by: William Shakespeare
Highlights
Act 1
BAPTISTA ENTERS WITH HIS ELDER DAUGHTER, KATHERINE, THE YOUNGER DAUGHTER, BIANCA, AND TWO SUITORS TO BIANCA, AN OLD MAN NAMED GREMIO AND A YOUNGER MAN NAMED HORTENSIO.
BAPTISTA
Enough, gentlemen! You can’t influence me on this point. You know how I feel. I’m determined not to permit my younger daughter to marry until I have a husband for the elder one. I’ve long regarded you both as good friends. Therefore, if either of you is partial to Katherina, he shall have my permission to court her freely.
GREMIO
Cart her, you mean. She’s too much for me. How about you, Hortensio? Are you still interested in marrying?
KATHERINE
(to BAPTISTA) May I ask, sir, if it’s your intention to publicly humiliate me, showing me off like a whore in front of these suitors?
HORTENSIO
We’re not your suitors, that’s for sure! Not until you improve your temper, girl!
KATHERINE
Don’t worry, I couldn’t care less. The only possible interest I could take in you would be to hit you on the head with a stool, paint your face with blood, and make a fool out of you.
HORTENSIO
May the good Lord keep me safe from all women like her!
GREMIO
Me too, Lord!
TRANIO
(speaking so that only LUCENTIO can hear) Wow! This’ll be fun to watch! This girl is either completely crazy or incredibly willful.
LUCENTIO
(speaking so that only TRANIO can hear) But her sister seems quiet and well behaved, as a young girl should be. Shhh, Tranio.
TRANIO
(speaking so that only LUCENTIO can hear) Indeed, master. Let’s keep quiet and watch.
BAPTISTA
(to GREMIO and HORTENSIO) Gentlemen, since I’d like to make good on what I’ve said—Bianca, go inside. And don’t be unhappy, my dear. Whatever happens, you know I’ll never love you less.
KATHERINE
What a spoiled little brat. She’d make herself cry now, if she could think of a reason.
BIANCA
Sister, be happy in my unhappiness.—Sir, I will humbly obey you. I’ll take comfort in my books and music, reading and practicing my instruments.
LUCENTIO
Listen Tranio! That’s Minerva’s voice you hear.
HORTENSIO
Signior Baptista, will you really be this cruel? I regret that our goodwill should cause Bianca unhappiness.
GREMIO
Why are you locking her away because of this fiend from hell, Signor Baptista? Why does the one daughter have to be punished for the other’s mouth?
BAPTISTA
Gentlemen, I’ve made my decision. That’s all there is to it. Go inside, Bianca.
BIANCA EXITS.
And because I know how fond she is of music, playing her instruments, and poetry, I plan to hire live-in tutors for her. If either of you gentlemen knows anyone who would be suitable for the job, send him to me. I’ll pay well for good teachers. I don’t stint when it comes to educating my children. Goodbye, gentlemen. Katherina, you may stay. I have things to discuss with Bianca.
HE EXITS.
KATHERINE
Stay out here? I don’t think so! Am I to be dictated to, like a child? Told when to come and where to go? No.
SHE EXITS.
GREMIO
You can go straight to hell! What you have to offer is nothing anyone wants. Hortensio, our desire to be married isn’t so great that we can’t wait this out patiently. It’s tough on both of us, but I guess we’ll live. So long. But to prove my love for Bianca, I’m going to see if I can find a good tutor to give her lessons in the things she enjoys. If I do, I’ll send him to her father.
HORTENSIO
I’ll do the same. But wait—don’t go just yet, Signior Gremio. I know we’ve never exactly been allies, but it might be in both our interests, if you think about it, to put our heads together about one particular thing. That is, if we ever want to return to being rivals for Bianca’s love.
GREMIO
And that would be—?
HORTENSIO
To find a husband for her sister.
GREMIO
A husband? You mean a devil!
HORTENSIO
I mean a husband.
GREMIO
I say a devil. Do you really think there’s a man fool enough to marry into hell—however rich the father is?
HORTENSIO
Oh, I don’t know. Just because we wouldn’t want to put up with her tantrums, that doesn’t mean there aren’t guys who would, if we could find them. Guys who’d take her with all her faults, provided there were enough money involved.
GREMIO
I don’t know. All I know is I’d rather endure a public whipping every morning than put up with her—even with a big dowry.
HORTENSIO
The two choices are about equal, it’s true. But come, since we must be friends in the face of this new obstacle, let’s work together to find a husband for Baptista’s elder daughter, and thus free his younger daughter to have a husband, too. Then we can go back to fighting with each other. Happy the man that claims you, sweet Bianca! And may the best man win. What do you say, Signior Gremio?
GREMIO
Agreed. This imaginary suitor for Katherina—I’d buy him the best horse in Padua if he’d get here quickly, woo her, marry her, take her to bed, and rid the house of her. Let’s go.
GREMIO AND HORTENSIO EXIT.
Act 2
KATHERINE AND BIANCA ENTER. BIANCA'S HANDS ARE TIED.
BIANCA
Dear sister, it’s unfair to me—and unfair to yourself—to turn me into a slave. That I won’t stand for. But if you want my things—untie my hands and I’ll give them to you myself, everything, even down to my slip. Or anything else you order me to do. I know I should obey my elders.
KATHERINE
What I want is for you to tell me which of your suitors you like best. And don’t lie.
BIANCA
I swear, dear sister, I have not yet encountered that special face I might prefer to any other.
KATHERINE
You lying brat. It’s Hortensio, isn’t it?
BIANCA
If you want him, dear sister, he’s yours. I swear I’ll woo him for you myself.
KATHERINE
Oh, I see. You’re more interested in money. You’ll live in luxury with Gremio.
BIANCA
Is it because of him that you envy me? You must be kidding! And now I see that you’ve been joking all the while. Please, Kate, untie my hands.
KATHERINE STRIKES HER.
KATHERINE
If that’s a joke, I guess the rest was, too.
BAPTISTA ENTERS.
BAPTISTA
What in the world is going on! (to KATHERINE) Young lady, where do you get the nerve!—(to BIANCA) Get behind me, Bianca.—Poor girl, she’s hysterical!—Go do some sewing. Don’t even talk to her. (to KATHERINE) You monstrous, good-for-nothing fiend! Why would you want to hurt your sister? She never did you any harm! When has she spoken even one cross word to you?
KATHERINE
She mocks me with her silence, and I’ll get my revenge on her.
SHE RUNS AT BIANCA AS IF SHE’S GOING TO STRIKE HER.
BAPTISTA
What, in my presence? How dare you!—Bianca, go inside.
BIANCA EXITS.
KATHERINE
You mean you don’t even want to hear my side? Of course! She’s your treasure. She must have a husband and I must dance barefoot on her wedding day. You like her best and so I’ll die an old maid. Don’t talk to me. I’ll just go cry myself sick and think of some way to get back at all of you.
SHE EXITS.
BAPTISTA
Has any man ever had to put up with what I do? Now what?
GREMIO ENTERS WITH LUCENTIO, DRESSED AS A POOR MAN; PETRUCHIO ENTERS WITH HORTENSIO, DISGUISED AS A MUSICIAN; TRANIO, DISGUISED AS LUCENTIO, ENTERS WITH BIONDELLO, WHO IS CARRYING A LUTE AND BOOKS.
GREMIO
Good morning, neighbor Baptista.
BAPTISTA
Good morning, neighbor Gremio. Greetings, gentlemen.
PETRUCHIO
And to you, good sir. Tell me, don’t you have a virtuous and lovely daughter named Katherina?
BAPTISTA
I have a daughter named Katherina, sir.
GREMIO
(to PETRUCHIO) You are too blunt. You’re supposed to work up to it.
PETRUCHIO
Please, Signior Gremio. Allow me to continue.—I am a gentleman of Verona, sir, who, hearing of your daughter’s beauty and wit, her friendly disposition and bashful modesty, her uncommon virtues and her mild behavior, have taken the liberty of presenting myself as a guest at your house in the hope of seeing for myself if what I’ve heard is true. And, as the price of admission for being received by you, I here present you with a servant of mine. (he presents HORTENSIO, disguised as LITIO). He is expert in the fields of music and mathematics. I thought he might instruct her in those branches of knowledge—of which she is, I gather, no beginner. Be good enough to accept this gift—I’ll be offended if you don’t. His name is Litio, and he comes from Mantua.
BAPTISTA
You and he are both welcome, sir. As for my daughter Katherine, this much I know: she’s not for you—more’s the pity.
PETRUCHIO
I see you don’t intend to part with her—or perhaps you don’t like my company.
BAPTISTA
Don’t misunderstand me, sir. I’m just stating the facts as I see them. Where are you from? What’s your name?
