"The Taming of the Shrew": a summary of the chapters

William Shakespeare's play The Taming of the Shrew, whose summary of the acts will be presented below, became one of the most famous works of not only English, but also world classical literature. The comedy in five acts not only describes the life of the heroes ironically, but it also shows the tragedy of the life of that time.

Main characters

Summary The "Taming of the Shrew" by William Shakespeare must begin with a description of the main characters. The play involved a huge number of characters. When analyzing the "Taming of the Shrew" by Shakespeare, it is important to note how strongly the characters differ from each other.

The Lord is a true gentleman with beautiful manners. His time is spent in aristocratic circles.

Christopher Sly is a local craftsman for copper processing.

The mistress is a woman in whose possession is her own tavern.

Hunters and servants are secondary heroes who create the second plan of the work.

The Baptist is a gentleman with excellent upbringing; A rich man whose life goes on in Padua.

Vincenzo is a rich and old gentleman who spent his life in Pisa.

Lucencio is a young son of Vincenzo, who at first sight fell in love with one of the heroines of the comedy - Bianca. He will later become her teacher of literature, and then - and her husband.

Petruccio is a young and rich man who married Catharina, despite the fact that the girl's character was very heavy and obstinate.

Gremio is one of those men who loved Bianca and tried to achieve her reciprocity.

Gortensio - another gentleman in love with Bianca, who did not manage to achieve her love. He settled in a family beloved music teacher, but the girl did not feel sympathy for Hortensio. Already after a while a young man married a very rich widowed woman to find his happiness, if not in love, then in money.

Tranio and Biondello are the servants of the lord Lucentio.

Groom and Curtis are the servants of Senor Petruccio.

The pedant is a teacher at school.

Katharina is the eldest of the Baptists' daughters. Katharina had an extremely complex character, others called her obstinate, but the girl's behavior was explained by her fears and insecurities in her own happiness.

Bianca is the youngest daughter of the Baptist who enjoyed the sympathy of many gentlemen, offering her to accept their love and marry one of them.

The widow is the wealthiest lady, who thought she knew her own worth and therefore, as a result, she did not marry for a long time after the death of her husband.

In the play, there are also other servants obeying Baptista and Petruccio.

Prologue that begins the story

Summary "The Taming of the Shrew" by William Shakespeare begins with the local craftsman, Sly, falling asleep at a tavern in a state of intoxication. The rich lord, who has just returned from hunting, together with his servants decides to play a trick on the tinsmith. The drunken master is carried to the lord's rooms, bathed in fragrant water, laid in bed on soft feather beds. Waking up in a rich dress and a luxurious bed, Sly does not understand what happened to him. The servants of the lord tell him that he slept exactly fifteen years. He is also told that for a long time he suffered from insanity. Sly, in turn, says that all this time he had a very strange dream - he is a coppersmith who worked all his life doing his craft. The servants try to convince the artisan that he is really a large and respected figure, that his wife is one of the most beautiful and educated ladies in the neighborhood, and his wealth is a huge fortune that will last a lifetime. In order for the rally to be a success, the lord invites wandering actors to his house, who gladly accept the offer to participate in the "play" for the poor worker.

The first action. Scene 1

Further events of the summary "The Taming of the Shrew" occur already outside the house of the lord.

Luchenzio comes to Padua in order to give himself entirely to such a science as philosophy. When a young gentleman talks with his trusted servant about what constitutes philosophy, the Baptista appears in the main square of the city, accompanied by two of his daughters. Next to the daughters are the lovers of Bianca, who are respectable seniors - Gortenzio and Gremio. Baptista says that under no pretext will he give the younger daughter in marriage until Katarina is happy in marriage. After these words of an important and serious father, the sisters Gremio and Hortenseo have to forget that they are rivals who have long been fighting internecine struggle for the hand and heart of Bianchi. They have to help in finding a husband for the eldest of the Baptist daughters, despite the fact that Katarina has a very difficult character - she is too insolent and absurd, unlike her sister, who was distinguished by suppleness and meekness.

Second picture

The continuation of our very brief content ("The Taming of the Shrew") is indicated by the arrival of Petruccio in Padua. For many years, Petruccio has maintained a strong friendship with Hortensio, which is why he readily admits to his friend that he came to such a beautiful city to fix his finances, and right after that - to marry a girl with a rich dowry. An old friend jokingly suggests that Petruccio marry Katarina, saying that the girl herself has an impeccable reputation, a beautiful appearance and a very large dowry. Not knowing the whole state of affairs, Petruccio, without hesitation, goes to get married to the Baptiste. It was at this point that Hortensio realizes how stupid his joke was. He begins to dissuade his friend, explaining that Katarina is too complex. But this does not stop Petruccio and he enters the sisters' home as a music teacher. On the same day, Lucentio also enters the house of the Baptist family, but as a professor and a teacher of literature.

