Summary
Summary of The Taming of the Shrew
Key ideas
Key idea 1
Marriage becomes a contest of power
In Padua, Katherina is known for her sharp tongue, while Petruchio arrives from Verona looking for a wife with a large dowry. Their courtship sits at the centre of a comedy crowded with disguises, rival suitors and tricks. Money and marriage are closely tied from the start.
Yet the play leaves room for different ways of understanding this pair. Their encounters can look like a farce about power, a strange love story, or a joke aimed in more than one direction.
Key idea 2
Sly learns to believe his role
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Key idea 3
A father's rule divides two sisters
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Key idea 4
Petruchio turns courtship into verbal combat
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Key idea 5
Disguises turn love into a bargain
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Key idea 6
Care becomes a means of control
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Key idea 7
Money and performance shape marriage
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Key idea 8
Katherina's role remains an open question
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The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
Read the rest freeWho it’s for
For readers who enjoy fast, witty comedy, disguises and duels of wit, and want to explore one of Shakespeare's most debated plays before seeing it or reading it.
What this book is
The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy by William Shakespeare, probably written in the early 1590s for the London stage. It was first printed in the Folio of 1623, seven years after his death. The play is set in Padua, in northern Italy. It follows Katherina, the sharp-tongued elder daughter of a rich merchant, and Petruchio, a gentleman from Verona who arrives hunting for a wife with a large dowry. Around them run a second courtship, a crowd of disguises and a set of tricks played on a drunken tinker.
In about nine minutes you get the shape of the whole play, the people who drive it and the scenes that matter most. You also get the questions. Is it a farce about power, a strange love story, or a joke that cuts in more than one direction? To see why those questions arise, start with the odd frame that opens the play, a cruel prank on a man who has had too much to drink.
In this summary
- 1A drunk is fooled into playing a lordFree
- 2Two sisters and a father's strange rule
- 3Petruchio comes to Padua to find a rich wife
- 4Disguises, tutors and a tangle of suitors
- 5Taming at Petruchio's house, or cruelty as a game
- 6Control, money and performance: what the play is about
Key point 1 of 6
A drunk is fooled into playing a lord
The play opens not in Padua but outside an alehouse in the English countryside. Christopher Sly, a tinker, is thrown out by the hostess after he refuses to pay for broken glasses. He blusters, boasts about his family, and falls asleep on the ground, dead drunk.
A lord comes home from hunting and finds him there. For his own amusement the lord orders his servants to carry Sly to a fine bedroom and dress him in rich clothes. When Sly wakes, they are to tell him he is a great lord who has been mad for years and has now recovered. Servants bring him music, wine and perfumed water, and a page boy is dressed as a lady and presented as his devoted wife.
Sly is coarse, bewildered and poor, yet he slips into the role faster than anyone expects. He begins to say that he must be a lord after all, because the evidence all around him says so. Then a company of travelling players arrives. The lord arranges for them to perform a comedy for Sly and his lady, and that comedy is the story of Katherina and Petruchio.
Why does this frame matter? It tells the audience from the start that what follows is a performance, a play inside a play, in which people put on roles and others choose to believe them. It raises the question of whether a person is what he is or what others say he is. In the standard text, Sly speaks only briefly after the inner play begins, and scholars still argue about whether he was meant to return. Keep the question in mind, because it comes back when Petruchio goes to work on Katherina.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Check yourself
Why does Baptista's rule make Bianca's suitors seek a husband for Katherina?
Right. “Baptista Minola, a wealthy citizen, is telling a crowd of suitors that his younger daughter Bianca cannot be courted until his elder daughter Katherina is married.”Not quite. “Baptista Minola, a wealthy citizen, is telling a crowd of suitors that his younger daughter Bianca cannot be courted until his elder daughter Katherina is married.”
What does Petruchio openly seek when he arrives looking for a wife?
Right. “He has come to find a wife, and he wants her rich.”Not quite. “He has come to find a wife, and he wants her rich.”
What central uncertainty surrounds Katherina's response to Petruchio?
Right. “It asks whether Petruchio is truly changing her, or whether she is quietly choosing how to deal with him.”Not quite. “It asks whether Petruchio is truly changing her, or whether she is quietly choosing how to deal with him.”
Who’s who
- Katherina
- Katherina is Baptista Minola's sharp-tongued elder daughter, whose fierce wit contrasts with her sister Bianca's apparent gentleness.
- Petruchio
- Petruchio is Hortensio's confident friend from Verona, seeking a wealthy wife and undaunted by Katherina's reputation.
- Bianca
- Bianca is Katherina's younger sister, whose many suitors must wait until their father permits her marriage.
- Baptista Minola
- Baptista Minola is the wealthy father of Katherina and Bianca, controlling their marriage prospects through financial bargains.
- Lucentio
- Lucentio is a young student from Pisa who courts Bianca disguised as a tutor, aided by Tranio.
- Tranio
- Tranio is Lucentio's resourceful servant, assuming his master's identity to help him pursue Bianca in secret.
- Hortensio
- Hortensio is Petruchio's friend and Bianca's suitor, disguising himself as a music teacher to approach her.
- Christopher Sly
- Christopher Sly is a drunken tinker whom a lord tricks into believing himself a nobleman watching theatrical entertainment.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 23,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 1 h 30 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 14 other languages
Questions about The Taming of the Shrew
What is The Taming of the Shrew about?
It is a comedy about Katherina, a sharp-tongued woman in Padua, and Petruchio, who marries her for her dowry and tries to change her ways. A second plot follows suitors who disguise themselves to court her sister Bianca.
Who is Christopher Sly in The Taming of the Shrew?
Sly is a drunken tinker who is tricked by a lord into thinking he is a nobleman. The main story is then performed for him by travelling players, which makes the play a play within a play.
What does the word shrew mean in the title?
In Shakespeare's time a shrew meant a scolding, bad-tempered woman. To tame her meant to bring her under a husband's control, as a trainer tames a wild animal. The title already hints at the debate about the play.
When was The Taming of the Shrew written and is it a true story?
It was probably written in the early 1590s and first printed in the Folio of 1623. It is not a true story. Its plots draw on older tales of unruly wives and on an Italian comedy by Ariosto.
Is The Taming of the Shrew controversial today?
Yes. Readers argue about whether the play endorses his methods or mocks them. Directors stage it very differently, from broad farce to sharp satire.