PETRUCHIO
My name is Petruchio, son of Antonio, a man well known throughout Italy.
BAPTISTA
I know him well. You are welcome for his sake.
GREMIO
With all due respect, Petruchio, give someone else a chance to speak. You’re so aggressive!
PETRUCHIO
Forgive me, Signior Gremio, but I’m anxious to get things moving.
A SERVANT ENTERS.
BAPTISTA
Boy, take these gentlemen to my daughters, and tell them both they are to be their teachers and to be courteous to them.
THE SERVANT EXITS WITH LUCENTIO AND HORTENSIO, FOLLOWED BY BIONDELLO.
Let’s take a little walk in the orchard before dinner. You are all most welcome here; please make yourselves at home.
PETRUCHIO
Signior Baptista, I’m actually in a bit of a hurry. I can’t make this wooing into a daily thing. You knew my father well; therefore, you know me, the sole heir to all his property and possessions, which I have added to rather than depleted. So, tell me, assuming I win your daughter’s love, what dowry would she bring to the marriage?
BAPTISTA
Twenty thousand crowns now, and half my lands after my death.
PETRUCHIO
Fair enough. And on my side, I’ll guarantee that if I die before she does, she shall inherit all my land and the rent from any property I own. Let’s have explicit contracts drawn up to ensure that both sides keep their promises.
BAPTISTA
Certainly, as soon as you’ve gotten the most important thing—her love. That counts for everything.
PETRUCHIO
Oh, that’s nothing, believe me, sir. I’m as commanding as she is proud, and when two raging fires meet, they end up consuming the very thing that kindled them. Blow on a fire and all you do is fan the flames. But a great gust of wind will blow the fire out completely. I’m that great gust to her fire. I’m rough, and I don’t woo like a little boy.
BAPTISTA
Well, good luck! I hope you’re successful. But prepare yourself for some unpleasantness.
PETRUCHIO
I’ll be completely prepared. Mountains don’t tremble, however much the wind may blow!
ENTER HORTENSIO AS LITIO, WITH HIS HEAD CUT AND BLEEDING
BAPTISTA
Gracious! Why so pale, my friend?
HORTENSIO
(as LITIO) I would have to say from fear.
BAPTISTA
Will my daughter be a good musician, do you think?
HORTENSIO
I think she’ll be a better soldier. She may be good with firearms. Never lutes.
BAPTISTA
You don’t think you can teach her?
HORTENSIO
No, but she’s taught me a thing or two! All I said was that she was using the wrong frets and tried to adjust her fingering. And she jumps up and says, “Frets? I’ll give you frets!” With that, she clobbers me with the lute so that my head goes right through,
and there I am, dazed, strings around my neck, looking through the sound hole like I was in the stocks, while she calls me “worthless fiddler,” “twanging twerp,” and twenty more hateful names, as though she’d prepared for me by composing a long list of insults to use on my behalf.
PETRUCHIO
I like this girl! She has real character! Now I want her more than ever. I can’t wait to meet her!
BAPTISTA
(to HORTENSIO, disguised as LITIO) All right, come with me. Don’t be discouraged. Continue your lessons with my younger daughter. She’s quick to learn and responsive. Signior Petruchio, will you come with us, or shall I send my daughter Kate to you?
PETRUCHIO
Please do.
EVERYONE BUT PETRUCHIO EXITS.
I’ll wait for her here and when she comes I’ll take a novel approach with her. If she rants, I’ll tell her that she sings as sweetly as a nightingale. If she glares, I’ll say her brow is as clear as roses newly washed with morning dew. If she is silent and won’t speak at all, I’ll praise her chattiness and say she speaks with piercing eloquence. If she orders me to go, I’ll thank her warmly as if she’d just offered to put me up for a week. If she refuses my proposal, I’ll tell her how much I’m looking forward to the announcement and the wedding. But here she comes. Here goes!
KATHERINE ENTERS.
Good morning, Kate, for I hear that’s what you’re called.
KATHERINE
Is that what you’ve heard? Then you’d better get your ears checked. I am called Katherine by those who have any business using my name.
PETRUCHIO
Liar. In fact, you’re called Kate, plain Kate—and pretty Kate, and sometimes Kate the shrew. But it’s definitely Kate—the prettiest Kate in the world, Katie, Kitty, Kat-woman, the Kate-ster—and so, Kate, here’s my pitch: that having heard your charming disposition praised—not to mention your beauty and your virtues, though none of them as richly as you deserve—I find myself driven to propose. I want you for my wife.
KATHERINE
“Driven?” Really? Well, let whoever drove you here drive you back again. I had you figured for a piece of furniture.
PETRUCHIO
What do you mean by “furniture”?
KATHERINE
A nice stool.
PETRUCHIO
You’re right, actually. Come sit on me.
KATHERINE
Asses are made for bearing, and so are you.
PETRUCHIO
Women are made for bearing, and so are you.
KATHERINE
Not by the likes of you!
PETRUCHIO
Oh heavens, Kate, I wouldn’t think of burdening you. I know how light and carefree you are.
KATHERINE
Too light for a lout like you to catch—though no lighter than I should be.
PETRUCHIO
Should be? Maybe you should be the subject of some buzz!
KATHERINE
Buzz off, buzzard.
PETRUCHIO
If I’m a buzzard, you’re a turtledove.
KATHERINE
Only a buzzard would think so.
PETRUCHIO
Come, my little wasp—you’re too angry.
KATHERINE
If I’m a wasp, look out for my stinger.
PETRUCHIO
All I have to do is remove it.
KATHERINE
True, if a fool such as yourself could find it.
PETRUCHIO
Everyone knows where a wasp wears its stinger. In its tail.
KATHERINE
No, in its tongue.
PETRUCHIO
Whose tongue?
KATHERINE
Yours, if we’re talking about tales.
I’m leaving.
PETRUCHIO
You’re leaving with my tongue in your tail? No, come back, Kate. I’m too much of a gentleman.
KATHERINE
A gentleman? We’ll see about that!
SHE STRIKES HIM.
PETRUCHIO
I swear I’ll smack you if you hit me again.
KATHERINE
Not if you want to keep your arms! If you hit me, that proves you’re not a gentleman. And if you’re not a gentleman, you don’t have any arms.
PETRUCHIO
Are you a herald, Kate? Put me in your books!
KATHERINE
What is your crest? A coxcomb?
PETRUCHIO
I’ll give up my comb, if you’ll be my hen.
KATHERINE
Your cock is not for me. It has no fighting spirit.
PETRUCHIO
Oh, come on now, Kate. Don’t look so sour.
KATHERINE
That’s my way, when I see a crab-apple.
PETRUCHIO
There’s no crab-apple here, so don’t look sour.
KATHERINE
There is a crab-apple here.
PETRUCHIO
Show me.
KATHERINE
I would, if I had a mirror.
PETRUCHIO
What, you mean my face looks like a crab-apple?
KATHERINE
What a clever child he is!
PETRUCHIO
You know, you’re right. I probably am too young for you.
KATHERINE
Maybe, but you’re wrinkled all the same.
PETRUCHIO
Oh, that’s with worry.
KATHERINE
Well, that doesn’t worry me.
PETRUCHIO
Listen, Kate! You won’t get away like that.
KATHERINE
Let me go. I’ll make you angry if I stay.
PETRUCHIO
No, not a bit. I find you quite gentle. I was told that you were violent, proud, and sullen. But now I see that people have been lying about you, for you are funny, playful, and beautifully behaved, not sharp-tongued, but as sweet as flowers in springtime. You haven’t got it in you to frown or look displeased or bite your lip as angry women do. You don’t take pleasure in bitter conversation. No, you entertain your suitors with mild and gentle conversation, quiet and pleasant. Why does the world report that Kate is lame?
The world’s a liar. Kate is as straight and slender as a hazel-twig, her hair as brown as hazelnut shells, and she herself sweeter than the kernels. Take a few steps—I want to see you walk. You don’t limp at all!
KATHERINE
Get out of here, fool, and give orders to your servants, not me.
PETRUCHIO
Did Diana ever beautify a grove as much as Kate beautifies this room with her queenly movements? You be Diana, and let Diana be Kate. Then let Kate be the chaste one, while Diana plays with me.
KATHERINE
Where do you memorize all this smart talk?
PETRUCHIO
I make it up as I go. It’s born of my mother wit.
KATHERINE
A witty mother! Too bad about the son!
PETRUCHIO
Am I not wise?
KATHERINE
Enough to keep yourself warm.
