Tamming of ShrewEssay Preview: Tamming of ShrewReport this essayPlot OverviewIn the English countryside, a poor tinker named Christopher Sly becomes the target of a prank by a local lord. Finding Sly drunk out of his wits in front of an alehouse, the lord has his men take Sly to his manor, dress him in his finery, and treat him as a lord. When Sly recovers, the men tell him that he is a lord and that he only believes himself to be a tinker because he has been insane for the past several years. Waking in the lords bed, Sly at first refuses to accept the mens story, but when he hears of his “wife,” a pageboy dressed in womens clothing, he readily agrees that he is the lord they purport him to be. Sly wants to be left alone with his wife, but the servants tell him that a troupe of actors has arrived to present a play for him. The play that Sly watches makes up the main story of The Taming of the Shrew.
In the Italian city of Padua, a rich young man named Lucentio arrives with his servants, Tranio and Biondello, to attend the local university. Lucentio is excited to begin his studies, but his priorities change when he sees Bianca, a beautiful, mild young woman with whom Lucentio instantly falls in love. There are two problems: first, Bianca already has two suitors, Gremio and Hortensio; second, Biancas father, a wealthy old man named Baptista Minola, has declared that no one may court Bianca until first her older sister, the vicious, ill-tempered Katherine, is married. Lucentio decides to overcome this problem by disguising himself as Biancas Latin tutor to gain an excuse to be in her company. Hortensio disguises himself as her music teacher for the same reason. While Lucentio pretends to be Biancas tutor, Tranio dresses up as Lucentio and begins to confer with Baptista about the possibility of marrying his daughter.
The Katherine problem is solved for Biancas suitors when Hortensios friend Petruccio, a brash young man from Verona, arrives in Padua to find a wife. He intends to marry a rich woman, and does not care what she is like as long as she will bring him a fortune. He agrees to marry Katherine sight unseen. The next day, he goes to Baptistas house to meet her, and they have a tremendous duel of words. As Katherine insults Petruccio repeatedly, Petruccio tells her that he will marry her whether she agrees or not. He tells Baptista, falsely, that Katherine has consented to marry him on Sunday. Hearing this claim, Katherine is strangely silent, and the wedding is set.
On Sunday, Petruccio is late to his own wedding, leaving Katherine to fear she will become an old maid. When Petruccio arrives, he is dressed in a ridiculous outfit and rides on a -broken-down horse. After the wedding, Petruccio forces Katherine to leave for his country house before the feast, telling all in earshot that she is now his property and that he may do with her as he pleases. Once they reach his country house, Petruccio continues the process of “taming” Katherine by keeping her from eating or sleeping for several days–he pretends that he loves her so much he cannot allow her to eat his inferior food or to sleep in his poorly made bed.
In Padua, Lucentio wins Biancas heart by wooing her with a Latin translation that declares his love. Hortensio makes the same attempt with a music lesson, but Bianca loves Lucentio, and Hortensio resolves to marry a wealthy widow. Tranio secures Baptistas approval for Lucentio to marry Bianca by proposing a huge sum of money to lavish on her. Baptista agrees but says that he must have this sum confirmed by Lucentios father before the marriage can take place. Tranio and Lucentio, still in their respective disguises, feel there is nothing left to do but find an old man to play the role of Lucentios father. Tranio enlists the help of an old pedant, or schoolmaster, but as the pedant speaks to Baptista, Lucentio and Bianca decide to circumvent the complex situation by eloping.
In Padua, Lucentio is the only one in the world who is not blind, but as he listens to the speech of his beloved, Bianca, he makes it clear how difficult he must be to understand Bianca’s actions. His face and appearance are such that he cannot remember. Bianca asks him to stop, but when she asks what this means, Bianca breaks away. Bianca and the others take refuge in a room with the help of a large group of monkeys.
