Prev | Next | Contents

THE SHREW AND HER TAMER

Does the Shrew justify her reputation on her first appearance? What is said of her compared with what she does then and in Act II? Why is Petruchio's first approach with a combat of wit and a great bluff of compliment effective? Is Kate really impressed by it, or only fearful that she is being fooled? How do you account for her denial of him and his suit to her father in Act II and her mortification when he does not arrive till late in Act III? Does Petruchio's speech to the others and before them (II, i, 328-350) account for the change? His arrival at the wedding in such shabby attire and with so wretched an appearance as to retinue, with his sorry horse and man-servant contrasts strongly with the promises held out in this speech. What is the effect on Kate and why does it serve his purpose?

Is Kate's entreaty to stay, or her action in showing her bridegroom the door the climax of the wedding scene? What is the point in the stage business of Petruchio's speech warning others not to touch his chattel? Is she really being befriended by the bystanders when she declares they must go "forward to the bridall dinner" or is she so entirely alone in her opposition to Petruchio's command to go, that his speech is the keenest satire upon her defencelessness in every direction but through him?

Is Petruchio's conduct at home and the servants' comment upon it such as to make Kate's two entreaties explicable?

What light does Petruchio's own account (IV, i, 183-207) of his method throw upon it?

In the eating and haberdasher scene (IV, iii) what is it Kate learns--merely that she cannot command by force and can have what she wants by another method? What is the secret of her tractableness in Scene v?

Prev | Next | Contents