THE TAMING SHREW - Royal Shakespeare Company

The activities in this pack are inspired by Lucy Bailey’s 2012 production of The Taming of 

the Shrew. They can be used either as stand-alone practical approaches to this play or as 

supporting activities for students seeing the production. They have been designed with 

KS3 to KS5 students in mind, but can be adapted for other age groups. Some are best 

suited to an open space such as a hall, but many can be used in a classroom. 

ABOUT OUR EDUCATION WORK 

We want children and young people to enjoy the challenge of Shakespeare and achieve 

more as a result of connecting with his work. Central to our education work is our manifesto 

for Shakespeare in schools, Stand up for Shakespeare. We know that children and young 

people can experience Shakespeare in ways that excite, engage and inspire them. 

We believe that young people get the most out of Shakespeare when they: 

■ Do Shakespeare on their feet - exploring the plays actively as actors do 

■ See it Live - participate as members of a live audience 

■ Start it Earlier - work on the plays from a younger age 

We also believe in the power of ensemble; a way of working together in both the rehearsal 

room and across the company enabling everyone’s ideas and voices to be heard. Artistic 

Director, Michael Boyd encapsulates this vision for ensemble in his rehearsal room where 

actors are encouraged to try out different interpretations of scenes before deciding together 

on what will be presented to an audience in the final performance. 

CONTENTS 

Introductory notes Page 2 

Investigating the Induction Page 3 

Exploring the characters Page 6 

Investigating interpretative choices Page 7 

Investigating how design creates Page 9 

meaning from text 

THE TAMING 

SHREW 

OF THE 

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE 

E D U C A T I O N A C T I V I T I E S P A C K 

These symbols are used throughout the pack: 

 

 

 

READ 

Contextual notes from the 2012 

production 

ACTIVITY 

A classroom or open space activity 

LINKS 

Useful web addresses 

 

Visit www.rsc.org.uk/education/resources for more resources on Shrew including: 

Interview with the Elle While, Assistant Director on this 2012 production 

Teachers’ activity pack based on the 2011 Young People’s Shakespeare production 

Images, videos and information about past productions in the Resource Bank 

Registered charity no. 212481 © Royal Shakespeare Company Page 1

INTRODUCTORY NOTES 

In 1928 Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch wrote in his Introduction to the New Cambridge edition of 

The Taming of the Shrew: 

‘Let us put it that to any modern civilised man, reading . . . the Shrew in his library, 

the whole Petruchio business. . . may seem . . . tiresome - and to any modern 

woman, not an antiquary, offensive as well.’ 

What was Shakespeare up to in this early play and how can it say something pertinent to us 

in our own time? What can explain Katherine’s transformation from social rebel to 

compliant wife? Was Shakespeare, creator of Portia and Rosalind, here in this play an 

advocate of Elizabethan mercantile marriage and shrew-taming? Or was he describing 

contemporary attitudes and practices for the reflection and possibly reformation of his 

audiences? Whatever the answer to that question, what insight can this raucous battle of 

the sexes in which the woman loses, give us into the nature and conduct of our own 

relationships? 

In recent years theatre directors have staged a variety of 

answers to that question, ranging from a grim comment on 

the continuing repression of women in our own society to 

the idea that both Kate and Petruchio find comfort and 

peace in mutually-accepted boundaries. 

Several contemporary productions have presented Kate and 

Petruchio as outsiders who are genuinely attracted to one 

another and eventually forge a trusting relationship which 

heals old wounds. The production directed by Lucy Bailey 

adds to this perspective a very strong sexual attraction - an enormous bed is the central 

feature of the set design. Crucially, these two social outcasts find in their relationship the 

confidence to mock and reject the commercial, conformist values of the society that has 

mistreated them in the first place. 

ORIGINAL PERFORMANCE CONDITIONS 

The Taming of the Shrew was written some time between 1592 and 1594. It was likely that it 

was first performed at the Newington Butts Theatre, now under the southern roundabout of 

the Elephant and Castle junction in London. Newington Butts was one of the earliest of 

Elizabethan theatres, possibly the first dedicated Elizabethan playhouse. 