PETRUCHIO
Yes, I intend to keep myself warm, sweet Katherine—in your bed. So let’s cut to the chase: your father has consented for you to become my wife. Your dowry is agreed upon, and whether you like it or not, I will marry you. I tell you, I’m the man for you, Kate. I swear by this light, which shows me your beauty—the beauty that makes me love you—that you must be married to no man but me. I’m the man who was born to tame you and change you from a wildcat Kate into a Kate as gentle and domestic as other household Kates.
BAPTISTA, GREMIO, AND TRANIO ENTER.
Here comes your father. Don’t even think about refusing. I must and will have Katherine for my wife.
BAPTISTA
Now, Signior Petruchio, how are you getting on with my daughter?
PETRUCHIO
Beautifully, sir, beautifully! It couldn’t go any other way.
BAPTISTA
Now, daughter Katherine? Are you down in the dumps?
KATHERINE
You have the nerve to call me daughter? Is this a father’s loving care—wanting to marry me off to a total madman, a worthless, irresponsible louse who thinks if he swears enough, he’ll get his way?
PETRUCHIO
Sir, this is the truth: you and the rest—all the people who have ever talked about her—have all been wrong. If she seems fierce, it’s for a reason. She’s not obstinate but gentle as the dove, not high-strung but peaceful as the morning. She has the patience of a Griselda and the modesty of Rome’s Lucrece. In short, we’ve gotten along so well that Sunday is our wedding day.
KATHERINE
I’ll see you hanged on Sunday first!
GREMIO
Listen to that Petruchio: she says she’ll see you hanged first.
TRANIO
Is this your idea of success? So much for our plan.
PETRUCHIO
Relax, gentlemen. I’ve made my choice. If she and I are happy, what’s it to you? When we were alone, we agreed that in public she would go on being unpleasant. I tell you, though, it’s incredible how much she loves me. Darling Kate! She hung about my neck, smothering me with kisses, making vow after vow. In this way, she won my heart lickety-split! You men are rank beginners! It’s amazing how even a timid wretch can tame the most dreadful shrew, if the two are left alone together. Give me your hand, Kate. I’m off to Venice to buy outfits for the wedding. Plan the feast, sir, and invite the guests. I want my Katherine decked out in the finest clothes.
BAPTISTA
I don’t know what to say. Well, give me your hands.
God give you joy, Petruchio. Call it a match!
GREMIO AND TRANIO
Amen to that! We’ll be your witnesses.
PETRUCHIO
Father, wife, friends—farewell! I’m off to Venice. Sunday is just around the corner. We will have rings and things and fancy dress! So kiss me, Kate. We’re to be married on Sunday.
PETRUCHIO AND KATHERINE EXIT IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS.
GREMIO
Was there ever a match put together so quickly?
BAPTISTA
Truly, gentlemen, this is a chancy piece of business. I’ve made a risky investment.
TRANIO
(speaking as LUCENTIO) Yes, but the item was just gathering dust. This way, you’ll either make a profit by it or lose it on the high seas.
BAPTISTA
The only profit I seek is a peaceful match.
Act 3
Scene 2
BAPTISTA AND GREMIO ENTER, FOLLOWED BY TRANIO DISGUISED AS LUCENTIO, KATHERINE, BIANCA, LUCENTIO, AND SERVANTS.
BAPTISTA
(to TRANIO as LUCENTIO) Signior Lucentio, this is the day appointed for Katherine and Petruchio’s wedding, but there’s no sign of the groom. What will people say? To have the priest right here, ready to perform the marriage ceremony, and be missing a bridegroom! What do you think about our humiliation, Lucentio?
KATHERINE
The humiliation is all mine. You forced me to accept this man against my will, this fancy con artist who was in such a hurry to get engaged. He has no intention of marrying me. I knew it—I told you. The whole thing was a joke. He pretends to be this simple, backward guy, but it’s all a gag to amuse his witty friends. He goes around proposing to women—they set a date, he gets introduced around, they send out the invitations and make a public announcement, but he has no intention of going through with it. So now everyone will point at me and say, “Look, there goes the wife of that comedian Petruchio—if he could be bothered to marry the pathetic thing!”
TRANIO
(speaking as LUCENTIO) No, no, I assure you, Katherine—and you, too, Baptista—Petruchio means well, whatever circumstance prevents him from keeping his word. He’s rough-edged, but he’s a good man, and though he likes a joke, he’s not a liar.
KATHERINE
Maybe, but I wish I’d never laid eyes on him.
SHE EXITS WEEPING, FOLLOWED BY BIANCA AND OTHERS.
BAPTISTA
Go, daughter. I cannot blame you now for weeping. An insult like this would try the patience of a saint, let alone a hot-tempered shrew like you!
BIONDELLO ENTERS.
BIONDELLO
Master, master! I have news—old news such as you never heard before!
BAPTISTA
You say you have news that’s old? How can that be?
BIONDELLO
Well, is it not news that Petruchio’s coming?
BAPTISTA
Is he here?
BIONDELLO
Why, no, sir.
BAPTISTA
What then?
BIONDELLO
He is coming.
BAPTISTA
When will he be here?
BIONDELLO
When he stands where I am and sees you there.
TRANIO
(as LUCENTIO) So what’s the old news?
BIONDELLO
Well, Petruchio is coming in a new hat and an old vest, a pair of old pants turned inside out, unmatched boots that have been used as spittoons, one buckled, the other laced; a rusty old sword from the town armory with a broken hilt and no scabbard. He’s got on worn-out garters and is riding a swayback old horse with a moth-eaten saddle, stirrups from two different sets, a bad hip, swollen glands, lockjaw, leg ulcers, bedsores, arthritis, jaundice, a hernia, hives, worms, cancer, a mossy overbite, and post-nasal drip. He’s knock-kneed too. His bit’s lopsided and his cardboard bridle, which breaks when you pull on it, is taped in a few places. The saddle strap is made out of patchwork, and the strap that goes under his tail to keep the saddle in place is velvet, with the initials of some woman written in studs.
BAPTISTA
Who comes with him?
BIONDELLO
Just his servant, sir—pretty much got up like the horse, with a linen stocking on one leg and a big woolen booty on the other, a pair of red and blue garters, and an old hat with something no one’s ever seen before where the feather should be. He’s dressed like a freak, a total freak, and not at all like a proper footman or a gentleman’s valet.
TRANIO
(as LUCENTIO) He must be in a strange mood to go in for this fashion—though from time to time he has been known to dress down.
BAPTISTA
I am glad he’s coming, however he’s dressed.
BIONDELLO
Why, sir, he’s not coming.
BAPTISTA
Didn’t you just say he was?
BIONDELLO
Who? Petruchio?
BAPTISTA
Yes, Petruchio.
BIONDELLO
No, I said his horse is coming, with him on its back.
BAPTISTA
Well, that’s the same thing.
BIONDELLO
No, by Saint Jamy,
I’ll bet you a penny!
A man and his horse
Aren’t the same person—
Not that there’s much difference.
PETRUCHIO AND GRUMIO ENTER.
PETRUCHIO
Whoa! Where is everybody?
BAPTISTA
You are welcome, sir.
PETRUCHIO
I don’t feel well.
BAPTISTA
I don’t notice you limping.
TRANIO
(as LUCENTIO) And I would like it if you were a bit more formally dressed.
PETRUCHIO
Isn’t it better this way? But where is Kate? Where is my lovely bride? (to BAPTISTA) How is my father-in-law? Gentlemen, you seem displeased. What’s everyone staring at? You look as if you’d seen something unusual—a comet or something.
BAPTISTA
Why, sir, you know this is your wedding day. First we were sad because we were afraid you wouldn’t come. Now we’re even sadder to see that you’ve come so unprepared. For heaven’s sake, take off that get-up. It’s a disgrace to a man of your social position and an insult to this solemn ceremony.
TRANIO
And tell us what extraordinary occurrence made you so late for your wedding and drove you to present yourself in an outfit that’s so—not typical of you.
PETRUCHIO
It’s a long story—and tough to listen to. It’s enough that I’m here according to my promise, though I will have to deviate from it to some extent—for reasons which, when I explain them later, you’ll understand completely. But where is Kate? We’re wasting time here. It’s getting late and time we were in church.
TRANIO
Don’t greet your bride in these disgraceful clothes. Go to my room and put on something of mine.
PETRUCHIO
Not me. I’ll see her like this.
BAPTISTA
But surely you’re not planning to marry her in what you’re wearing!
PETRUCHIO
Yes, just like this. But enough talk. It’s me she’s marrying and not my clothes. Though I expect she’ll wear me out more quickly than I’ll wear out what I’m wearing—which will be good for her and even better for me! But what a fool I am to stand here chatting when I should bid good morning to my bride and seal the bargain with a loving kiss.
PETRUCHIO AND GRUMIO EXIT.
