Analysis

To help you look at any scene in The Taming of The Shrew and begin to analyse it, it’s important to ask questions about how it's written and why.

Shakespeare’s plays are driven by their characters and every choice that’s made about words, structure and rhythm tells you something about the person, their relationships or their mood in that moment. You should always try and ask yourself, like actors do, why is the character saying what they are saying or doing what they are doing? What is their motive?

Just like Detectives, we need to look for clues to help us answer those questions each time and below you can find some interrogation techniques we use to analyse text, introduced by the actors that use them. 

  • Analysing Katherina's language

    Katherina has the largest and most well-known speech in the final scene of the play. It tells us a lot about how she feels about marriage, female roles and the changes in her behaviour since marrying Petruchio.

    In this video, Mark Quartley shares some of the things he looks for to help him understand how a character is feeling in a monologue. The example he is using is from The Tempest but you can look for the same clues in The Taming of The Shrew.

    What can you find by looking at the same things in what Katherina says?

    When a character is talking to the audience in a soliloquy they are usually open and honest in what they say. When a character has a monologue where other characters are on stage, they may have reasons not to be completely open in what they say.

    Below you can explore Katherina’s speech at the end of Act 5 Scene 1. In this speech, Katherina is speaking to her sister Bianca, who has recently married Lucentio, and the new wife of Hortensio. See if you can notice the things Mark tells us to look out for:

    • Imagery
    • Metre
    • Word choice
    Katherina
    Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,
    Thy head, thy sovereign: one that cares for thee,
    And for thy maintenance commits his body
    To painful labour both by sea and land,
    To watch the night in storms, the day in cold,
    Whilst thou liest warm at home, secure and safe,
    And craves no other tribute at thy hands
    But love, fair looks and true obedience;
    Too little payment for so great a debt.
    Such duty as the subject owes the prince
    Even such a man oweth to her husband.
    And when she is froward, peevish, sullen, sour,
    And not obedient to his honest will,
    What is she but a foul contending rebel
    And graceless traitor to her loving lord?
    I am ashamed that women are so simple
    To offer war where they should kneel for peace;
    Or seek for rule, supremacy and sway,
    When they are bound to serve, love and obey.
    Why are our bodies soft and weak and smooth,
    Unapt to toil and trouble in the world,
    But that our soft conditions and our hearts
    Should well agree with our external parts?
    Come, come, you froward and unable worms!
    My mind hath been as big as one of yours,
    My heart as great, my reason haply more,
    To bandy word for word and frown for frown;
    But now I see our lances are but straws,
    Our strength as weak, our weakness past compare,
    That seeming to be most which we indeed least are.
    Then vail your stomachs, for it is no boot,
    And place your hands below your husband's foot:
    In token of which duty, if he please,
    My hand is ready; may it do him ease.
    Difficult work.
    Unmade for work.
    Mild personalities.
    Disobedient, wild.
    To always speak back.
    Our weapons are weak.
    Swallow your pride.
    It will not work.
    Text edited for rehearsals by Justin Audibert

    Questions to consider

    What can we learn about Katherina from this monologue? Ask yourself:

    • What are the main images in this speech? What images do they create in your mind? Are there images which complement each other or others that juxtapose?
    • Consider the rhythm of the verse. Where are rhyming couplets used? Is there anything you notice about how Katherina speaks?
    • Note the punctuation in this speech. How do you feel questions are used here?
    • How is repetition used in this speech? Does the word keep its meaning as it is repeated or does it alter? Are any of these repeated words open to interpretation?

    Using Mark’s strategies, we’ve started to look at what Katherina's language tells us about her in this Act 5 Scene 2 monologue. See if you can complete the grid below and finish the four points which explain what this speech reveals about her character at this point in the play.

    Point

    Katherina’s word choices suggest that she has come to see her husband as having status over her, however the director can make a choice as to whether there is irony in the way this speech is delivered.

    Evidence

    'Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper, / Thy head, thy sovereign.'

    Explanation

    Kate lists five examples here which emphasise the supremacy of the man over the woman, comparing the husband to the ruler of a country. She indicates that a wife both owes and should devote her ‘life’ to her husband. However, the speech is directed to the widow in the scene, who is rich and effectively ‘keeps’ her husband so there could be some irony in Katherina suggesting that her husband is her ‘sovereign’. Equally, she later goes on to say to all the women there that they should support their husbands after ‘painful labour’ during the day, even though the men they are married to are not labourers, making the speech hard to take at face value.

