The Taming of the Shrew (AQA A-Level English Literature A): Revision Notes
Character analysis
Understanding the characters in The Taming of the Shrew is crucial for exploring the play's central themes of gender roles, power, performance, and marriage. Each character embodies particular aspects of these themes, and examining them closely reveals how Shakespeare questions social structures and expectations. When studying this play, focus on how characters develop throughout the story and what they represent thematically. Because of copyright restrictions, only brief quotations can be mentioned, but certain key phrases remain recognisable and significant.
Approaching Character Study
When analyzing characters in this play, always consider:
- What the character says and does (their actions and dialogue)
- What other characters say about them (reputation and perception)
- How their behavior changes throughout the play (character development)
- What themes or ideas they represent (symbolic significance)
Katherine (Kate)
At the start of the play, Kate is portrayed as fierce and outspoken, which causes others to fear and mock her. Her sharp tongue and physical aggression towards men earn her the label of "shrew" – a term society uses to criticise women who refuse to conform to expectations of quiet obedience. Thematically, Kate's character dramatises the experience of female resistance in a world where women are valued primarily as marriage commodities. Her situation is made worse by being overshadowed by her younger sister Bianca, creating a dynamic where Kate feels unwanted and trapped.
Throughout the play, Kate's behaviour shifts dramatically from open defiance to what appears to be acceptance of the obedient wife role. However, this transformation is at the heart of critical debate about the play.
The Central Debate: Genuine or Performance?
The central question is whether Kate's change is genuine or whether it represents a strategic performance. Her lengthy final speech about wifely obedience can be interpreted in two contrasting ways:
- Genuine submission: She has internalised patriarchal values and genuinely submits to male authority
- Strategic performance: She "out-performs" the ideal wife role so thoroughly that she exposes its artificiality through ironic exaggeration
Key evidence for analysis
Significant Moments for Katherine
When examining Kate's character, consider these significant moments:
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Early descriptions label her as "rough" and "forward", demonstrating how society uses negative language to control women who do not comply with expected behaviour patterns
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In her controversial final speech, Kate urges wives to place their hands beneath their husbands' feet – a shocking visual image that crystallises the play's exploration of female submissiveness and the hierarchical nature of marriage relationships
Petruchio
Petruchio arrives in Padua with a clear objective: to find a wealthy wife, openly admitting he cares little about her character or temperament. This highlights the transactional, economic nature of Renaissance marriage. His character embodies an aggressive, performative form of masculinity – he is loud, theatrical, and absolutely determined to "tame" Katherine through various methods including manipulation, depriving her of food and sleep, and engaging her in verbal contests.
Thematically, Petruchio serves as the vehicle for Shakespeare to explore whether male dominance can be transformed into a form of companionate partnership, or whether the play ultimately endorses cruelty and psychological abuse. His "taming school" effectively turns marriage into a training ground, raising disturbing questions about where the boundaries lie between love, discipline, and violence.
Petruchio's Controversial Legacy
Petruchio is one of the most controversial characters in Shakespeare's canon. His methods raise critical questions:
- Is his "taming" a form of psychological abuse?
- Does the play endorse or critique his behavior?
- Can his actions be justified as leading to mutual understanding?
These questions remain central to any interpretation of the play.
Key evidence for analysis
Important Moments in Petruchio's Characterisation
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His boastful claim that he knows "how to tame a shrew", which invites the audience to judge and evaluate his methods throughout the play
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His participation in a wager at the play's conclusion, betting that Kate will prove more obedient than other wives. This treats marriage as a competitive sport between men and frames obedience as a test of masculine control
Bianca
Initially, Bianca is presented as the perfect Renaissance daughter: modest, quiet, and obedient. These qualities make her highly desirable to potential suitors and to her father. She functions as Katherine's opposite or foil – where Kate is loud and resistant, Bianca appears compliant and sweet. This contrast powerfully demonstrates how social value is tied to displays of submissive femininity.
However, Bianca's behaviour throughout the play suggests that her obedience might also be a form of performance rather than genuine virtue. She flirts with her suitors, manipulates situations, and uses her "good girl" reputation strategically to get what she wants.
Bianca's Complexity
Bianca complicates the simple binary of women being either shrews or angels, suggesting that conformity itself can be a calculated role rather than an expression of inner virtue. This makes her character far more nuanced than first appears, challenging assumptions about "good" versus "bad" women.
Key evidence for analysis
Revealing Moments for Bianca
Consider these revealing moments:
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Early in the play, Bianca promises to obey her father and accept his decisions regarding marriage, which reinforces her image as the dutiful daughter
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By the end, she refuses to come when Lucentio calls during the wager scene. This undercuts the myth of her perfect obedience and suggests that her earlier compliance may have been strategic
Lucentio
Lucentio begins the play as a romantic young scholar who falls instantly in love with Bianca. His character represents idealised notions of romantic comedy. Significantly, he employs disguise, posing as a tutor whilst his servant impersonates him. This links his storyline to the play's broader themes of role-playing and the masks people wear in society.