The second action. Scene 1

The summary of The Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare continues with the following events: because of the bad character of the sister, Bianca is forced to endure constant beatings and mockeries on the part of Katarina. One of these bullying provoked Katarina's sympathy for Hortensio, who is in love with Bianca.

The teacher of literature tells Petruccio that the girl is extremely nasty: during her lesson she broke one of the musical instruments - the lute.

Second picture

After Petruccio is recruited, he demands from his friends, Hortensio and Gremio, so that he can immediately see the beautiful and rich Katharina. It's Petruccio who dares to tell Baptista about his love for his eldest daughter. The Baptist immediately says that his daughter is too difficult to character, to which the newly-born groom replies that he himself is an "eerie stubborn." At the first meeting of two young people, Petruccio manages to respond adequately to all the jokes of Katarina. However, this attitude to herself a girl can not stand: Petruccio gets a strong slap in the face. Having endured such humiliation, he says to the impudent girl that it was destiny for him to reconcile her temper. He is already ready to go to Venice in order to buy rings for the wedding. He asks Katherine to kiss him goodbye.

Third action. Scene 1

The summary of "The Taming of the Shrew" by Shakespeare continues with the fact that during the next lesson in literature, Lucencio admits in his boundless love Bianca. The youngest of the sisters, as it turns out, is also not indifferent to the young teacher. Despite this, all the courtship of the teacher remains rejected. Lucentzio himself chose an extremely romantic way of explaining his feelings: he tries to say about his love with the help of musical notes.

Second picture

The summary of "The Taming of the Shrew" is gaining an extremely ironic turn.

Petruccio declares for her own wedding late and in a state of intoxication. He looks extremely untidy: he is dressed in rags, who do not want to change clothes. His behavior is no different from the behavior of an ordinary savage: he kicks the priest, who crowns the young, splashes a glass of wine right in the face of the local sexton, rudely grabs Katarina by the neck to give her a wet and loud kiss. Immediately after the young couple was married, Petruccio decides to immediately leave with his new wife home, despite the fact that all the guests, and the bride himself, very much ask him to stay and celebrate the wedding. To these requests Petruccio replies that his young and impudent wife is now only his property and he has the right to do with her what he pleases.

The fourth action. Scene 1

The summary of "The Taming of the Shrew" by chapters (in this case by action) continues with extremely surprising events.

Servant Petruccio - Grumio, is declared in the house of the newlyweds, who is outside the city, in order to announce the very early arrival of the newlyweds. In addition, Gromio tells all the residents of the house what happened on the way home: Petruccio's horse stumbled, causing Katarina to fall right into the mud. Her newly-born husband did not help her to rise, instead he began to beat Grumio, accusing him of this accidental awkwardness of a sick horse. Seeing that Petruccio does not need to kill his faithful servant, the bride had to wade through the mud in order to drag her husband away from the gasping Grumio. When Petruccio was able to pull himself together, the horses were already running away from fear. Despite the fact that the road to the country house was very long and heavy, Petruchcho does not feel tired. Entering the threshold, the young groom began extremely insulting to address the servants, to beat the dishes, to throw out the whole dinner, which was prepared for the arrivals. At this Petruccio did not stop: he ruined the whole bed, specially prepared for sleep after a difficult road. By such actions, the newly-born husband deprived his bride and supper, and sleep. Petruccio believed that only this way he could tame the temper of Katarina and openly declared that if someone knows the best way, then let him tell the whole world about it - this can help many.

Second picture

The summary of The Taming of the Shrew in the Brifley says that at the same time in Padua, Hortensio leaves all attempts to achieve the love of Bianchi, who preferred him to Lucentio. It was after this that Hortensio decided to marry a rich widow who had repeatedly tried to tell him about her feelings.

Fifth action. Scene 1

Poor Katarina still can not eat or sleep. The only joy for the girl is an extraordinarily beautiful dress that was tailored to order from the best tailor neighborhood. Time passes, and the newlyweds decide to go to Padua to visit Father Katarina. On the way to her native land, the girl Petruccio continues her disgusting behavior. He makes Catherine kiss an old man who meets him on the way. It turned out that the old man is the father of Luchenzio, who is rushing to his son's wedding. Then Petruccio says that they are brother-in-law and offer an elderly man to go with them, to which the elder agrees.

Second picture

Travelers come to the Baptist house. Servants begin to lie and dodge so that their deceptions do not come out. Suddenly Bianca and Lucentio appeared, who had already managed to marry secretly. Gremio, Petruccio and Lucencio argue, whose wife is the most obedient. Petruccio says that Katarina obeys him as a father, and his friends start laughing at him. As a result, all three wives were called, but only Katarina approached her husband's call. The Baptist is so surprised by the changes in his daughter, which increases her dowry, saying that his daughter has become different, which means that she will have a different dowry.

This ends Shakespeare's work. To get a deeper understanding of its meaning, it is recommended to read its full content.