The Taming of the Shrew
The Taming of the Shrew Quotations Analyzed
1. “Thus it stands:
Her elder sister is so curst and shrewd
That till the father rid his hands of her,
Master, your love must live a maid at home,
And therefore has he closely mewed her up,
Because she will not be annoyed with suitors.”
In Act 1, Scene 1 Lucentio and his servant Tranio spot Baptista Minola and his two daughters,
Katherine and Bianca, for the first time. In this quotation, Lucentio explains to his
daydreaming master the essential conflict of the play. Lucentio uses an apt metaphor to
describe Lucentio’s desire for Bianca: it is a “maid at home,” just as Bianca herself will be
confined to her father’s home and unable to meet with suitors until Katherine is wed. Lucentio
also provides a (rather misogynistic, but typical) description of Katherine. She is “curst and
shrewd.”
2. “I come to wive it wealthily in Padua;
If wealthily, then happily in Padua.”
Our second male protagonist, Petruchio, is introduced in Act 1, Scene 2. Here he explains to
his old friend Hortensio his primary motivation: to marry a rich wife. Since his father died
leaving him in possession of his fortune, Petruchio wants to establish himself further by
marrying into even more money. Although Hortensio feels guilty about introducing his friend
to a horrible shrew like Katherine, Petruchio is eager to meet her. From our first acquaintance
with him, we see that Petruchio is something of a madman and in possession of strange (and
comic) values; thus he is an amusing match for Katherine.
3. “Thus in plain terms: your father hath consented
That you shall be my wife, your dowry ‘greed on,
And will you, nill you, I will marry you.
Now Kate, I am a husband for your turn,
For by this light, whereby I see thy beauty—
Thy beauty that doth make me like thee well—
Thou must be married to no man but me,
For I am he am born to tame you, Kate,
And bring you from a wild Kate to a Kate
Conformable as other household Kates.”
At the end of Katherine’s and Petruchio’s epic first meeting in Act 2, Scene 1, Petruchio asserts
his unwavering intention of marrying Katherine regardless of her objections. Whether he is
merely an abusive misogynist or he actually loves Kate (and she him) is left to the playgoer’s
imagination. Indeed, it is one of the essential questions of the drama. Either way, Petruchio
insists that he is the right man for her, and in fact he was “born to tame” her. The final line of
the quotation, in which he promises to make her as “conformable as other household Kates”
foreshadows Katherine’s great speech in Act 5, Scene 2 (see below).
4. “No shame but mine. I must, forsooth, be forced
To give my hand, opposed agaisnt my heart
Unto a mad-brain rudesby, full of spleen
Who wooed in haste and means to wed at leisure.”
When Petruchio arrives late for his own wedding in the climactic Act 3, Scene 2, Katherine
feels like a fool. Here she complains to her father and the other bridal guests that Petruchio
has no intention of marrying her. She famously describes him as “a mad-brain rudesby”; and
indication that her betrothed, like she herself, lies somewhat outside the circle of normal
polite society. It is of critical importance to our understanding of the play that we understand
that Katherine is truly hurt by Petruchio’s failure to appear. Being left at the altar is every girl’
s worst nightmare (in the stereotypical world of comic romance), and despite her spirited
defense of herself against Petruchio’s advanced in Act 2, Scene 1, Katherine is emotionally
wounded by Petruchio’s failure to appear. Of course he is on his way, and this lateness is an
intentional tactic Petruchio is using to begin “taming” Katherine.
5. “Why, Petruchio is coming in a new hat and an old jerkin, a pair of old breeches thrice turned,
a pair of boots that have been candle-cases, one buckled, another laced; an old rusty sword ta’
en out of the town armory, with a broken hilt, and chapeless; with two broken points; his horse
hipped, with an old mothy saddle and stirrups of no kindred . . .”
