1. The Taming
of the
Shrew
By: Meghan Herilla

2. Topics
I will be talking about:
• Plot and Characters
• Critical Analysis and Reception
• Themes/Big Ideas

3. Character List
• Katherina
• Pertruchio
• Bianca
• Baptista
• Lucentio
• Tranio
• Gremio
• Hortensio
• Grumio
• Biondello
• Christopher Sly

4. Plot
A poor tinker named Christopher Sly becomes the target of a prank by a local lord. Sly was found
drunk in front of an alehouse, so the lord has his men take Sly to his manor, dress him in nice
clothes, and treat him as a lord. When Sly recovers, the men tell him that he is a lord and that
he only thinks he is a tinker because he has been insane for several years. After waking up in
the lord’s bed, he doesn’t believe them. But, once he sees his wife(a pageboy dressed in
woman’s clothes), he thinks the are telling the truth. Sly is told that his acting troupe is going
to present him a play, which is The Taming of the Shrew.
The play is about the daughter of a wealthy man, Bianca, who has three people trying to marry
her(Lucentio , Gremio, and Hortensio). The conflict is, Bianca cannot wed until her sister,
Katherine, is married. This conflict is solved when Hortensio’s friend Pertruchio arrives and
marries Katherine. Pertruchio then starts trying to make Katherine an obedient wife.
Meanwhile, Lucentio wins over Bianca and his father, Vincentio, and her father, Baptista, both
agree to the marriage.
At the banquet following Hortensio’s wedding to a widow, the crowd decides to see who’s wife
obeys the best. The winner is Katherine; she has been turned into an obedient wife.

5. Topics
I will be talking about:
• Plot and Characters
• Critical Analysis and Reception
• Themes/Big Ideas

6. Critical Analysis and Reception
• Critics think that even in Shakespeare's day,
the play was controversial because of some
sexist elements.
• Many people question the authorship of The
Shrew, because A Shrew was written before it
and has a similar plot line but different
characters.

7. Topics
I will be talking about:
• Plot and Characters
• Critical Analysis and Reception
• Themes/Big Ideas

8. Themes/ Big Ideas
• Marriage as an Economic Institution- The play
focuses on the relationships between men
and women as go from interest into marriage
• The Effect of Social Roles on Individual
Happiness - Each person in the play has a
specific social position and has certain
expectations about how that person should
behave

9. Bibliography
"SparkNotes: The Taming of the Shrew: Character List." SparkNotes: Today's
Most Popular Study Guides. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2012.
<http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/shrew/characters.html>.
"SparkNotes: The Taming of the Shrew: Themes, Motifs & Symbols."
SparkNotes: Today's Most Popular Study Guides. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr.
2012. <http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/shrew/themes.html>.
"The Taming of the Shrew - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the
free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2012.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Taming_of_the_Shrew#Analysis_and_c
riticism>.
an, a local lord. Finding Sly drunk out of his wits in front of. "SparkNotes: The
Taming of the Shrew: Plot Overview." SparkNotes: Today's Most Popular
Study Guides. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2012.
<http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/shrew/summary.html>.