    Point

    Katherina examines the theme of duty and debt between a wife and husband.

    Evidence Select an option

    Explanation Click text to edit

    Enter your explanation here

    Point

    Katherina questions the behaviours and attitudes of other women.

    Evidence Click text to edit

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    Explanation Click text to edit

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    Point Click text to edit

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    What else can I do to explore Katherina's language?

    • Consider how Katherina’s language in Act 5 Scene 2 compares with her language earlier in the play. How does she speak to her father, Bianca and Petruchio in Acts 1 and 2?
    • Look at key words in the speech concerning duty and obedience. Does Katherina use them earlier in the play? Are there other words that appear frequently in her earlier speeches?
    • Explore Act 2 Scene 1 and Act 4 Scene 4 and consider how Katherina's language to Petruchio alters over the course of the play.
    • Look at the animal imagery used by and towards Katherina in Act 2 Scene 1.

  • Analysing Petruchio's Language

    Petruchio has 22 per cent of the lines in the play, and is a catalyst for the main events. Whilst his motives remain largely ambiguous, he does reveal some clues in his soliloquy, where he speaks directly and openly to the audience.

    In this video, RSC actor Paapa Essiedu shares what he looks for in a soliloquy, that helps him understand how a character is feeling. The example he is using is from Hamlet, but you can look for the same clues in Petruchio’s soliloquy.

    What can you find by looking at the same things in The Taming of The Shrew?

    Shakespeare gives characters soliloquies for lots of different reasons, but characters are usually open with the audience in these speeches. Below you can read Petruchio’s soliloquy at the end of Act 4 Scene 1. In this speech, Petruchio is talking to the audience about his prior interactions with Katherina and his plan for taming her. Speak it aloud and see if you can notice the things Paapa tells us to look out for:

    • Punctuation
    • Sounds
    • Line endings

    Questions to consider

    What can we learn about Petruchio from this soliloquy? Ask yourself:

    • What is the extended metaphor used in this speech? What visual pictures does it suggest in your mind and how does this help you to understand Petrucchio’s plan?
    • Why do you think Petruchio talks to the audience here? How do you think an the audience might are meant to respond to his provocation at the end?
    • Look at the punctuation. How many sentences does Petruchio speak? Are they of similar or different length thoughts? What do you think this tells us about Petruchio’s thought process and emotions?
    • What do you notice about the words at the end of each verse line? Can you spot any themes emerging?
    • Can you find any sounds that reoccur frequently in this speech? What do you think this might tells us about how Petruchio is feeling?

    Using Paapa’s strategies we’ve started to look at what the language Petruchio uses in this soliloquy tells us about him at this moment in Act 4 Scene 1. See if you can complete the below grid and create four points which explain what this speech reveals about the character at this point in the play.

    Point

    Petruchio plans to use extreme methods to tame Katherina.

    Evidence

    ‘My falcon now is sharp and passing empty; / And till she stoop she must not be full-gorged’

    Explanation

    Petruchio uses an extended metaphor to compare Kate to a wild bird of prey, and how he will tame and train her like an animal, using traditional methods of falconry. His method of training a falcon would be recognisable to Shakespeare’s audiences as falconry was a common sport. He implies that his training of her through restriction of food will continue until she ‘stoop’, or obey his commands.

    Point

    Petruchio sees marriage like the ruling of a country and demands complete obedience.

    Evidence Select an option

    Explanation Click text to edit

    Enter your explanation here

    Point

    Petruchio is brutal and violent in the language he uses towards Katherina.

    Evidence Click text to edit

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    Explanation Click text to edit

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    What else can I do to explore Petruchio's language?

    • Consider whether Petruchio’s language towards Katherina differs from the way he speaks to other characters. You may want to compare his language in Act 4 Scene 4 with the way he speaks to his servant Grumio and her father Baptista in Act 1.
    • Petruchio uses lots of hunting imagery in his speech. Can you find other examples of this? Does his language change in the final scene of the play?
    • Look at the animal imagery used by and towards Petruchio in Act 2 Scene 1.

  • Analysing the Imagery

    As with all of Shakespeare’s plays, there are lots of types of imagery used in The Taming of The Shrew. It’s a great idea to keep a list of the key quotes and imagery used in each act.

