Taming of the Shrew

ACT 1

 

Describe each character:

 

■Katherine- Rude, Very Mouthy, Independent, totally opposite of her sister.

■Bianca- modest, sweet, beautiful, much like Desdemona in Othello.

■Gremio- very similar to Hortensio by thinking strategies and they also have the same purpose within the play. He is a bit more selfish in my opinion.

■Hortensio- creative, open minded, knows how to get what he desires even if it means helping the enemy.

■Petruchio- Only cares about materialistic things, brave, confident.

■Lucentio- Clever, intelligent, a go getter per say because he is not afraid to go after what he desires.

■Compare Katherine and Bianca to modern day people- Katherine would be quite similar to Mrs. Rich because she does not let others change her own opinion or outlook on things and she will speak what is on her mind. A modern day Bianca reminds me of Eran because she is quiet and beautiful.

 

 

1.       The Induction portrays role-playing. Who acts the part of whom? Why? How does such role-playing address issues of gender and class? What effects might these representations have on the play?

Lucentio dresses as a Tutor for Bianca while his servant dresses as him. The lord dresses as a servant while they dress the Sly up as a lord. The page dresses up as the lord’s wife. Role playing most certainly addresses gender and class roles because a woman could not be an actor and normally low class men play the roles as a female due to the embarrassment. This affects the play because it shows that one does not always appear as they seem.

 

2.        From the outset, we learn from Bianca's suitors that Katherine is the less desirable of the two sisters. Examine and question this claim. How are Bianca and Katherine different? What makes Katherine rather than Bianca the shrew?

Bianca is very modest, sweet, well mannered, and beautiful.  Katherine is out spoken, opinionated, rude and complete opposite of her sister. Katherine is more of the shrew because she is the least desirable. The shrew is normally the one that no guy wants and plenty of men want Bianca.

 

ACT 2 & 3

 

 

 

1.        

How does Petruchio "tame" Kate? Consider how he seems to define their roles.

 Petruchio tames Kate by acting in her manner. He ignores what she says and carries on with his own idea of things. He makes it clear that he is her husband and she is his possession now therefore she must obey him.

2.       How does Katherine act in the scenes where she says little or nothing? For example, in Act 2, scene 1, how does Katherine behave when Petruchio reports on his success in wooing Kate and in their plans for marriage? Because the text provides little explanation, you must decide how she would act based on your interpretation of her character from previous scenes.

Katherine seems to be more obedient however; she still has her amount of sass contributed. I could imagine her rolling her eyes and looking at Petruchio as if he is a fool. One can already infer she seems to be in the midst of being tamed.

 

3.       Imagine viewing this play in the Elizabethan era. Identify 4 moments of comedy.

-          When Petruchio arrived in foolish clothes to his wedding.

-          When Petruchio and Kate argue back and forth calling each other names.

-          When Lucentio makes jokes about how Hortensio can’t tune his own instrument.

-          When Kate has her sister tied up and harassing her.

 

 

4.       Disguise is a major theme in TotS. What famous Bible story involves deceit and disguise? 

In the Bible it talks about how the Devil was once disguised as an angel when in reality he was evil and only wanted to over throw God. He tried to deceive God and take away all his good doings, however the good triumphed the bad and all was well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ACT 4

 

1.       How is Petruchio's masculinity represented? Examine his treatment of servants, Kate, etc.

 Petruchio shows his masculinity by downing those under his command and using harsh words as well as force. He makes himself feel and look superior by threatening others around him. He treats his wife and servants in a poor manner.

 

 

 

2.       Many critics mark the sun/moon scene in the road to Padua (scene 5) as the turning point in the play which indicates Kate's taming. What is different about this scene? If she is tamed, what is she submitting to? Is it really a "submission," or can it be interpreted in other ways?

This scene is different because Kate finally does not argue with Petruchio when he makes foolish statements. She is not necessarily submitting herself to being his wife or loving him, but she is submitting to survival. She only accepts his harsh words because she wants food and sleep. It is not because she wants to; it is because she has to.

 

 

ACT 5

 

 

 

1.       Analyze Kate's final speech. Is she sincere or ironic? Should we take her at her word? Or should we imagine a gap between what she says and what she means? Does the context of her words change their meanings? What are different possibilities in performing this scene?

 

Kate tries to implicate sincerity in her words to prove to her husband she lives to serve him; however there is a gap between what she says and what she means. She does not mention being a good wife by loving her husband but by serving him. She has no desire to be his wife but he takes care of her and she knows she has no other choice. While performing this scene, Kate could show that she will not back down to her husband’s tone and then all the women would make a point to their husbands. Instead, Petruchio makes a point to the other women, men and Kate.

 

 

2.       What happens to the power dynamics in this scene–between men and men, women and women, men and women?

The men are trying to show each other that they control their wives more than the other. In other words, the one that can make his wife jump whenever he asks is the man that is most powerful. The women believe they have the power to show their husbands they are not a stepping stool, however in the end the wife that is more obedient tends to be the one thought highly of. Men want to show they over power their wives because in that time period, the wife was to look at her husband for all guidance and obey him to the fullest.