TRANIO
He must be wearing this crazy outfit for some reason. I’ll try to persuade him to put on something more appropriate before going to the church, if it’s at all possible.
BAPTISTA
I’ll go too and make sure that happens.
BAPTISTA, GREMIO, AND ATTENDANTS EXIT.
TRANIO
But sir, you need to get her father’s consent as well as her love. And to that end, as I explained to your worship, I’m looking for a man—any man, it doesn’t matter; we’ll suit him to our purpose—who can pretend to be your father, Vincentio. And he’ll guarantee the dowry—for even more money than I’ve promised on your behalf. This way, you’ll get your wish and marry sweet Bianca with her father’s consent and with the least possible hassle.
LUCENTIO
If my fellow schoolmaster weren’t keeping such a close watch on her, I’d think about eloping. Then it wouldn’t matter what anyone said—I’d keep what’s mine, whatever the rest of the world said.
TRANIO
Don’t worry, I’m looking into that too. I’m on top of the situation—monitoring it very closely. We’ll outwit them all—that old geezer, Gremio; the suspicious father, Minola; the prim musician lover, Litio—all for the sake of my master, Lucentio.
GREMIO ENTERS.
Signior Gremio, are you coming from the church?
GREMIO
As eagerly as I ever came from school.
TRANIO
(speaking as LUCENTIO) And will the bride and bridegroom be here soon?
GREMIO
Bridegroom? This guy is more like the groom who cleans the stable—a grumbling groom at that, as the poor girl is discovering.
TRANIO
(speaking as LUCENTIO) You mean he’s worse than she is? That’s not possible!
GREMIO
No, he’s a devil—a devil, I tell you! An utter fiend.
TRANIO
(speaking as LUCENTIO) No, she’s a devil—a devil, I tell you. The devil’s grandmother.
GREMIO
Why, she’s a lamb, a dove, a child compared to him! Picture this: when the priest asked Katherine if she would have him, he answered, “Hell, yes!” and swore so loud that the priest drops the prayer book. Everyone froze, and as the priest stooped to pick it up again the lunatic bridegroom smacked him so hard that the priest and book went flying! Then he said, “Now pick them up—if anyone dares.”
TRANIO
(as LUCENTIO) What did the girl say when the priest got up?
GREMIO
She trembled and shook because he stamped and swore and carried on as though the vicar were trying to put something over on him. Finally, the ceremony done, he called for wine. “A health!” he shouted, like some sailor aboard ship, carousing with his mates after a storm. Then he chugs the wine and throws the dregs in the sexton’s face. Why? Because the fellow’s beard looked thin, he said, and it seemed to be asking him for the dregs while he was drinking. Next he slung his arm around the bride’s neck and kissed her with such a smack that when they parted the sound of their lips made the whole church echo. That was the limit for me. I got out of there as fast as I could. I know the rest of the crowd isn’t far behind me. It’s disgraceful! You never saw such a mockery of a marriage in your life!
MUSIC PLAYS
There go the minstrels. They’ve started up.
PETRUCHIO AND KATHERINE ENTER, WITH BIANCA, BAPTISTA, HORTENSIO, GRUMIO, AND MEMBERS OF THE WEDDING PROCESSION.
PETRUCHIO
Gentlemen and friends, thanks for bothering to come. I know you expected me to stay to dinner and have prepared a celebratory feast, but as it happens I’m called away. So let me say goodbye.
BAPTISTA
You’re not thinking of leaving tonight, surely?
PETRUCHIO
Not tonight—today. If you knew the reason, you’d understand and would urge me to go rather than stay. Good friends, I thank you all for coming to see me wed this patient, sweet, virtuous wife. Dine with my father and drink a health to me. I have to leave. Goodbye to you all.
TRANIO
(as LUCENTIO) Please, stay till after dinner.
PETRUCHIO
Can’t do it.
GREMIO
As a favor to me?
PETRUCHIO
Nope.
KATHERINE
As a favor to me?
PETRUCHIO
I’m delighted.
KATHERINE
Delighted to stay?
PETRUCHIO
Delighted to hear you ask so nicely, but I won’t stay in any case.
KATHERINE
Look, if you love me, stay.
PETRUCHIO
Grumio, get me my horse.
GRUMIO
Yes, sir, they’re ready. They’ve eaten themselves sick.
KATHERINE
All right, then, do what you like. I won’t leave today. Not tomorrow, either. I’ll leave when I’m good and ready. The door is open, sir. Feel free to use it. Go on, wear your boots out! As for me, I’ll leave when I like. If you’re this high-handed to start with, I can imagine how arrogant and arbitrary you’ll be as a husband.
PETRUCHIO
Calm down, Kate. Please don’t be angry.
KATHERINE
I will be angry. What business is it of yours?—Father, be quiet. He’ll stay as long as I say.
GREMIO
Okay, now it starts!
KATHERINE
Gentlemen, on to the bridal dinner. I see a woman may be made a fool of if she doesn’t have nerve enough to stand up for herself.
PETRUCHIO
They shall go in to the bridal dinner, Kate—they’re yours to command. Obey the bride, guests! Go to the banquet: revel, feast, and carouse! Drink yourselves silly toasting her virginity! Be wild and merry—or go to hell. But as for my bonny Kate, she must come with me. No, don’t puff out your chests and stamp and stare wonderingly. I will be master of what belongs to me. She is my property, one of my possessions—just like my house and everything in it, and my field, my barn, my horse, my ox, my donkey—anything of mine you care to name. Here she is; I dare you to touch her! I’ll sue anyone in Padua who tries to stand in my way, no matter how powerful he is.—Grumio, draw your sword! We are surrounded by thieves. Rescue your mistress! Prove yourself a man! Don’t be afraid, sweet girl, I won’t let them touch you. I’ll protect you, Kate, against a million of them.
PETRUCHIO, KATHERINE, AND GRUMIO EXIT.
BAPTISTA
No, let them go. They’re certainly a peaceful couple!
GREMIO
If they hadn’t left soon, I would have died laughing.
TRANIO
(as LUCENTIO) Of all the mad matches, this is by far the craziest.
LUCENTIO
(as CAMBIO) Mistress, what’s your opinion of your sister?
BIANCA
That since she’s mad herself, she’s married a madman.
GREMIO
I guarantee you, Petruchio’s going to suffer from his Kate.
BAPTISTA
Neighbors and friends, though we don’t have anyone for the bride and bridegroom’s places at the table, you know there’s nothing missing in the feast itself.
(to TRANIO) Lucentio, you shall assume the bridegroom’s place and let Bianca take her sister’s seat.
TRANIO
(as LUCENTIO) Shall sweet Bianca practice how to be a bride?
BAPTISTA
She shall, Lucentio. Come, gentlemen, let’s go in.
THEY ALL EXIT.
Act 4
Act 4
Scene 1
GRUMIO ENTERS.
GRUMIO
To hell with all worn-out horses, all crazy masters, and all bad roads. Was a man ever beaten as much as me? Was a man ever as dirty as me? Was a man ever so tired? I have been sent on ahead to light a fire, and they are coming after to warm themselves. It’s a good thing I’m like a little pot and warm up quickly, or else my lips themselves would freeze and stick to my teeth, my tongue to the roof of my mouth, and my heart would freeze in my belly, before I managed to get thawed out. I’ll warm myself by blowing on the fire. A taller man than I would catch cold in weather like this. Hey! Curtis! Hello!
CURTIS ENTERS.
CURTIS
Who calls so coldly?
GRUMIO
A piece of ice. Trust me, you could slide all the way from my shoulder to my heel taking no more of a running start than the distance between my head and my neck. Start the fire, good Curtis.
CURTIS
Are my master and his wife coming, Grumio?
GRUMIO
Yes, yes, Curtis, so hurry up and start the fire. Leave out the water.
CURTIS
Is she as fiery a shrew as they say?
GRUMIO
Well she was, good Curtis, before this frost. But you know how winter tames man, woman, and beast. And it’s tamed my old master and my new mistress and myself, my good colleague.
CURTIS
The fire is ready. So go on, tell me the news.
GRUMIO
I think I’m getting delirious. Where’s the cook? Is supper ready? Is the house fixed up, the floor covered, the cobwebs swept out of the corners, the servingmen in their new work clothes and the household servants each in his wedding suit? Are all the cups and glasses in their places, the tablecloths laid out—everything in order?
CURTIS
Everything’s ready. So tell me what’s been going on.
GRUMIO
Well, first of all, my horse is tired and my master and mistress have had a falling out.
CURTIS
How?
GRUMIO
From their saddles into the dirt—but that’s another story.
CURTIS
Well, let’s have it, Grumio.
GRUMIO
Lean forward.
CURTIS
Here.
GRUMIO
There!
GRUMIO STRIKES CURTIS.
