The Taming of
the Shrew
William
Shakespeare
Remembering Shakespeare
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Baptized on 26 April 1563
Died 23 April 1616
Grew up in Stratford-upon-Avon
Married Anne Hathaway at age
18; had three children (two were
twins)
Poet and playwright; named
greatest writer in English
language
His surviving work include 38
plays, 154 sonnets, two long
narrative poems and several
other poems
Work was produced mostly
around 1589-1613
Shakespeare’s Comedies
• Comedies (or
Elizabethan
comedies) include
– Happy ending
– Marriage occurs
between unmarried
characters
– Light-hearted tone
and style
• Also
– Separation &
reunification
– Mistaken identities
– A clever servant
– Heightened tensions,
often within a couple
– One, intertwining plot
– Frequent punning
Shakespearean Devices
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Play-within-a-play
Use of disguises
Love at first sight
Fluid action = fast-paced action
Asides = when the character speaks only for
the audience to hear
• Soliloquy = an act of speaking one’s thought
either alone or with others present
• Monologue = a long speech by a character
Understanding Puns
• Puns are
– A play on words that
purposely brings
about ambiguity
between similarsounding words that
have different
meanings for the
sake of humor
– Double meanings
• Examples of puns
– “The pun is mightier
than the word.”
– Don't sweat the petty
things, and don't pet
the sweaty things.
Puns from His Plays
• Claudius: “...But now, my cousin
Hamlet, and my son...”
Hamlet [aside]: “A little more than kin,
and less than kind.”
– (Hamlet, 1.2.64-65).
– Context: Hamlet is upset that his uncle
Claudius has married his mother.
• Hint: Think of “kind” as also short for “kindred.”
A Very Famous One
• "No, 'tis not so deep as a well, nor so
wide as a church-door, but 'tis enough,
'twill serve: ask for me tomorrow, and
you shall find me a grave man."
– (Romeo and Juliet, Act III, scene 1)
• Hint: Grave=serious, dead, sad.
Taming: The Characters
Baptista Minola
father/daughters
Katherina Minola
Bianca Minola
Vincentio
Gremio
Suitors of Bianca
father/son
suitor to Kate
Petruchio
master/se
rvant
Hortensio
Lucentio
friends
master/se
rvants
Tranio
Grumio
Biondello
Taming: The Plot
• Baptista Minola has two daughters: a gentle,
beautiful, younger one (Bianca) who has many
suitors and an older one (Katherina) who is
considered a shrew.
• Bianca cannot marry until Katherina does.
• Bianca’s suitors conspire to find a suitor for
Katherina, but there are very few choices.
• Just by luck, Hortensio’s friend, Petruchio, comes to
town to find a wife!
• Petruchio claims he does not mind Kate’s shrewish
behavior, because he plans to tame her.
Terms to Know
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Shrew = a vexatious, scolding, brawling woman
Tame = to change from a wild state; to domesticate
Domesticated = to convert to home life; tame
Dowry = property or money brought by a wife to
her husband on their marriage
• Patriarchy = a system or society of government in
which the father or eldest male is head of the
family, and descent is traced through the male line
• Gender roles = the rules in which men and women
are supposed to live by according to their society
Katherina’s Character
“She’s too rough for me.” (Gremio)
“No mates for you
Unless you were of gentler, milder mould.”
(Hortensio)
“…this fiend from hell” (Gremio)
“Her elder sister is so curst and shrewd
That, till her father rid his hands of her,
Master, your love [Bianca] must live a maid at
home.” (Tranio)
More of Kate’s Character
“Will you woo this wildcat?” (Gremio)
She’s “…famous for a scolding tongue.”
(Tranio)
“I know she is an irksome, brawling scold.”
(Petruchio)
“Her name is Katherina Minola,
Renowned in Padua for her scolding tongue.”
(Hortensio)
Gender Roles
Petruchio states this about his wife:
“I will be master of what is mine own,
She is my goods, my chattels; she is my house,
My household-stuff, my field, my barn,
My horse, my ox, my ass, my anything,
And here she stands.”
Let’s Dissect
“I will be master of what
is mine own,
She is my goods, my
chattels; she is my house,
My household-stuff, my
field, my barn,
My horse, my ox, my ass,
my anything,
And here she stands.”
“I am in charge of all that is
mine
[My wife] is my property,
my possession, my home,
The things I own in my
house, my field, my barn,
My horse, my ox, my
donkey, everything I own,
And here she is.”
Chauvinism or Patriarchy?
Chauvinism =
excessive patriotism
for one’s own cause
Is Petruchio simply a
male chauvinistic
pig?
Patriarchy =
patri = father
archy = government
Or is he merely
performing his
patriarchal duty?
Relationships & Marriage
What do you think?
• Men and women are equal in marriage and society.
• Men are considered to be higher in society than women.
• The daughter can choose her husband and make her own
decisions.
• The father makes all the decisions, including who his daughter
can marry.
• Women are supposed to be obedient and do what the men tell
them to do.
• Women are supposed to be independent and make their own
choices.
• Marriage is like a business contract and money is an important
consideration.
• The father paid money, called a dowry, to his daughter’s
husband.
• Women are compared to animals to be tamed.
• It is the custom that the eldest daughter has to get married first,
before the younger daughter.
• Women need to be meek, mild and obedient to follow what is
expected of them.