Shakespeare may have written The Taming of the Shrew for the Earl of Pembroke’s men, one 

of the professional theatre companies of the time. 

 

For more about Elizabethan staging practices, read ‘Shakespeare’s theatre’ at: 

www.rsc.org.uk/education/resources/social-historical-context 

For more about the performance history of Shrew: 

www.rsc.org.uk/explore/taming-of-the-shrew/performance-history 


INVESTIGATING THE INDUCTION 

Directors have varied widely in their treatment of Shakespeare’s only ‘Induction’ - the 

Christopher Sly framework to the play. Some directors have cut it entirely while others have 

used it to explain the ending of the play: as a dreamed delusion on the part of the 

misogynistic, socially-aspirant Sly who imagines himself as Petruchio. 

Lucy Bailey’s production gives the Induction and Sly himself full prominence. He stays on 

stage for almost the entire first half of the play, and his behaviour interlinks with the Shrew 

plot. 

Lucy found the Induction a valuable commentary on the main story as Lisa Dillon, playing 

Kate, explains, 

‘Some people cut [the Induction] because I think they find that it’s got nothing to do 

with The Taming of the Shrew. But it’s actually got a lot to do with it because 

Christopher Sly, who is your main man in the play, has something being actively 

done to him in the same way that something is actively being done to Kate … he is 

also anarchic; he’s an outsider; he’s a drunk.’ 

Below is a series of exercises which invite students to explore the dramatic function of the 

Induction and the role of Christopher Sly. 

Hiran Abeysekera as Bartholomew and 

Nick Holder as Sly in the 2012 production 


INVESTIGATING THE INDUCTION [CONTINUED] 

 

Montage 

Ask students to read aloud the two scenes beginning on page 10 of this pack, the first 

from the Induction and the other from the play-within-the-play. 

Then ask them to work in groups of four as they create a montage of the two scenes, 

making them into one scene where the action moves quickly between the Sly story and 

Kate’s encounter with Petruchio. The links, parallels and points of comparison should be 

evident. 

Explain that this is a film technique where we see a snippet of an event in one context or 

setting and then jump to a different event to see what is happening elsewhere at the 

same time. 

You may want to ask that they incorporate at least three ‘jumps’ in action in their 

montage. Explain that they may heavily edit both scenes, using only snippets from each. 

If students know the play well, they can create a montage from bits of text throughout the 

play. There are many more parallels to be found between the Induction and the play-withinthe 

play outside these two scenes. (This approach might make a good revision exercise.) 

Ask the students to rehearse their montage scenes and perform them. 

Play ‘Freeze Frame’ with one or two of the scenes after they have been performed once. 

In ‘Freeze Frame’ any member of the audience is allowed to freeze the action at any 

point and address a question to one of the characters involved, for example: ‘Why did 

you do/say that just now?’ and ‘What are you thinking right now?’ 

Ask them to explain their thinking behind the montage scenes they have created. 

In particular: 

What do Kate and Sly have in common in their characters and their circumstances? 

What plot features do the two stories share? 

Why would Shakespeare have included the Induction in the play? 

What use would they make of the Induction and Sly if they were staging the play? 

 

Kate meets Sly 

Either following on from the Montages above or as a stand-alone activity, ask students 

to write a short scene of 8 to 10 lines of dialogue in which Kate meets Sly. 

Before writing the dialogue they should make these decisions: 

Where might Kate run into Sly? 

Who would begin the conversation? 

How would they get on with one another? 

What might the outcome be of their encounter? 

Rehearse and present these scenes. 


INVESTIGATING THE INDUCTION [CONTINUED] 

 

What happens next? 

Ask students to write Sly’s diary entry for the evening after he has seen the play. 

