TAMING OF THE SHREW, THE

comedy in five acts by William Shakespeare, produced about 159394 and first printed in the First Folio of 1623. Considered one of Shakespeare's bawdier works, the play describes the volatile courtship between the shrewish Katharina (Kate) and the canny Petruchio, who is determined to subdue Katharina's legendary temper and win her dowry. The main story is offered as a play within a play; the frame story consists of an initial two-scene induction: a lord offers the love story as an entertainment for tinker Christopher Sly, who is recovering from a drunken binge at an alehouse. The source for the central plot is unknown; however, the subplot involving Bianca and her many suitors was derived from George Gascoigne's comedy Supposes (1566), itself a translation of I suppositi (1509) by Ludovico Ariosto. Following the induction, the play opens in Padua, where several eligible bachelors have gathered to claim the hand of Bianca, the youngest daughter of the wealthy Baptista. But Baptista has stated that Bianca will not be wed before her older sister, Katharina. The main plot of the play then begins when Petruchio arrives in Padua in search of a rich wife. His friend Hortensio sets Petruchio's sights on the shrew. Although Katharina repeatedly insults Petruchio, he woos, wins, and tames her by insisting that she is actually the soul of gentleness and patience. After their marriage, he makes her forgo food, sleep, and fancy clothing, and he outdoes her mean tongue by abusing the servants, most notably Grumio. In the final scene, Petruchio wins a bet that his wife is the most obedient after Katharina gives a speech extolling the virtues of wifely subservience (V:ii). The play's secondary plot follows the courtship of Bianca by Hortensio, Gremio, and Lucentio. Hortensio and Lucentio both pose as tutors to gain access to Bianca. However, Lucentio, aided by his wily servant Tranio, gains the upper hand and wins Bianca's admiration. Tranio, posing as Lucentio, persuades a pedant to pose as Lucentio's father, and they together then meet with Baptista and make the formal arrangements for marriage. While Tranio's tricks are later revealed, enough distraction has been caused to allow Lucentio and Bianca to elope. Hortensio, in the meantime, has forsaken his pursuit of Bianca and married a wealthy widow. In the play's final scene, both Bianca and Hortensio's new wife ironically prove to be shrewish. Often played as a boisterous farce, this play is actually a comedy of character, with implications beyond the obvious story of the title. Shakespeare arouses more interest in Petruchio and Katharina than farce permits. They gain, for example, by contrast with the tepid, silly, or infatuated lovers (Bianca, Lucentio, Hortensio, and Gremio), and their relationship is given an admirable vitality.