CURTIS
This is to feel the news, not hear it.
GRUMIO
That’s what makes it “sensitive” news. I was just knocking to see if anyone was home. Now, I’ll begin: first, we came down a steep hill, my master riding behind my mistress—
CURTIS
Both on one horse?
GRUMIO
What’s the difference?
CURTIS
Well, the difference of a horse!
GRUMIO
Oh, tell it yourself if you’re so smart. It’s too bad. If you hadn’t made me angry, you would have heard all about how her horse fell with her under it, how swampy the place was, too, and how she was covered in mud, and how he left her like that, with the horse on top of her, and how he beat me because her horse stumbled, and how she waded through the dirt to pull him off me, and how he swore, how she prayed—this woman who never prayed before—and how I yelled, and how the horses ran away, and how her bridle broke, and how I lost my riding crop, and many other things worth telling, which now will all be lost to memory, and you’ll go to your grave ignorant.
CURTIS
By the sound of it, he’s a bigger shrew than she is.
GRUMIO
Yes—as you and the rest will find out as soon as he’s home. But why am I telling you this? Get them in here—Nathaniel, Joseph, Nicholas, Philip, Walter, Sugarsop, and the rest. Tell them to slick down their hair, brush their blue coats, and make sure their socks match. Have them click their heels together and don’t dare touch a hair of the master’s horse’s tail till they kiss their hands. Are they all ready?
CURTIS
They are.
GRUMIO
Get them in here.
CURTIS
(calling offstage) Hey! Does anyone hear me? Hey! You have to come and greet the master and face the new mistress.
GRUMIO
She already has a face.
CURTIS
Yeah, so?
GRUMIO
You just said they had to face her.
CURTIS
I meant they had to give her credit.
GRUMIO
She’s not going to borrow money from them.
FOUR OR FIVE SERVANTS ENTER.
NATHANIEL
Welcome home, Grumio.
PHILIP
What’s up, Grumio?
JOSEPH
Hey, Grumio!
NICHOLAS
My man Grumio!
NATHANIEL
So what’s the story, old boy?
GRUMIO
Welcome yourself!—What’s up with you?—Hey to you!—So much for greetings. Now, my well-dressed friends, is everything ready and in order?
NATHANIEL
Everything’s ready. How soon will the master be here?
GRUMIO
Any minute. Probably here already. So be careful, and don’t—God! Quiet, I hear him coming.
PETRUCHIO AND KATHERINE ENTER.
PETRUCHIO
Where are those bastards? Where is the boy who’s supposed to help me get off my horse and take him to the stable? Where is Nathaniel? Where’s Gregory? Where’s Philip?
ALL SERVANTS
Here, here, sir! Here, sir!
PETRUCHIO
“Here, sir! Here, sir! Here, sir! Here, sir!” You stupid, unpolished dolts! I get no service, no respect, no attention! Where is the fool I sent on ahead?
GRUMIO
Here, sir, as foolish as ever.
PETRUCHIO
You unwashed farmworker! You bastard workhorse drudge! Didn’t I tell you to meet me outside and bring these morons with you?
GRUMIO
Nathaniel’s coat was being fixed, sir. And one of Gabriel’s shoes had a broken heel. And Peter couldn’t find a matching hat. And Walter couldn’t get his dagger out of its sheath. Only Adam, Rafe, and Gregory were ready. The rest were just a mess—but such as they are, sir, they’re here to welcome you.
PETRUCHIO
Go, blockheads, go, and bring my supper to me.
THE SERVANTS EXIT.
(singing) Where is the life I led until recently? Where are those—Sit down, Kate, make yourself at home.—Come on, come on, come on, come on.
SERVANTS ENTER WITH SUPPER.
Did I say later? I said now!—Smile, Kate! Be happy.—Get my boots off, you apes! You idiots, now!
(singing) It was a friar in robes of gray, who walked along the road one day:—(a servant tries to take off PETRUCHIO’s boots) Stop, you moron! You’re twisting my foot! Take that, and see you do a better job with the other one. (he strikes the servant) Be happy, Kate!—Bring me some water! Where’s my spaniel Troilus? Hey boy, go tell my cousin Ferdinand to get in here.
A SERVANT EXITS.
You’ll love this guy, Kate—anyway, you’d better! Where are my slippers? Can we have some water please here?—
A SERVANT ENTERS WITH WATER.
Come and wash, Kate, make yourself at home. Son of a bitch, you spilled it! (he strikes the servant)
KATHERINE
Take it easy! Please! It was just an accident!
PETRUCHIO
He’s a son of a bitch, a moron, a total jerk.—Come sit down, Kate, I know you must be hungry. Will you say grace, sweet Kate, or shall I?—What is this? Mutton?
FIRST SERVANT
Yes.
PETRUCHIO
Who brought it out here?
PETER
I did.
PETRUCHIO
It’s burnt. The whole thing is burnt. You bastards! Where is that moron of a cook? You devils! How dare you serve it to me this way! There, take it all back—plates, cups, the whole thing. (throws the meat and everything else around the stage) You careless blockheads and unwashed slaves! I heard that! I’ll deal with you in a minute.
SERVANTS EXIT.
KATHERINE
Please, dear, calm down. The meat was fine if you wanted to eat it.
PETRUCHIO
And I’m telling you it was burnt and dried out. I’m not allowed to eat overcooked meat. It gives me indigestion and that makes me irritable. Very, very irritable.Better for us to go hungry, since we’re both hotheaded, than for us to eat meat that’s been cooked too long. But don’t worry, tomorrow it will get straightened out. Tonight we’ll go without food.
Come, I’ll show you your bridal chamber.
THEY EXIT.
SERVANTS ENTER FROM DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE STAGE.
NATHANIEL
Peter, did you ever see anything like it?
PETER
He’s giving her a taste of her own medicine.
CURTIS ENTERS.
GRUMIO
Where is he?
CURTIS
In her room, lecturing her on the virtues of self-control. He rants and rails and swears and she, poor thing, doesn’t know how to stand or look or speak. She sits like a person who’s just woken up from a dream. Look out, he’s coming!
THEY EXIT.
PETRUCHIO ENTERS.
PETRUCHIO
Well, I’ve begun my reign with a carefully thought-out plan, and I have every hope of succeeding. My falcon is now hungry and unfed and must not be given enough to eat until she comes to me, for if her hunger is satisfied, she’ll pay no attention to the bait. I have another plan to make my bird come to me and recognize her owner’s call is to keep her from sleeping— the way trainers do with young hawks that flutter and flap and will not obey. She had no food today and will have none. Last night she got no sleep, and she won’t get any tonight. Just as I did with the meat, I’ll make up some problem with the way the bed is made, and throw the pillow one way and the cushion the other, and the blanket over here and the sheets over there. And through all the shouting and fuss, I’ll swear that it’s all out of love for her. The end result will be that she’ll sit up all night. And if she starts to drop off, I’ll rant and yell until I wake her up. This is how to kill a wife with kindness. And this way I’ll cure her wild and willful nature. If anyone here knows a better way to tame a shrew, speak up, please. It would be much appreciated.
HE EXITS.
Act IV, scenes i–ii
Scene 3
KATHERINE AND GRUMIO ENTER.
GRUMIO
No, no, I can’t, really. He’d kill me.
KATHERINE
The more I suffer, the more spiteful he becomes. Did he marry me just to starve me? Beggars at my father’s door are given money as soon as they ask for it. And if they don’t find charity there, they find it someplace else. But I, who have never known how to beg and never had to beg, am starved for food, dizzy with lack of sleep, kept awake with curses and fed with brawling. And what irks me more than all these things put together is that he does it under the pretense of love—as though for me to eat or sleep would bring on fatal illness or sudden death. Please, go and get me something to eat. I don’t care what so long as it’s nutritious.
GRUMIO
What do you say to a calf’s foot?
KATHERINE
Oh, lovely. Can I have some?
GRUMIO
I’m afraid it will raise your blood pressure. What do you say to an ox stomach, nicely broiled?
KATHERINE
I’d love it. Nice Grumio, bring me some.
GRUMIO
I don’t know. I’m afraid it will make you too hot, too. What do you say to a piece of beef with mustard?
KATHERINE
A favorite dish of mine.
GRUMIO
Yes, but the mustard is probably too hot.
KATHERINE
Well then, the beef without the mustard.
GRUMIO
Absolutely not. You’ll take the mustard or you’ll get no beef from Grumio.
KATHERINE
Then both, or one, or anything you like.
GRUMIO
How about the mustard without the beef.
KATHERINE
Get out of here, you measly, lying wretch. (she beats him.) You feed me with only the names of foods. To hell with you and the whole pack of you who triumph at my misery. Go on, I said get out of here.