And/or: 

Ask students to complete the ‘frame’ for Shrew by writing an epilogue, either in verse or 

in narrative form which explains or enacts what happens to Sly after the conclusion of 

the play-within-the-play. 

And/or: 

Working in groups of five, ask students to create a still image which represents Sly’s 

response to seeing the-play-within-the-play. 

Adrian Lukis as Lord and Nick Holder as 

Christopher Sly in the 2012 production 


EXPLORING THE CHARACTERS 

This activity can be used alone or as an extension of the exercise sequence described in the 

teachers’ pack for the 2011 Young People’s Shakespeare production of The Taming of the 

Shrew. The pack is available on this webpage: www.rsc.org.uk/education/resources 

(Download the pack and read the description on page 6 of the active approach to exploring 

character in this play.) 

Shakespeare wrote for a bare thrust stage, with only the 

theatre architecture, some carefully selected props and a 

few bits of costume to provide all the stage design. This 

was ‘actor’s theatre’ with the actor carrying the great 

majority of responsibility for the success of the show. 

The 2012 production of Shrew is also performed on a thrust 

stage and while there is more in the way of stage set than 

in Shakespeare’s time, the properties, or ‘props’, are still 

very powerful on a comparatively plain set and give the 

audience important information about the characters. 

Personal props are especially useful for creating vivid 

characters. In this production, for example, in the first two 

acts, Kate is seldom without a cigarette and a drink. 

Playing with props 

Lisa Dillon as Kate in the 2012 production 

To prepare, write the names of the Shrew characters on slips of paper and put them in a 

hat/container. 

Ask students work solo or in pairs. Each person or pair picks a character from the hat. 

Explain to them about the story-telling power of props, especially on a thrust stage (see 

above). If possible project the picture above and others from the photo galleries of the 

1976 and 2008 productions, available in our Resource Bank: 

www.rsc.org.uk/education/resources/bank/the-taming-of-the-shrew/images/ 

Have students draw a prop taking up about half of one side of A4 which they feel would 

give important information to the audience about the character they have chosen and 

which would also help the actor in creating the role. 

Specify that it must be something the character can use in at least one scene in the play. 

Ask the students to write their name at the top of the paper. Then pass the papers 

around the class. As other students receive them, ask them to guess which character the 

prop is for, and write that character’s name below or beside the drawing. 

If possible, and if you have time, ask students to bring in equivalents for the props they have 

drawn or provide them from the school’s property store. Then: 

Ask students to move around the space using these props as they believe their character 

would. When they encounter another character they should greet the character by 

name and in a way they imagine their character would. 

Ask all the characters to gather for a group photo with their props. They negotiate with 

one another their positions in the photo. Tell them the photo must show clearly the 

relationships between the characters toward the start of the play. It should also show 

the characters using their props in typical fashion. 

Who wants to be near whom? One chair is allowed. Who gets to sit in it? 


INVESTIGATING INTERPRETATIVE CHOICES 

Interpreting Katherine’s journey in The Taming of the Shrew 

has challenged directors’ ingenuity for many years and led to 

a wide range of ‘governing ideas’ for productions of the play. 

The 2012 production directed by Lucy Bailey makes a 

particularly strong and unusual statement: two damaged 

people, both social outcasts, forge a trusting relationship 

which enables them to reject the social values of their time. 

The exercise sequence below (‘Imagescapes’) asks students 

to think from the point of view of the theatre director and to 

ask themselves, ‘For me, what is this play about?’ and ‘How 

does the text support my ideas?’ 

 

Imagescapes 

Use ‘River of Images’ as a warm-up. 

To do this, ask your students to brainstorm what this play is about and offer single 

words such as ‘marriage,’ ‘battle,’ ‘money’ to sum up their thinking. 

Choose five of their words (the summarised ideas) and sequence them so they tell a 

story (for example: money, battle, marriage, oppression, triumph). 

Ask students to work in pairs on their feet. 

Call out these words and have them make a still image for each in five seconds. 

Now call the five words out quickly again and ask students to reform the same 

images in quick succession. 

