Revision Cards - The Taming of the Shrew: A Level, Genre, Structure and Language

Revise the key points

The Induction scene is unique in Shakespeare’s comedies.
There are links to commedia del arte in Bianca as virginal daughter; witty servant in Tranio, Grumio, Biondello; older men as gulled and tricked (Hortensio, Vincentio, Gremio, etc.).
Note the comic elements of disguise, ‘war of the sexes’, motherless daughters, witty banter.
The marriage ending fits the conventions of other Shakespeare love comedies of ‘order restored’.

Genre, Structure and Language

The Taming of the Shrew: A Level

The Induction does not ‘book-end’ the play – Sly does not reappear at the end, leaving this plot open-ended.
The arrival of bachelors from outside an Italian city also opens Much Ado About Nothing, and is the inciting action which fires the plot.
Note the use of mirroring: the Induction pre-echoes Petruccio’s construction of the mad world he confronts Kate with.
The plot and subplot both concern the same objective – marriage.

Genre, Structure and Language

The Taming of the Shrew: A Level

Imagery: Petruccio as falconer, Katherina as ‘baited’ hawk; Kate/cat; other animal metaphors (‘the jay more precious than the lark’ in relation to outward show).
Low and high: contrast between the local English of Sly, and his own changed language.
Classical allusions: Lucentio’s use of a mode of language which imitates Ovid’s Ars Amatoria.
Comic cut and thrust: the repartee (a word that comes from fencing) between Petruccio and Kate in Act II Scene 1.

Genre, Structure and Language

The Taming of the Shrew: A Level

The abnormal behaviour of certain characters is reflected in the number of references to ‘madness’ throughout.
Tranio refers to Katherina as ‘stark mad’ in Act I Scene 1, but we may want to ask under whose terms is she considered so?
Madness is linked to physical violence in Petruccio’s case: Grumio says, ‘My master is mad’ (1.2.18) after he has his ears squeezed by him!
Petruccio’s behaviour becomes increasingly ‘mad’ when he defies social conventions at the marriage, being called a ‘mad-brain rudesby’ by Katherina. (III.2.10)

Genre, Structure and Language

The Taming of the Shrew: A Level

The play does not generally have long speeches and is characterised by fast-paced, witty conversations, slapstick and the bartering over Kate’s and Bianca’s futures.
However, two speeches are all the more telling for being unusual in that respect: Petruchio’s ‘falcon’ speech in Act IV Scene 1, and Katherina’s ‘obedience’ speech in the final scene.
Both speeches allow the audience a deeper insight into their speakers’ motives and feelings in a way denied any other character in the play.
Both speeches are key set-piece moments, displaying strong rhetorical force and power.