PETRUCHIO AND HORTENSIO ENTER WITH A DISH OF MEAT.
PETRUCHIO
How is my Kate? Feeling blue, darling?
HORTENSIO
Mistress, how are you?
KATHERINE
Believe me, I’ve been better.
PETRUCHIO
Cheer up. Give us a smile. Look, love, see how devoted I am? I’ve prepared a meal for you myself, and here it is. I am sure, sweet Kate, this kindness deserves thanks. What, not a word? I guess you don’t want it. Ah well, all my trouble was for nothing. Here, take away the dish.
KATHERINE
Please, leave it here.
PETRUCHIO
The smallest service is repaid with thanks. Mine will be, too, before you touch the food.
KATHERINE
Thank you, sir.
HORTENSIO
Shame on you, Petruchio! You are too harsh. Come, mistress Kate, I’ll join you.
PETRUCHIO
(speaking so that only HORTENSIO can hear) Do me a favor and scarf it all down yourself, Hortensio.—May it do your gentle heart good, Kate. Eat up quickly, my honey lamb, we’re off to your father’s house to join in the revelry, where we’ll dress as well as the best of them, with silk robes and caps and golden rings, collars and cuffs and fancy frocks and things, with scarves and fans and two changes of clothes, amber bracelets, beads, and plenty of gewgaws. All finished? The tailor is waiting to deck you out in ruffled finery.
A TAILOR ENTERS.
Come, tailor, let us see these ornaments.
Lay forth the gown.
Now, tailor, let’s see what you’ve got. Lay out the gown.
A HATMAKER ENTERS.
What can I do for you, sir?
HABERDASHER HATMAKER
Here is the cap your Worship ordered.
PETRUCHIO
Why, this was modeled on a porridge bowl! It’s a velvet dish! No, definitely not! It’s cheap and nasty! It’s like a cockleshell or a walnut shell, a joke, a prank, a doll’s cap. Take it away. Bring me a bigger one.
KATHERINE
I won’t have one any bigger. This is the fashion. Gentlewomen are wearing caps like this right now.
PETRUCHIO
When you are gentle, you shall have one, too, and not till then.
HORTENSIO
(to himself) That won’t be anytime soon.
KATHERINE
Sir, I think I have the right to speak, and speak I certainly will. I am not a child or an infant. Better men than you have heard me speak my mind, and if you can’t take it, then you’d better plug your ears. I’ll express my anger or die concealing it. And rather than have that happen, I’ll give myself permission to speak as freely as I like, whatever I may have to say.
PETRUCHIO
You know, you’re right. It’s a measly little cap, a dessert crust, a plaything, a silk pie. I love you all the more for not liking it.
KATHERINE
I don’t care if you love me or not, I like the cap and I’ll have it or I won’t have any.
HATMAKER EXITS.
PETRUCHIO
Now, your gown? Yes, yes. Come, tailor, show it to us. Merciful God! What sort of costume do we have here? What do you call this? A sleeve? It’s like a cannon.
What, up and down, carved like an apple tart?
Here’s snip and nip and cut and slish and slash,
Like to a censer in a barber’s shop.
Why, what i' devil’s name, tailor, call’st thou this?
What have you done? Carved it up and down like an apple tart? Snip and snip and cut and slash—it’s got more holes than a sieve! What in the world do you call this, tailor!
HORTENSIO
(to himself) I see she’s likely to have neither cap nor gown.
TAILOR
You told me to make it well and properly and in keeping with the current style.
PETRUCHIO
Certainly, I did. But if you remember, I didn’t tell you to parody the style. Go on home, sir. You’ve lost me as a customer. I won’t take it. Do whatever you want with it.
KATHERINE
I never saw a better-designed gown, more elegant and pleasing and well made. Perhaps you think you can make me into some sort of plaything?
PETRUCHIO
Yes, that’s it! The tailor thinks he can make you into some sort of plaything.
TAILOR
She says your Worship thinks you can make her into some sort of plaything.
PETRUCHIO
What monstrous arrogance! It’s a lie, you thread, you thimble, you measurement! You flea, you louse, you winter cricket! Disrespected in my own house by a spool of thread! Get out of here you rag, you remnant, you piece of yardage, or I’ll measure you within an inch of your life with your own yardstick, and you’ll remember your yammering for the rest of your life. I tell you, you’ve ruined her gown.
TAILOR
It’s not true. The gown was made just as my master was directed. Grumio gave the order for how it should be done.
GRUMIO
I gave him no order. I gave him the material.
TAILOR
But how did you want it made?
GRUMIO
With a needle and thread.
TAILOR
But didn’t you expect us to cut the cloth?
GRUMIO
You’ve faced many things, haven’t you?
TAILOR
I have.
GRUMIO
Well, don’t face off with me. You have bested many things, well don’t try and best me. I will not be faced or bested. I tell you I requested that your master cut out the gown, but I didn’t ask him to cut it all to pieces. Therefore, it follows you’re a liar.
TAILOR
Why, here is the order to prove it.
HOLDS UP A PAPER
HE HOLDS UP A PIECE OF PAPER.
PETRUCHIO
Read it.
GRUMIO
The note is a big fat liar if it says I said so.
TAILOR
(reading) “Item one, a loose-bodied gown—”
GRUMIO
Master, if ever I said “ loose-bodied gown ,” sew me into the skirts of it and beat me to death with a bobbin of brown thread. I said “a gown.”
PETRUCHIO
Go on.
TAILOR
(he reads) “With a half-circle cape—”
GRUMIO
I admit the cape.
TAILOR
(he reads) “With a wide sleeve—”
GRUMIO
I admit two sleeves.
TAILOR
(he reads) “The sleeves carefully cut.”
PETRUCHIO
Ah, there’s the problem.
GRUMIO
Error in the bill, sir, error in the bill! I ordered that the sleeves be cut out and sewed up again, and I’ll prove it in combat even if your little finger is armed with your thimble.
TAILOR
What I say is true. And if this were a fitting place, I’d prove it.
GRUMIO
I am ready for you. You take the bill and I’ll take your yardstick. Do your worst!
HORTENSIO
God have mercy, Grumio! He won’t have a chance.
PETRUCHIO
Well, sir, the gown is not for me.
GRUMIO
You are right, it’s for my mistress.
PETRUCHIO
Go, take it away and let your master make whatever use of it he can.
GRUMIO
Certainly not! Take off my mistress' gown for your master’s use!
PETRUCHIO
Why, what’s the problem?
GRUMIO
Oh, sir, the problem goes far deeper than you realize. Take up my mistress' gown for his master’s use! Oh, that’s disgusting!
PETRUCHIO
(speaking so that only HORTENSIO can hear) Hortensio, tell the tailor you’ll make sure he gets paid. (to TAILOR) Take it away. Off you go. There’s no more to be said.
HORTENSIO
(speaking so that only TAILOR can hear) Tailor, I’ll pay you for the gown tomorrow. Don’t be offended at his angry words. Go on, then. Regards to your master.
TAILOR EXITS.
PETRUCHIO
Ah well, my Kate. We’ll go to your father’s house dressed as we are, in simple but honest clothes. Our purses shall be rich, our garments poor. After all, it’s the mind that enriches the body, and just as the sun shines through the darkest clouds, well, that’s how clearly honor peeps through even the humblest style of dress. I mean, is the jay more precious than the lark because his feather is more beautiful? Is the snake better than the eel because the pattern on his back pleases the eye?
Hardly, Kate. By the same token you are worth no less for your simple clothes and lack of finery. If you regard it as shameful, put the shame on me. So, let’s perk up! We’re off to eat and whoop it up at your father’s house.(to GRUMIO) Go, call my men so we can leave right away. And bring our horses to the end of Long Lane. We’ll walk there on foot and mount up there. Let’s see, I think it must be seven o'clock, so we should get there easily by lunchtime.
KATHERINE
I hate to say it, but it’s almost two and we won’t get there before suppertime.
PETRUCHIO
It shall be seven o'clock before I get on my horse. Whatever I say, or think, or do, you’re continually contradicting it. Sirs, never mind. We won’t go today—or any day until it’s clear that it shall be whatever time I say it is.
HORTENSIO
(to himself) I see this fellow intends to command the sun.
THEY ALL EXIT.
Act 4
Scene 5
PETRUCHIO, KATHERINE AND HORTENSIO ENTER, ACCOMPANIED BY SERVANTS.
PETRUCHIO
Come, let’s continue on toward your father’s house. Good Lord, how bright and splendid is the moon tonight!
KATHERINE
The moon? You mean the sun! It is not nighttime now.
PETRUCHIO
I say it’s the moon that shines so bright.
KATHERINE
I know it’s the sun that shines so bright.