Ask students to rehearse these images so that they move continuously from one to 

another in slow-motion (as if doing a slow-motion dance). 

When they have rehearsed these, arrange the pairs in a large circle and cue the first 

pair to begin their Shrew ‘dance’. When this pair reaches their fourth image, cue the 

second pair to begin and so on until all the pairs have performed their image dances. 

Now ask players to work in groups of five or so. Ask each group to respond to the 

question, ‘For us, what is this play about?’ by choosing one of the statements on 

page 15. 

The simplest culmination of this exercise is: 

Ask students to create a still image to represent their chosen idea. 

A more complex culmination of this exercise is: 

David Caves as Petruchio and Lisa 

Dillon as Kate in the 2012 production 

Ask students to choose one or more lines from the ‘text scraps’ supplied on page 16 

and to use these words for 10 seconds when you ‘clap alive’ their still image. 

The image then speaks and moves before it freezes again. 

The most challenging (and possibly most rewarding) culmination of imagescaping is: 

Ask students to create one minute of action to represent their idea. 

They should use the text scraps on page 16 but the idea does not need to have any 

explicit connection to the story or characters of The Taming of the Shrew. 

(This approach invites students to act out an explicit relationship between themes in 

Shrew and issues in their own lives.) 


Ask groups to perform their imagescapes. The ‘visiting’ groups should guess what 

the image or minute of action is communicating. 

After each imagescape, ask the performing group to share their thinking about their 

choice. What is there in the characters, the action and the language of the text that 

led them to create their imagescape? 

Explain that directors are always reinterpreting Shakespeare for our time. What 

message would their idea for their Shrew production send to a modern audience? 

Extension activity 

Show students images from past productions and ask them what the production 

concept or governing idea might be from what they see. 

Use the RSC Education Resource Bank for images of past RSC productions: 

www.rsc.org.uk/education/resources/bank/the-taming-of-the-shrew/images/ 


UNDERSTANDING HOW DESIGN CREATES MEANING FROM TEXT 

‘All the world’s a bed,’ says Suzannah Clapp in The 

Observer review of the 2012 production of The Taming 

of the Shrew. She goes on to describe the connection 

between the enormous bed which fills the thrust stage 

and Lucy Bailey’s interpretation of the play: 

‘At times the entire stage is filled with a massive 

satin counterpane and pillows. At others, Ruth 

Sutcliffe's design covers the floor in a sandcoloured 

sheet under which characters crawl towards each other: you can see the 

lumps trying to hump. This world is also a whirl: always on the move and changing 

shape, emotionally and physically.’ 

Activity: Exploring design 

This activity follows on from the Imagescapes activity above. 

Ask students to work in the same groups. 

The bed, however, isn’t the only design statement 

made by this production. Bailey chooses to set the 

production in post-war Italy with its materialistic, 

paternalistic, parochial outlook: the value system 

that has devalued and damaged Kate and from 

which her relationship with Petruchio eventually 

rescues her. 

The simple exercise below invites students to build 

on their Imagescape experiences (in the previous 

activity) by thinking how they would turn their 

interpretation of the play into a visual concept. 

Show them the images on this page and ask them to discuss why the director and 

designer made these choices. 

Ask them to decide what time and place would suit the idea they chose for their 

production in the Imagescapes activity. 

Using flipchart or A3 paper and coloured pens, ask the groups to make a simple 

drawing to illustrate their set design ideas. 

Tell groups that they are going to present their drawings and explain their thinking. 

Given them 10 to 15 minutes to prepare a short presentation (limited to perhaps 

two minutes). Specify that all members of the group must contribute to the oral 

presentation. 

Ask the groups to present their drawings and ideas to the whole class. 

 

More teaching activities to support your active approaches to Shakespeare can be found in 

our book, RSC Shakespeare Toolkit for Teachers, which is available to buy at the RSC Shop. 