In Act 3, Scene 2 Biondello (Lucentio’s second servant) narrates to the assembled wedding
guests the spectacle of Petruchio on his way to the ceremony. Not only has he come late, but
Petruchio is also dressed inappropriately and is riding a ridiculous nag. This is written in an
over-the-top, comic, prose style. Interestingly, Shakespeare has both this vision of Petruchio
en route and the actual wedding ceremony narrated by witnesses in this scene rather than
actually showing them on the stage. In the case of Biondello’s narration, it creates suspense
as the audience awaits the hilarious sight of Petruchio’s garb. Although this technique seems
to fly in the face of the writer’s creed “show, don’t tell,” in this instance Shakespeare creates
even more comic effect through the narration as opposed to the actual spectacle.
6. “Nay, look not big, nor stamp, nor stare, nor fret;
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, touch her whoever dare.”
Petruchio is speaking here to the wedding party after the actual ceremony in Act 3, Scene 2.
He refuses to stay for the wedding reception, and he demands that his bride leave early with
him. The implication is that he is overly eager to experience his wedding night, and he
reaffirms our understanding of his oafish, rude persona. Of course Petruchio is using this
tactic as part of his plan to “tame” Katherine, and his continued over-the-top behavior must
be understood in that light. The list of physical possessions to which he compares his new
bride are intentionally non-romantic and includes the double entendre on the penultimate
item. Compare this list to the similar list embedded in Katherine’s great final speech in Act 5,
Scene 2.
7. “And, in conclusion, she shall watch all night,
And, if she chance to nod, I’ll rail and brawl,
And with the clamor keep her awake.
This is the way to kill a wife with kindness.
And thus I’ll curb her mad and headstrong humor.
He that knows better how to tame a shrew,
Now let him speak; ‘tis charity to shew.”
Having successfully whisked Katherine away to his home outside of Padua, Petruchio
concludes Act 4, Scene 1 with this soliloquy. He explains that he will tame Katherine as a
falconer trains a hawk; through starvation and sleep deprivation. This cruel, misogynistic
behavior is played for a laugh, although it is up to the audience to decide just how seriously
we are meant to take Shakespeare’s criticism of petulant female behavior and lengths to
which a man might go to curb it. As usual, Shakespeare ends the scene with a rhymed couplet;
in this case an awkward one.
8. “Forward, I pray, since we have come so far,
And be it moon, or sun, or what you please.
And if you please to call it a rush candle,
Henceforth I vow it shall be so for me.”
This quotation represents the precise moment in Act 4, Scene 5 in which Katherine is finally
“tamed.” Throughout the falling action, Petruchio has belligerently treated Katherine with
cruelty while insisting that she do whatever he say without contradiction (as befits a dutiful
wife). He uses her desire to return to Padua to see her sister’s wedding as a carrot. When she
contradicts him, he threatens to turn around and return to his home; the site of her cruel
mistreatment. At last, she can defy him no longer, and in order to get what she wants to
agrees to call the sun the moon even though it most clearly is not. Whether or not she is
actually broken to his will or merely doing what is expedient in order to humor Petruchio is
left to the audience’s imagination.
9. “My mind hath been as big as one of yours,
My heart as great, my reason haply more,
To bandy word for word and frown for frown;
But now I see our lances are but straws,
Our strength as weak, our weakness past compare,
That seeming to be most which we indeed least are.
Then vail your stomachs, for it is no boot,
And place your hands below your husband’s foot,
In token of which duty, if he please,
My hand is ready, may it do him ease.”
Katherine’s great final speech to the Widow and her sister Bianca in Act 5, Scene 2 is critical
to our interpretation of the play. In fact, depending upon one’s point of view, it is the play’s
salvation, for it elevates this broad, comic drama from mere lighthearted farce to a text
deserving of serious study. Does Katherine believe the words that she says here? Is she
actually “tamed”? Or is she merely saying what she has to say in order to avoid more
mistreatment at Petruchio’s hands? If she doesn’t mean what she says, why give so long and
detailed a speech? The decisions of the actor playing Katherine and the director of the play
will influence the playgoers’ interpretations and therefore the impact of the entire experience.
Given the theme of disguise that Shakespeare sets up in the Induction is carried throughout
the play (think of all of the characters who disguise themselves at one point or another), we
should be prepared for a final payoff in which words themselves are in disguise. The most
likely interpretation, then, is that Katherine does not mean a word that she says and remains
a shrew at home. She will play the dutiful wife in public but rule her husband in private.
Shakespeare gently and humorously insinuates that this is the state of all marriages.