PETRUCHIO
Now, by my mother’s son, and that’s me, it will be moon or star or whatever I want before I’ll travel to your father’s house. (to servants) Go return our horses.— Constantly contradicted and contradicted, and nothing but contradicted!
HORTENSIO
(to KATHERINE) Say what he wants or we’ll never go.
KATHERINE
Since we’ve come this far, please—let’s continue on. And whatever it is—moon or sun or anything you like—if you want to call it a tea candle, that’s what it is as far as I’m concerned. From now on, I promise.
PETRUCHIO
I say it’s the moon.
KATHERINE
I know it’s the moon.
PETRUCHIO
Well, you’re a liar, then. It’s the blessed sun.
KATHERINE
Then God be praised, it is the blessed sun. But it is not the sun when you say it is not, and the moon changes according to your mind. Whatever you want to call a thing, that’s what it is—and that’s what it will always be for me.
HORTENSIO
Petruchio, do whatever you like. You’ve won.
PETRUCHIO
Well, onward, then. That’s how things should be—straight and smooth. But, hang on! I hear someone coming.
VINCENTIO ENTERS.
(to VINCENTIO) Good morning, young miss, where are you going?—Tell me, sweet Kate, and tell me truly, have you ever seen a young gentlewoman blooming more with health? The way the shades of white and red compete in her complexion. Which of the stars in heaven shine with such beauty as the two eyes that sparkle in that heavenly face? Fair lovely maid, once more good day to you.—Sweet Kate, embrace her for her beauty.
HORTENSIO
(speaking so that only the audience can hear) He will drive the man mad pretending he thinks he’s a woman.
KATHERINE
Young budding virgin, fair and pure and sweet, where are you off to? Or where do you live? Your parents are lucky to have such a lovely child. And luckier still is the man who gets to be your husband and share your bed.
PETRUCHIO
Why, dear me, Kate! I hope you haven’t lost your mind. This is not a maiden, as you say, but an old man—wrinkled, faded, and withered.
KATHERINE
Sir, pardon my imperfect eyes, which have been so blinded by the sun that everything I look at appears green. Now I can see that you’re an elderly gentleman. Do forgive me for my crazy error.
PETRUCHIO
Do, good old grandfather, and while you’re at it, tell us which way you’re traveling. If we’re all headed in the same direction, we’d love your company.
VINCENTIO
Well, sir, and you, witty lady, who gave me quite a turn with your strange talk, my name is Vincentio, my hometown Pisa, and I am traveling to Padua to visit a son of mine whom I haven’t seen in a long while.
PETRUCHIO
What is his name?
VINCENTIO
Lucentio, sir.
PETRUCHIO
A fortunate coincidence—more fortunate for your son. I can now call you “father” in a legal sense, not just out of respect for your age. The sister of my wife, this lady here, is married to your son. And there’s no need for wonder or worry. His bride is well thought of, with a rich dowry and noble birth—a fit wife for any nobleman.
Let me embrace the father of Lucentio, and then we’ll journey on to see your son, who will rejoice at your arrival.
VINCENTIO
Is all this true? Or is this your way of livening up your travels—playing jokes on people you meet on the way?
HORTENSIO
I assure you, sir, it’s true.
PETRUCHIO
Look, come along with us and see the truth for yourself. Our earlier joke has made you understandably suspicious.
EVERYONE BUT HORTENSIO EXITS.
HORTENSIO
Well, Petruchio, all this is very encouraging. I’ll visit my widow now, and if she proves difficult to manage, I’ll know how to make myself impossible.
HE EXITS.
Act 5
Scene 1
PETRUCHIO, KATHERINE, VINCENTIO AND GRUMIO ENTER, WITH ATTENDANTS.
PETRUCHIO
Here is the door, sir. This is Lucentio’s house. My father-in-law lives closer to the marketplace. That’s where I’m going now, so I’ll leave you here.
VINCENTIO
You must not go without having a drink first. I think I may presume to welcome you, and they’re probably preparing some kind of feast to welcome me.
HE KNOCKS.
GREMIO
They’re pretty busy in there. You’d better knock louder.
THE MERCHANT LOOKS OUT THE WINDOW.
MERCHANT
(as VINCENTIO) Who’s that breaking down the door?
VINCENTIO
Is Signior Lucentio at home, sir?
MERCHANT
(as VINCENTIO) Yes, he’s at home, but he can’t be disturbed.
VINCENTIO
What if a fellow were bringing him a couple of hundred pounds to toss around?
MERCHANT
(as VINCENTIO) Keep your hundreds. He won’t need them as long as I’m living.
PETRUCHIO
(to VINCENTIO) I told you your son was popular in Padua. Hear that, sir? (to MERCHANT) Games aside, though, would you be good enough to tell Signior Lucentio that his father has arrived from Pisa and stands at the door waiting to speak with him?
MERCHANT
(as VINCENTIO) You lie. His father is already in Padua. In fact, he’s standing right here looking out the window.
VINCENTIO
You’re his father?
MERCHANT
(as VINCENTIO) Yes, sir—according to his mother, if I can believe her.
PETRUCHIO
(to VINCENTIO) What? Why this is out and out robbery! To appropriate another man’s name.
MERCHANT
(as VINCENTIO) Arrest the wretch. I think he means to bamboozle someone in this city while pretending to be me.
BIONDELLO ENTERS.
BIONDELLO
(to himself) Well, I’ve seen them married. Good luck to them! Uh-oh. What’s this? It’s my master’s father, Vincentio! Now we’re in trouble. Everything’s ruined.
VINCENTIO
(to BIONDELLO) Come here, you scoundrel.
BIONDELLO
I believe I have some choice in the matter, sir.
VINCENTIO
Come here, you wretch! What, have you forgotten me?
BIONDELLO
Forgotten you! No, sir. I could not forget you, since I never saw you before in my life.
VINCENTIO
Despicable brute! Never seen your master’s father, Vincentio?
BIONDELLO
My honorable, reverend master? Yes, of course. There he is at the window.
VINCENTIO
Is that so?
HE BEATS BIONDELLO.
BIONDELLO
Help, help, help! This madman will murder me.
HE EXITS.
MERCHANT
(as VINCENTIO) Help, son! Help, Signior Baptista!
HE EXITS FROM ABOVE.
PETRUCHIO
What do you think, Kate, shall we hang back and see how this conflict finishes?
THEY DRAW BACK.
KATHERINE
Let’s follow them to see how this turns out.
PETRUCHIO
First kiss me, Kate, and then we will.
KATHERINE
What, here in the middle of the street?
PETRUCHIO
Why not? Are you ashamed of me?
KATHERINE
Certainly not! But I’m ashamed to kiss, sir.
PETRUCHIO
All right then, back home we go. (to GRUMIO) Come, fellow, let’s be off.
KATHERINE
No, wait. I will kiss you. (kisses him) Now please, love, stay.
PETRUCHIO
Isn’t this good? Come, my sweet Kate. Better late than never—and it’s never too late to change.
THEY EXIT.
Act 5
Scene 2
BAPTISTA, VINCENTIO, GREMIO, THE MERCHANT, LUCENTIO, BIANCA, PETRUCHIO, KATHERINE, HORTENSIO, WIDOW, TRANIO, BIONDELLO, AND GRUMIO ENTER, WITH THE SERVANTS BRINGING IN A BANQUET. EVERYONE STANDS AS LUCENTIO PROPOSES A TOAST.
LUCENTIO
Finally, at long last, we’ve reconciled our differences. Now is the time—when war is safely over—to laugh at past dangers and adventures. My fair Bianca, bid my father welcome, while I with equal affection welcome yours. Brother Petruchio, sister Katherina, and you, Hortensio, with your loving widow, you’ll find no better entertainment anywhere. All of you are welcome in my house. This last course here is for closing up the stomach after great feasting. Now everyone be seated, as this is the part where we sit and chat as well as eat.
PETRUCHIO
All we do is sit and sit and eat and eat.
BAPTISTA
Yes, Padua is famous for this pleasant life, Petruchio, my son.
PETRUCHIO
Padua contains nothing that isn’t pleasant.
HORTENSIO
I wish that were true for both our sakes!
PETRUCHIO
Well what do you know! Hortensio fears his widow.
WIDOW
Me afraid of him? I don’t think so.
PETRUCHIO
That’s very sensible, but you missed my sense: I meant Hortensio is afraid of you.
WIDOW
He who is dizzy thinks the world is spinning.
PETRUCHIO
A very candid reply.
KATHERINE
What’s that supposed to mean?
WIDOW
That’s what I conceive of him.
PETRUCHIO
Conceives by me? How does that sit with you, Hortensio?
HORTENSIO
My widow means that her remark expressed the way she understood him.
