Shrew beyond Italy? How many can be found
inverts this tradition.) in American wedding customs?
• In northern Italy (where the action of Shrew
is set), the groom brings the bouquet of
flowers for the bride; it is supposed to
be a surprise. (How much of Petruchio's
arrival is a surprise for Kate?)ASF 2014/ 17
The Taming
of the Shrew
by William Shakespeare
Words, Words, Words
VOCABULARY Word Play: How "Italian" Are They?
The text of the play is remarkably Shakespeare wryly jokes with his
clear and straightforward (and funny). The English audience about his Italian setting
Renaissance meaning of a handful of words in the play. In the second scene, after
may help understanding: Petruchio berates his servant for 19 lines
• "wealth is burden of my wooing in English, he turns to greet his friend
dance"—the burden is the basic, Hortensio in Italian, a simple, heartfelt
underlying melody "well met" (Con tutto il cuore ben trovato),
• "for dainties are all Kates"—a cate is a to which Hortensio replies with a welcome
delicacy, confection (pun on name) in two lines of Italian.
• "read the gamut of Hortensio"—a Grumio, Petruchio's servant, a born
gamut is a scale in music; he uses a Italian who has just come with him from
G scale (ut is the same as our do in Verona to Padua, then interrupts—"Nay,
do re mi…) 'tis no matter, sir, what he 'leges in Latin…."
• "doff this habit"—here habit means He has no idea what they're saying and
outfit, clothing (we still use the word clearly thinks they are speaking a foreign
for nuns' garb), but implying our other tongue that he is not educated enough to
meaning, too understand.
• "I fear it is too choleric"—likely to But it's Italian, supposedly his native
prompt anger language—were he really Italian and not
• "though you hit the white"—bianca is an English actor standing before a set of
Italian for white English groundlings who would probably be
as clueless about Italian or Latin as Grumio
is. So Shakespeare gives his audience a
wink and a smile. He also gently asks if
the action of the play is about "them" or
about "us."
Gremio straining to hear the
words and Lucentio disguised as
"Cambio the scholar" who has all
too many words—the love poems he
holds and his own secret wooing of
Bianca (Philip Pleasants and David
Harum, ASF, 1987)You can also read