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1. “Thus it stands:
Her elder sister is so curst and shrewd
That till the father rid his hands of her,
Master, your love must live a maid at home,
And therefore has he closely mewed her up,
Because she will not be annoyed with suitors.”
In Act 1, Scene 1 Lucentio and his servant Tranio spot Baptista Minola and his two daughters,
Katherine and Bianca, for the first time. In this quotation, Lucentio explains to his
daydreaming master the essential conflict of the play. Lucentio uses an apt metaphor to
describe Lucentio’s desire for Bianca: it is a “maid at home,” just as Bianca herself will be
confined to her father’s home and unable to meet with suitors until Katherine is wed. Lucentio
also provides a (rather misogynistic, but typical) description of Katherine. She is “curst and
shrewd.”
2. “I come to wive it wealthily in Padua;
If wealthily, then happily in Padua.”
Our second male protagonist, Petruchio, is introduced in Act 1, Scene 2. Here he explains to
his old friend Hortensio his primary motivation: to marry a rich wife. Since his father died
leaving him in possession of his fortune, Petruchio wants to establish himself further by
marrying into even more money. Although Hortensio feels guilty about introducing his friend
to a horrible shrew like Katherine, Petruchio is eager to meet her. From our first acquaintance
with him, we see that Petruchio is something of a madman and in possession of strange (and
comic) values; thus he is an amusing match for Katherine.
3. “Thus in plain terms: your father hath consented
That you shall be my wife, your dowry ‘greed on,
And will you, nill you, I will marry you.
Now Kate, I am a husband for your turn,
For by this light, whereby I see thy beauty—
Thy beauty that doth make me like thee well—
Thou must be married to no man but me,
For I am he am born to tame you, Kate,
And bring you from a wild Kate to a Kate
Conformable as other household Kates.”
At the end of Katherine’s and Petruchio’s epic first meeting in Act 2, Scene 1, Petruchio asserts
his unwavering intention of marrying Katherine regardless of her objections. Whether he is
merely an abusive misogynist or he actually loves Kate (and she him) is left to the playgoer’s
imagination. Indeed, it is one of the essential questions of the drama. Either way, Petruchio
insists that he is the right man for her, and in fact he was “born to tame” her. The final line of
the quotation, in which he promises to make her as “conformable as other household Kates”
foreshadows Katherine’s great speech in Act 5, Scene 2 (see below).
4. “No shame but mine. I must, forsooth, be forced
To give my hand, opposed agaisnt my heart
Unto a mad-brain rudesby, full of spleen
Who wooed in haste and means to wed at leisure.”
When Petruchio arrives late for his own wedding in the climactic Act 3, Scene 2, Katherine
feels like a fool. Here she complains to her father and the other bridal guests that Petruchio
has no intention of marrying her. She famously describes him as “a mad-brain rudesby”; and
indication that her betrothed, like she herself, lies somewhat outside the circle of normal
polite society. It is of critical importance to our understanding of the play that we understand
that Katherine is truly hurt by Petruchio’s failure to appear. Being left at the altar is every girl’
s worst nightmare (in the stereotypical world of comic romance), and despite her spirited
defense of herself against Petruchio’s advanced in Act 2, Scene 1, Katherine is emotionally
wounded by Petruchio’s failure to appear. Of course he is on his way, and this lateness is an
intentional tactic Petruchio is using to begin “taming” Katherine.
5. “Why, Petruchio is coming in a new hat and an old jerkin, a pair of old breeches thrice turned,
a pair of boots that have been candle-cases, one buckled, another laced; an old rusty sword ta’
en out of the town armory, with a broken hilt, and chapeless; with two broken points; his horse
hipped, with an old mothy saddle and stirrups of no kindred . . .”
In Act 3, Scene 2 Biondello (Lucentio’s second servant) narrates to the assembled wedding
guests the spectacle of Petruchio on his way to the ceremony. Not only has he come late, but
Petruchio is also dressed inappropriately and is riding a ridiculous nag. This is written in an
over-the-top, comic, prose style. Interestingly, Shakespeare has both this vision of Petruchio
en route and the actual wedding ceremony narrated by witnesses in this scene rather than
actually showing them on the stage. In the case of Biondello’s narration, it creates suspense
as the audience awaits the hilarious sight of Petruchio’s garb. Although this technique seems
to fly in the face of the writer’s creed “show, don’t tell,” in this instance Shakespeare creates
even more comic effect through the narration as opposed to the actual spectacle.