Thematically, Lucentio's journey demonstrates how conventional ideas about "romantic" courtship are entangled with deception, social status, and parental authority. His idealisation of Bianca as the perfect, obedient woman crashes into reality by the play's conclusion when she fails to behave as obediently as he imagined. This underlines the gap between romantic fantasy and the realities of married life.
Key evidence for analysis
Important Aspects of Lucentio's Characterisation
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At the play's opening, he speaks of "devoting" himself to scholarly study in Padua, only to immediately abandon this vow when he sees Bianca. This reveals how quickly romantic love overturns his stated intentions
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In the final scene, he is embarrassed when Bianca does not come when called, exposing how his expectations of control and obedience differ significantly from reality
Baptista Minola
Baptista is the father who insists that Katherine must marry before Bianca, but his approach treats both daughters as assets to be advantageously placed rather than as individuals with their own desires. He embodies patriarchal and economic power within the family structure. His behaviour demonstrates how fathers in Renaissance society auctioned their daughters to the highest or most suitable bidder, judging potential husbands primarily by their outward behaviour and economic standing.
Thematically, Baptista represents how family and social structures enforce rigid gender roles. His favouritism towards Bianca and rejection of Kate deepens Kate's alienation and anger, suggesting that fathers bear some responsibility for their daughters' rebelliousness. His pleasure when Kate appears "tamed" reveals how the community rewards visible conformity and obedience, regardless of what people may actually feel internally.
Key evidence for analysis
Significant Moments for Baptista
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His delight in adding extra dowry money once Kate is declared changed "as she had never been", making it explicit that her social and economic value increases when she conforms to expectations
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Early in the play, he insists on substantial dowries and negotiates promises with potential husbands, foregrounding marriage as a contractual, financial transaction rather than a union based on affection
Tranio and Grumio (servants and disguise)
Tranio, who serves Lucentio, exchanges roles with his master and successfully negotiates with Baptista. His character highlights the play's fascination with social mobility and performance. His cleverness and successful impersonation challenge rigid social hierarchies by demonstrating that intelligence and capability are not limited to the upper classes – status can be assumed through costume and language.
Grumio serves Petruchio and functions primarily as comic relief. He misunderstands orders, comments wryly on Petruchio's extreme behaviour, and provides moments of clowning and literal-mindedness. Thematically, his clowning and observations create a buffer between the audience and the harsh treatment of Katherine, making the "taming" seem more like a grotesque game. However, he also hints that Petruchio's behaviour is excessive and problematic.
Key evidence for analysis
Important Points About the Servants
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A fellow servant accuses Grumio of being "full of cony-catching" (trickery), emphasising the atmosphere of mischief and practical jokes that frames the entire play
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Tranio speaks confidently in his master's voice, successfully striking formal agreements with Baptista. This illustrates how easily status and authority can be assumed through appropriate costume and speech patterns
Christopher Sly and the Induction
Christopher Sly is the drunken tinker in the play's opening frame story who is tricked into believing he is a nobleman. He is then shown the "play" of Katherine and Petruchio's story. His storyline establishes key themes of illusion, performance, and transformation from the very beginning, suggesting that what the audience witnesses in the main plot may also be an elaborate trick or moral experiment.
Thematically, the Sly frame invites the audience to question the main action itself. If Sly can be remade through costume and flattery, perhaps Kate's "taming" is similarly less about genuine inner change and more about imposed role-playing.
The Parallel Between Sly and Kate
The trick played on Sly directly parallels the "trick" played on Kate, and both situations raise unsettling ethical questions about:
- Consent and whether it can be given when someone is deceived
- Manipulation and the morality of controlling others
- The ethics of forcing someone to inhabit a fiction designed by others
This parallel encourages us to view Kate's transformation with the same critical lens we apply to Sly's manipulation.
Key evidence for analysis
A Crucial Moment in the Induction
Early in the Induction, Sly is compared to a "beast" lying like a swine, then becomes the target of a nobleman's "practice" (trick). This prefigures Kate's own transformation at Petruchio's hands, suggesting both are subjected to elaborate social experiments.
Key Points to Remember
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Katherine's transformation is deliberately ambiguous – you can argue she is either genuinely tamed or strategically performing obedience to expose its artificiality. Support your interpretation with close analysis of her final speech.
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Performance and role-playing are central – multiple characters (Bianca, Tranio, Lucentio, Kate, Sly) adopt roles that may not reflect their true selves, questioning what is "real" versus "performed" throughout the play.
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Marriage is presented as an economic transaction – Baptista, Petruchio, and others explicitly discuss dowries, wealth, and marriage as a business arrangement, highlighting the commodification of women in Renaissance society.
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The Sly frame story matters – it establishes that the entire main plot may be a constructed fiction or experiment, encouraging audiences to question the ethics of what they witness.
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Social hierarchies are shown to be performative – Tranio successfully impersonates his master, demonstrating that status depends on costume and language rather than inherent superiority, which subtly challenges rigid class structures.