    Here are three types of imagery that come up a lot in The Taming of The Shrew:

    Animal Imagery

    • Katherina is described as ‘wild’ and often animals are used to suggest her animalistic tendencies. In Act 1 Gremio calls her a ‘wildcat’, in Act 3 Petruchio likens her to his ‘horse’ and a ‘wasp’, and the play title itself compares her to a ‘shrew’. When Petruchio talks of how he plans to tame Katherina, he uses a lot imagery relating to falconry and training birds of prey.
    • How many examples of animal imagery can you find in the play and what do they reveal about the character who uses them?

    Clothing Imagery

    • Many characters disguise their true identity over the course of the play: Lucentio as the schoolteacher Cambio, Tranio as his master Lucentio, Hortensio as the schoolteacher Licio, and the merchant as Vincentio.
    • Clothes also become a statement of non-conformity and madness, as Petruchio embarrasses Katherina by arriving at their wedding in a strange outfit, or in Act 4 dictating what she can or cannot wear. When questioned, Petruchio answers that she is married to him ‘not unto my clothes’. Even in the framing play, Christopher Sly is tricked by Bartholomew wearing women’s clothing.
    • How many examples of clothing imagery can you find in the play and what do they reveal about the character who uses them? Why do you think Shakespeare has included so much disguise in the play?

    Business Imagery

    • Marriage in The Taming of the Shrew is negotiated like a business transaction. Deals are agreed on according to wealth and status, and Baptista uses Bianca as a bargaining chip to ensure a good deal for his eldest daughter.
    • Bianca is a ‘treasure’ that cannot be given away lightly, and in Act 4 Baptista wishes to ensure that he has a legal agreement drawn up with Lucentio's father before the wedding takes place.
    • Once Petruchio has married Katherina, he regards her as his ‘goods’ and suggests he can do as he wishes with her.
    • Consider how women are considered to be objects for trade over the course of the play. Notice how often they are spoken about rather than to, and when they are on stage but silent. How is love spoken about in comparison to marriage?

    Thinking about Act 2 Scene 1 we’ve started to look at what the animal imagery and word choices in the scene tells us about Katherina and Petruchio. See if you can complete the below grid and create four points which explain what this language shows about their relationship at this point in the play.

    Point

    Katherina mocks Petruchio’s attempts to outwit her by comparing him to weak animals.

    Evidence

    ‘Well ta’en and like a buzzard.’ (Katherina, 2:1)

    Explanation

    Katherina likens Petruchio to a small bird of prey that cannot hunt well, suggesting that he is not succeeding in hunting or wooing her. She belittles his attempts to combat her wit by sarcastically praising him.

    Point

    Petruchio and Katherina use animal imagery in their banter about courtship.

    Evidence Select an option

    Explanation Click text to edit

    Enter your explanation here

    Point

    Kate and Petruchio’s animal language shows a wild nature in both of them.

    Evidence Click text to edit

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    Explanation Click text to edit

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  • Analysing the Themes

    As with all Shakespeare’s plays there are lots of themes that appear in The Taming of The Shrew. It’s a great idea to keep a list of key quotes and examples of these themes in each act as you go through the play, looking at who uses them and where they come up.

    Here are three of the themes that can be seen a lot in The Taming of The Shrew and are useful to look out for:

    Theme of Gender

    • There are very strict parameters placed around the social acceptability of behaviour according to gender. Different characters can display the same behaviour, however it is viewed differently because they are a man or a woman. For example, Katherina is criticised as rude and wilful, whereas Petruchio is praised for being authoritative and dominant. Is Katherina actually wilful and if so, does she have reason to be? Bianca is celebrated for her mild nature, however Hortensio is mocked for being scared of his wife.
    • See how many examples you can find of how behaviour is treated differently due to gendered expectations. Do the characters tend to conform to the societal norms?

    Theme of Disorder

    • Katherina is regarded as rebelling against her true feminine nature of being ‘soft and weak and smooth’. You can find examples of opposites and nature being inverted, such as when Petruchio insists that the sun is the moon. He uses opposites in order to confuse Katherina’s thinking and make her question everything he says. However, other parts of the play become disordered too. Licio’s lute is out of tune; Vincent meets a double of himself; the mild-mannered Bianca does not do as is expected at the end of the play.
    • Consider how the play ends. Do you think this community is in a state of order or disorder? Which conflicts have been resolved and which remain?

Teacher Notes

This page considers some of the themes and key speeches from the play. You can print the PEE grids from each of the sections on this page to help students explore the language around these in more detail.