PETRUCHIO
Nice save! Kiss him for that, good widow.
KATHERINE
“He who is dizzy thinks the world is spinning”—please, tell me what you meant by that.
WIDOW
Your husband, being saddled with a shrew, projects his own suffering onto my husband. And now you know my meaning.
KATHERINE
A very nasty meaning.
WIDOW
My meaning is nasty, for it’s you I mean.
KATHERINE
And I am nasty when it comes to you.
PETRUCHIO
You tell her, Kate!
HORTENSIO
You tell her, widow!
PETRUCHIO
I’ll bet you a hundred marks, my Kate puts her flat on her back.
HORTENSIO
Well, that’s really my job.
PETRUCHIO
Well said! Here’s to you!
HE DRINKS TO HORTENSIO
BAPTISTA
What do you think of these quick-witted folks, Gremio?
GREMIO
They certainly do like to butt heads!
BIANCA
A clever person would say their butting heads had horns on them.
VINCENTIO
Ah, our bride has woken up!
BIANCA
Yes, but not out of fear. I’ll go back to sleep now.
PETRUCHIO
No, you shall not. Since you chimed in, let’s see if we can trade a caustic joke or two.
BIANCA
Am I the bird you’re going to shoot at now? I’ll move my bush, so you’ll have to aim at a moving target. Thank you all for coming.
BIANCA, KATHERINE AND WIDOW EXIT.
PETRUCHIO
Well, she got away. Signior Tranio, you also took aim at that bird, though you didn’t hit her.—So here’s a health to all who’ve shot and missed.
TRANIO
Oh well, sir, I was really just like a greyhound that Lucentio let off the leash: I did the running, but the catch was his.
PETRUCHIO
A witty if a cynical reply.
TRANIO
It’s good you hunted for yourself, sir. It’s rumored that your deer holds you at bay.
BAPTISTA
Oh-ho, Petruchio! Tranio got you that time.
LUCENTIO
I thank you for that quip, good Tranio.
HORTENSIO
Fess up, fess up, didn’t that one strike home?
PETRUCHIO
He’s made me a little sore, I’ll admit. But since the gibe glanced off me, ten to one it hit you both straight on.
BAPTISTA
Seriously, though, son Petruchio, I think you have the most thoroughgoing shrew of us all.
PETRUCHIO
Well, I disagree. But why not put it to the test? Let’s each one send for his wife. Whichever’s is most obedient and comes most readily shall win the bet that we’ll propose.
HORTENSIO
Agreed. What’s the bet?
LUCENTIO
Twenty crowns.
PETRUCHIO
Twenty crowns? That’s a bet I’d make on my hawk or my hound. I’d wager twenty times as much on my wife.
LUCENTIO
A hundred then.
HORTENSIO
Agreed.
PETRUCHIO
Good! It’s a bet.
HORTENSIO
Who should begin?
LUCENTIO
I will. Biondello, go and tell your mistress to come to me.
BIONDELLO
Here I go.
HE EXITS.
BAPTISTA
Son, I’ll stake you half that Bianca comes.
LUCENTIO
I’ll have no halves. I’ll shoulder the whole bet
BIONDELLO ENTERS.
Well, what happened
BIONDELLO
Sir, my mistress sends you word that she is busy and cannot come.
PETRUCHIO
What! “She’s busy and cannot come!” Is that an answer?
GREMIO
Yes, and a nice one at that. Pray God your wife doesn’t send you a worse one.
PETRUCHIO
I’m hoping for better.
HORTENSIO
You there, Biondello, go and request that my wife come to me straight away.
BIONDELLO EXITS.
PETRUCHIO
Oh-ho, he requests! Why, then she’ll have to come.
HORTENSIO
I rather think, sir, that yours will not grant a request in any case.
BIONDELLO ENTERS.
So, where’s my wife?
BIONDELLO
She says she thinks this is a prank. She will not come. She says that you should come to her.
PETRUCHIO
Worse and worse! She will not come! It’s vile, intolerable, not to be endured!—You there, Grumio, go to your mistress. Say that I command her to come to me.
GRUMIO EXITS.
HORTENSIO
I can guess her answer.
PETRUCHIO
What?
HORTENSIO
She will not.
PETRUCHIO
The worse for me, no doubt about it.
KATHERINE ENTERS.
BAPTISTA
By all that’s holy, here comes Katherina!
KATHERINE
You sent for me, sir? Is there something you’d like me to do for you?
PETRUCHIO
Where are your sister and Hortensio’s wife?
KATHERINE
They sit chatting by the parlor fire.
PETRUCHIO
Go bring them here. If they refuse to come, get physical—use a whip if you have to, but get them out here to their husbands. Go on, I said. Bring them here straight away.
KATHERINE EXITS.
LUCENTIO
This is a miracle, if you talk of miracles.
HORTENSIO
It is. I wonder what it means.
PETRUCHIO
I’ll tell you what it means. It means peace and love and a quiet life, supremacy based on reverence and profound respect, and—not to go on and on about it—everything that’s sweet and happy.
BAPTISTA
May good fortune come to you, good Petruchio! You’ve won the wager, and I will add twenty thousand crowns to what they owe you. Another dowry for another wife, for, truly, she is so transformed she’s like a completely new woman.
PETRUCHIO
Wait, I will win the wager more spectacularly, going even further to demonstrate her obedience, her newly created virtue and obedience.
KATHERINE ENTERS WITH BIANCA AND WIDOW.
Look, here she comes, with your ungovernable wives in tow, like prisoners of her womanly persuasion.—Katherine, that cap of yours doesn’t look good on you. Take it off and throw it on the ground.
WIDOW
Lord, may I never see a day of trouble until the day I let someone treat me like that.
BIANCA
For shame! What kind of loyalty is this?
LUCENTIO
I wish your loyalty were as foolish. The wisdom of your loyalty, fair Bianca, has cost me a hundred crowns since dinner.
BIANCA
The more fool you for betting on my loyalty.
PETRUCHIO
Katherine, I’d like you to lecture these headstrong women on the nature of the loyalty they owe their lords and husbands.
WIDOW
You must be joking. There will be no lecture.
PETRUCHIO
Do it, I say. You can begin with her.
WIDOW
She shall not.
PETRUCHIO
I say she shall.—And first begin with her.
KATHERINE
Girls, girls! Wipe those frowns off your faces and stop rolling your eyes. This disrespectful stance toward the man who is your lord, your king, your governor tarnishes your beauty the way the frosts of winter blights the land. It mars your reputations as whirlwinds shake fair buds. And in no sense is it fitting or attractive. An angry woman is like an agitated fountain—muddy, unpleasant, lacking in beauty. And in this condition, no one—however dry or thirsty he may be—will stoop to sip or touch one drop of it. Your husband is your lord, your life, your keeper, your head, your sovereign, one who cares for you and who, for your ease and comfort, commits his body to harsh labor both on land and sea. Long, stormy nights at seas he stays awake, by day he endures cold while you lie safe and warm, secure in your beds at home. And in exchange he seeks no more from you but love, kind looks, and true obedience—too little payment for so great a debt. A woman owes her husband the same loyalty a subject owes his king. And when she is peevish and perverse, sullen, sour, and disobedient to his honest wishes, what is she but a loathsome, warlike rebel and an ungrateful traitor to her loving lord? I am ashamed that women are so foolish as to declare war when they should plead on their knees for peace, that they seek authority, supremacy, and power when they are under an obligation to serve, love, and obey. Why are our bodies soft and weak and smooth, unfit for toil and trouble in the world, if not so that our soft qualities and our hearts should agree with our external parts? Come, come, you weak, ungovernable worms!
My spirit has been as proud as each of yours, my courage as great, and my reason perhaps even better suited to bandy words back and forth and exchange frown for frown. But now I see our weapons are like straws, our strength like a straw’s weakness, and our weakness past comparison, so that we seem to be the thing we most are not. Humble your pride, then, since it’s useless, and place your hand beneath your husband’s foot. As a gesture of my loyalty, my hand is ready if he cares to use it. May it bring him comfort.
PETRUCHIO
There, that’s my girl! Come on and kiss me, Kate.
LUCENTIO
Congratulations, old pal, you’ve won the bet.
VINCENTIO
It’s nice to see children playing well together.
LUCENTIO
But not so nice when women misbehave.
PETRUCHIO
Come, Kate, let’s go to bed. We three are married, but you two are defeated. (to LUCENTIO) I was the one who won the wager, though you hit the white. And as the winner here I say good night.
PETRUCHIO AND KATHERINE EXIT.
HORTENSIO
Well, congratulations. You’ve tamed a terrible shrew.
LUCENTIO
It’s amazing, if I may say so, that she let herself be tamed.
THEY ALL EXIT.
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