6. “Nay, look not big, nor stamp, nor stare, nor fret;
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, touch her whoever dare.”
Petruchio is speaking here to the wedding party after the actual ceremony in Act 3, Scene 2.
He refuses to stay for the wedding reception, and he demands that his bride leave early with
him. The implication is that he is overly eager to experience his wedding night, and he
reaffirms our understanding of his oafish, rude persona. Of course Petruchio is using this
tactic as part of his plan to “tame” Katherine, and his continued over-the-top behavior must
be understood in that light. The list of physical possessions to which he compares his new
bride are intentionally non-romantic and includes the double entendre on the penultimate
item. Compare this list to the similar list embedded in Katherine’s great final speech in Act 5,
Scene 2.
7. “And, in conclusion, she shall watch all night,
And, if she chance to nod, I’ll rail and brawl,
And with the clamor keep her awake.
This is the way to kill a wife with kindness.
And thus I’ll curb her mad and headstrong humor.
He that knows better how to tame a shrew,
Now let him speak; ‘tis charity to shew.”
Having successfully whisked Katherine away to his home outside of Padua, Petruchio
concludes Act 4, Scene 1 with this soliloquy. He explains that he will tame Katherine as a
falconer trains a hawk; through starvation and sleep deprivation. This cruel, misogynistic
behavior is played for a laugh, although it is up to the audience to decide just how seriously
we are meant to take Shakespeare’s criticism of petulant female behavior and lengths to
which a man might go to curb it. As usual, Shakespeare ends the scene with a rhymed couplet;
in this case an awkward one.
8. “Forward, I pray, since we have come so far,
And be it moon, or sun, or what you please.
And if you please to call it a rush candle,
Henceforth I vow it shall be so for me.”
This quotation represents the precise moment in Act 4, Scene 5 in which Katherine is finally
“tamed.” Throughout the falling action, Petruchio has belligerently treated Katherine with
cruelty while insisting that she do whatever he say without contradiction (as befits a dutiful
wife). He uses her desire to return to Padua to see her sister’s wedding as a carrot. When she
contradicts him, he threatens to turn around and return to his home; the site of her cruel
mistreatment. At last, she can defy him no longer, and in order to get what she wants to
agrees to call the sun the moon even though it most clearly is not. Whether or not she is
actually broken to his will or merely doing what is expedient in order to humor Petruchio is
left to the audience’s imagination.
9. “My mind hath been as big as one of yours,
My heart as great, my reason haply more,
To bandy word for word and frown for frown;
But now I see our lances are but straws,
Our strength as weak, our weakness past compare,
That seeming to be most which we indeed least are.
Then vail your stomachs, for it is no boot,
And place your hands below your husband’s foot,
In token of which duty, if he please,
My hand is ready, may it do him ease.”
Katherine’s great final speech to the Widow and her sister Bianca in Act 5, Scene 2 is critical
to our interpretation of the play. In fact, depending upon one’s point of view, it is the play’s
salvation, for it elevates this broad, comic drama from mere lighthearted farce to a text
deserving of serious study. Does Katherine believe the words that she says here? Is she
actually “tamed”? Or is she merely saying what she has to say in order to avoid more
mistreatment at Petruchio’s hands? If she doesn’t mean what she says, why give so long and
detailed a speech? The decisions of the actor playing Katherine and the director of the play
will influence the playgoers’ interpretations and therefore the impact of the entire experience.
Given the theme of disguise that Shakespeare sets up in the Induction is carried throughout
the play (think of all of the characters who disguise themselves at one point or another), we
should be prepared for a final payoff in which words themselves are in disguise. The most
likely interpretation, then, is that Katherine does not mean a word that she says and remains
a shrew at home. She will play the dutiful wife in public but rule her husband in private.
Shakespeare gently and humorously insinuates that this is the state of all marriages.
Back to Main Page