We also run a range of courses for teachers and students - for more information about these 

visit: www.rsc.org.uk/education 

Written by Mary Johnson 

Edited & typeset by Suzanne Worthington 

for RSC Education 

All photos by Sheila Burnett © RSC 


TEXT EXTRACTS FOR CREATING MONTAGE 

Induction – Scene 2 

A bedchamber in the Lord's house. 

Enter aloft SLY, with Attendants; some with apparel, others with basin and ewer and 

appurtenances; and Lord. 

SLY 

FIRST SERVANT 

SECOND SERVANT 

THIRD SERVANT 

SLY 

LORD 

SLY 

THIRD SERVANT 


For God's sake, a pot of small ale. 

Will't please your lordship drink a cup of sack? 

Will't please your honour taste of these conserves? 

What raiment will your honour wear to-day? 

I am Christophero Sly; call not me 'honour' nor 

'lordship:' I ne'er drank sack in my life; and if 

you give me any conserves, give me conserves of 

beef: ne'er ask me what raiment I'll wear; for I 

have no more doublets than backs, no more stockings 

than legs, nor no more shoes than feet; nay, 

sometimes more feet than shoes, or such shoes as my 

toes look through the over-leather. 

Heaven cease this idle humour in your honour! 

O, that a mighty man of such descent, 

Of such possessions and so high esteem, 

Should be infused with so foul a spirit! 

What, would you make me mad? Am not I Christopher 

Sly, old Sly's son of Burtonheath, by birth a 

pedlar, by education a cardmaker, by transmutation a~ 

bear-herd, and now by present profession a tinker? 

Ask Marian Hacket, the fat ale-wife of Wincot, if 

she know me not: if she say I am not fourteen pence 

on the score for sheer ale, score me up for the 

lyingest knave in Christendom. What! I am not 

bestraught: here's-- 

O, this it is that makes your lady mourn! 

O, this is it that makes your servants droop! 

{continues ] 


LORD 

FIRST SERVANT 


LORD 

THIRD SERVANT 

LORD 

FIRST SERVANT 

SLY 

Hence comes it that your kindred shuns your house, 

As beaten hence by your strange lunacy. 

O noble lord, bethink thee of thy birth, 

Call home thy ancient thoughts from banishment 

And banish hence these abject lowly dreams. 

Look how thy servants do attend on thee, 

Each in his office ready at thy beck. 

Wilt thou have music? hark! Apollo plays, [Music] 

And twenty caged nightingales do sing: 

Or wilt thou sleep? we'll have thee to a couch 

Softer and sweeter than the lustful bed 

On purpose trimm'd up for Semiramis. 

Say thou wilt walk; we will bestrew the ground: 

Or wilt thou ride? thy horses shall be trapp'd, 

Their harness studded all with gold and pearl. 

Dost thou love hawking? thou hast hawks will soar 

Above the morning lark or wilt thou hunt? 

Thy hounds shall make the welkin answer them 

And fetch shrill echoes from the hollow earth. 

Say thou wilt course; thy greyhounds are as swift 

As breathed stags, ay, fleeter than the roe. 

Dost thou love pictures? we will fetch thee straight 

Adonis painted by a running brook, 

And Cytherea all in sedges hid, 

Which seem to move and wanton with her breath, 

Even as the waving sedges play with wind. 

We'll show thee Io as she was a maid, 

And how she was beguiled and surprised, 

As lively painted as the deed was done. 

Or Daphne roaming through a thorny wood, 

Scratching her legs that one shall swear she bleeds, 

And at that sight shall sad Apollo weep, 

So workmanly the blood and tears are drawn. 

Thou art a lord, and nothing but a lord: 

Thou hast a lady far more beautiful 

Than any woman in this waning age. 

And till the tears that she hath shed for thee 

Like envious floods o'er-run her lovely face, 

She was the fairest creature in the world; 

And yet she is inferior to none. 

Am I a lord? and have I such a lady? 

Or do I dream? or have I dream'd till now? 