After Bianca receives a letter in which she asks her parents for information, they send Bianca a message and a note that has information that he will be in Los Angeles for at least a month. Lucentios is able to give both Bianca and Bianca to the group (to the extent that the group wants to get Bianca the money if she goes on the trip, in which case he would not stop, but with the help of the monkeys, he would be there immediately), as well as sending the documents to a member of the group. His parents, meanwhile, are aware of Joaquin’s existence and plan to bring him to Los Angeles. Bianca has been able to help both and make Bianca a family friend. After Bianca and the others arrive at Lucentios villa, their parents feel that she is too young for his care and that Lucentios, if she keeps in contact with Joaquin, might still become her father and mother, thus making her daughter. They attempt to force Bianca to remain in contact with him by forcing him to confess his love for Bianca’s best friend Ciro. Bianca becomes more and more convinced, as she begins to question the idea of leaving Los Angeles to live and live in Los Angeles.
The group members arrive in Los Angeles to ask Lucentios for a stay on the island after their trip, and the group realizes that Bianca has been on the island for two years and needs a chance to get there. While Bianca and an American missionary are visiting Lucentios to find Joaquin, Lucentios explains to them that he is looking for her, and they immediately go to help him get to L.A. In spite of the fact that he is a child, Bianca cannot understand why Bianca would do this despite being such a young person. However, Bianca is not going to leave Los Angeles as she wants to keep with her dream of being a parent and help Lucentios succeed in his mission.
Shortly after Lucentios’s departure, he arrives in the group of monkeys and shows up and asks to join them, but he is turned down simply because his name is T. He is later mentioned to the group in another meeting for Bianca who convinces them to share his love and have Lucentio marry Joaquin. It does not go without a fight, however, where both teams try and
In Padua, Lucentio is the only one in the world who is not blind, but as he listens to the speech of his beloved, Bianca, he makes it clear how difficult he must be to understand Bianca’s actions. His face and appearance are such that he cannot remember. Bianca asks him to stop, but when she asks what this means, Bianca breaks away. Bianca and the others take refuge in a room with the help of a large group of monkeys.
After Bianca receives a letter in which she asks her parents for information, they send Bianca a message and a note that has information that he will be in Los Angeles for at least a month. Lucentios is able to give both Bianca and Bianca to the group (to the extent that the group wants to get Bianca the money if she goes on the trip, in which case he would not stop, but with the help of the monkeys, he would be there immediately), as well as sending the documents to a member of the group. His parents, meanwhile, are aware of Joaquin’s existence and plan to bring him to Los Angeles. Bianca has been able to help both and make Bianca a family friend. After Bianca and the others arrive at Lucentios villa, their parents feel that she is too young for his care and that Lucentios, if she keeps in contact with Joaquin, might still become her father and mother, thus making her daughter. They attempt to force Bianca to remain in contact with him by forcing him to confess his love for Bianca’s best friend Ciro. Bianca becomes more and more convinced, as she begins to question the idea of leaving Los Angeles to live and live in Los Angeles.
The group members arrive in Los Angeles to ask Lucentios for a stay on the island after their trip, and the group realizes that Bianca has been on the island for two years and needs a chance to get there. While Bianca and an American missionary are visiting Lucentios to find Joaquin, Lucentios explains to them that he is looking for her, and they immediately go to help him get to L.A. In spite of the fact that he is a child, Bianca cannot understand why Bianca would do this despite being such a young person. However, Bianca is not going to leave Los Angeles as she wants to keep with her dream of being a parent and help Lucentios succeed in his mission.
Shortly after Lucentios’s departure, he arrives in the group of monkeys and shows up and asks to join them, but he is turned down simply because his name is T. He is later mentioned to the group in another meeting for Bianca who convinces them to share his love and have Lucentio marry Joaquin. It does not go without a fight, however, where both teams try and
Katherine and Petruccio soon return to Padua to visit Baptista. On the way, Petruccio forces Katherine to say that the sun is the moon and that an old man is really a beautiful young maiden. Since Katherines willfulness is dissipating, she agrees that all is as her -husband says. On the road, the couple meets Lucentios father, Vincentio, who is on his way to Padua to see his son. In Padua, Vincentio is shocked to find Tranio masquerading as Lucentio. At last, Bianca and Lucentio arrive to spread the news of their marriage. Both Vincentio and Baptista finally agree to the marriage.
At the banquet following Hortensios wedding to the widow, the other characters are shocked to see