Induction and Act 1
| 1. | The Induction portrays role-playing. Who acts the part of whom? Why? How does such role-playing address issues of gender and class? What effects might these representations have on the play? |
| 2. | From the outset, we learn from Bianca's suitors that Katherine is the less desirable of the two sisters. Examine and question this claim. How are Biance and Katherine different? What makes Katherine rather than Bianca the shrew? |
Acts 2 and 3
| 1. | How does Petruchio "tame" Kate? Consider how he seems to define their roles. How does his behavior juxtapose with Kate's? |
| 2. | How does Katherine act in the scenes where she says little or nothing? For example, in Act 2, scene 1, how does Katherine behave when Petruchio reports on his success in wooing Kate and in their plans for marriage? Because the text provides little explanation, you must decide how she would act based on your interpretation of her character from previous scenes. |
Act 4
| 1. | How is Petruchio's masculinity represented? Examine his treatment of servants, Kate, etc. Question #1 from Acts 2 and 3 is still relevant here. |
| 2. | Many critics mark the sun/moon scene in the road to Padua (scene 5) as the turning point in the play which indicates Kate's taming. What is different about this scene? If she is tamed, what is she submitting to? Is it really a "submission," or can it be interpreted in other ways? |
Act 5
| 1. | Analyze Kate's final speech. Is she sincere or ironic? Should we take her at her word? Or should we imagine a gap between what she says and what she means? Does the context of her words change their meanings? What are different possibilities in performing this scene? |
| 2. | What happens to the power dynamics in this scene–between mem and men, women and women, men and women? - Professor Boyer |
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