I do not sleep: I see, I hear, I speak; 

I smell sweet savours and I feel soft things: 

Upon my life, I am a lord indeed 

And not a tinker nor Christophero Sly. 

Well, bring our lady hither to our sight; 

And once again, a pot o' the smallest ale. 


TEXT EXTRACTS FOR CREATING MONTAGE [CONTINUED] 

Act 2 Scene 1 

PETRUCHIO 

I pray you do. 

Exeunt all but PETRUCHIO 

Enter KATHARINA 

KATHARINA 

PETRUCHIO 

KATHARINA 

PETRUCHIO 

KATHARINA 

PETRUCHIO 

KATHARINA 

PETRUCHIO 

KATHARINA 

PETRUCHIO 

KATHARINA 

I will attend her here, 

And woo her with some spirit when she comes. 

Say that she rail; why then I'll tell her plain 

She sings as sweetly as a nightingale: 

Say that she frown, I'll say she looks as clear 

As morning roses newly wash'd with dew: 

Say she be mute and will not speak a word; 

Then I'll commend her volubility, 

And say she uttereth piercing eloquence: 

If she do bid me pack, I'll give her thanks, 

As though she bid me stay by her a week: 

If she deny to wed, I'll crave the day 

When I shall ask the banns and when be married. 

But here she comes; and now, Petruchio, speak. 

Good morrow, Kate; for that's your name, I hear. 

Well have you heard, but something hard of hearing: 

They call me Katharina that do talk of me. 

You lie, in faith; for you are call'd plain Kate, 

And bonny Kate and sometimes Kate the curst; 

But Kate, the prettiest Kate in Christendom 

Kate of Kate Hall, my super-dainty Kate, 

For dainties are all Kates, and therefore, Kate, 

Take this of me, Kate of my consolation; 

Hearing thy mildness praised in every town, 

Thy virtues spoke of, and thy beauty sounded, 

Yet not so deeply as to thee belongs, 

Myself am moved to woo thee for my wife. 

Moved! in good time: let him that moved you hither 

Remove you hence: I knew you at the first 

You were a moveable. 

Why, what's a moveable? 

A join'd-stool. 

Thou hast hit it: come, sit on me. 

Asses are made to bear, and so are you. 

Women are made to bear, and so are you. 

No such jade as you, if me you mean. 

Alas! good Kate, I will not burden thee; 

For, knowing thee to be but young and light-- 

Too light for such a swain as you to catch; 

And yet as heavy as my weight should be. 


PETRUCHIO 

KATHARINA 

PETRUCHIO 

KATHARINA 

PETRUCHIO 

KATHARINA 

PETRUCHIO 

KATHARINA 

PETRUCHIO 

KATHARINA 

PETRUCHIO 

KATHARINA 

PETRUCHIO 

Should be! should--buzz! 

Well ta'en, and like a buzzard. 

O slow-wing'd turtle! shall a buzzard take thee? 

Ay, for a turtle, as he takes a buzzard. 

Come, come, you wasp; i' faith, you are too angry. 

If I be waspish, best beware my sting. 

My remedy is then, to pluck it out. 

Ay, if the fool could find it where it lies, 

Who knows not where a wasp does 

wear his sting? In his tail. 

In his tongue. 

Whose tongue? 

Yours, if you talk of tails: and so farewell. 

What, with my tongue in your tail? nay, come again, 

Good Kate; I am a gentleman. 

KATHARINA That I'll try. [She strikes him] 

PETRUCHIO 

KATHARINA 

PETRUCHIO 

KATHARINA 

PETRUCHIO 

KATHARINA 

PETRUCHIO 

KATHARINA 

PETRUCHIO 

KATHARINA 

PETRUCHIO 

KATHARINA 

PETRUCHIO 

KATHARINA 

PETRUCHIO 

KATHARINA 

PETRUCHIO 

KATHARINA 

PETRUCHIO 

KATHARINA 

I swear I'll cuff you, if you strike again. 

So may you lose your arms: 

If you strike me, you are no gentleman; 

And if no gentleman, why then no arms. 

A herald, Kate? O, put me in thy books! 

What is your crest? a coxcomb? 

A combless cock, so Kate will be my hen. 

No cock of mine; you crow too like a craven. 

Nay, come, Kate, come; you must not look so sour. 

It is my fashion, when I see a crab. 

Why, here's no crab; and therefore look not sour. 

There is, there is. 

Then show it me. 

Had I a glass, I would. 

What, you mean my face? 

Well aim'd of such a young one. 

Now, by Saint George, I am too young for you. 

Yet you are wither'd. 

'Tis with cares. 

I care not. 

Nay, hear you, Kate: in sooth you scape not so. 

I chafe you, if I tarry: let me go. 


PETRUCHIO 

KATHARINA 

PETRUCHIO 

KATHARINA 

PETRUCHIO 

KATHARINA 

PETRUCHIO 

KATHARINA 

PETRUCHIO 

No, not a whit: I find you passing gentle. 

'Twas told me you were rough and coy and sullen, 

And now I find report a very liar; 

For thou are pleasant, gamesome, passing courteous, 

But slow in speech, yet sweet as spring-time flowers: 

Thou canst not frown, thou canst not look askance, 

Nor bite the lip, as angry wenches will, 

Nor hast thou pleasure to be cross in talk, 

But thou with mildness entertain'st thy wooers, 

With gentle conference, soft and affable. 

Why does the world report that Kate doth limp? 

O slanderous world! Kate like the hazel-twig 

Is straight and slender and as brown in hue 

As hazel nuts and sweeter than the kernels. 

O, let me see thee walk: thou dost not halt. 

Go, fool, and whom thou keep'st command. 

Did ever Dian so become a grove 

As Kate this chamber with her princely gait? 

O, be thou Dian, and let her be Kate; 

And then let Kate be chaste and Dian sportful! 

Where did you study all this goodly speech? 

It is extempore, from my mother-wit. 

A witty mother! witless else her son. 

Am I not wise? 

Yes; keep you warm. 

Marry, so I mean, sweet Katharina, in thy bed: 

And therefore, setting all this chat aside, 

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. 

Here comes your father: never make denial; 

I must and will have Katharina to my wife. 


IMAGESCAPES 

Here are some possible governing ideas for The Taming of the Shrew: 

This is a play about the need to subdue and subjugate unruly women. 

This is a play about two strong-willed people who are powerfully attracted and 

eventually learn to trust one another. 

This is a play about a vain and ignorant man whose dreams of subjugating a woman 

end up, as he does, in the gutter. 

This is a play about two socially gauche people blundering their way to a working 

relationship which heals some old wounds. 

This is a play about an arrogant man who thinks he’s subjugated his wife but in fact 

is being led by the nose. 

This is a play about the buying and selling of women. 

This is a play about the misogynistic treatment of women that is still too prevalent 

today. 

This is a play about … 


IMAGESCAPES TEXT SCRAPS 

Nothing comes amiss, so money comes withal. 

Kiss me Kate. We will be married o’Sunday. 

She shall watch all night:/ And if she chance to nod I’ll rail and brawl. 

It shall be what o’clock I say it is. 

Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper. 

What, would you make me mad? 

Woo her, wed her and bed her. 

I burn, I pine, I perish. 

I come to wive it wealthily in Padua. 

Women are made to bear, and so are you. 

Asses are made to bear, and so are you. 

No shame but mine 

A mad-brain rudesby, full of spleen 

Lo, there is mad Petruchio’s wife. 

Why, he’s a devil, a devil, the devil’s dam. 

Such a mad marriage never was before. 

She’s my goods, my chattels. 

Being mad herself, she’s madly mated. 

He is more shrew than she. 

He means to make a puppet of thee. 

It shall be what o’clock I say it is. 

It is the blessed sun. 

To offer war when they should kneel for peace.

THE TAMING SHREW - Royal Shakespeare Company

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