Act 2, Scene 1

Padua. A room in BAPTISTA'S house.

[Enter KATHERINA and BIANCA.]
Bianca
806 Good sister, wrong me not, nor wrong yourself,
807 To make a bondmaid and a slave of me;
808 That I disdain; but for these other gawds,
809 Unbind my hands, I'll pull them off myself,
810 Yea, all my raiment, to my petticoat;
811 Or what you will command me will I do,
812 So well I know my duty to my elders.
Katherina
813 Of all thy suitors here I charge thee tell
814 Whom thou lov'st best: see thou dissemble not.
Bianca
815 Believe me, sister, of all the men alive
816 I never yet beheld that special face
817 Which I could fancy more than any other.
Katherina
818 Minion, thou liest. Is't not Hortensio?
Bianca
819 If you affect him, sister, here I swear
820 I'll plead for you myself but you shall have him.
Katherina
821 O! then, belike, you fancy riches more:
822 You will have Gremio to keep you fair.
Bianca
823 Is it for him you do envy me so?
824 Nay, then you jest; and now I well perceive
825 You have but jested with me all this while:
826 I prithee, sister Kate, untie my hands.
Katherina
827 If that be jest, then an the rest was so.
[Strikes her.]
[Enter BAPTISTA.]
Baptista
828 Why, how now, dame! Whence grows this insolence?
829 Bianca, stand aside. Poor girl! she weeps.
830 Go ply thy needle; meddle not with her.
831 For shame, thou hilding of a devilish spirit,
832 Why dost thou wrong her that did ne'er wrong thee?
833 When did she cross thee with a bitter word?
Katherina
834 Her silence flouts me, and I'll be reveng'd.
[Flies after BIANCA.]
Baptista
835 What! in my sight? Bianca, get thee in.
[Exit BIANCA.]
Katherina
836 What! will you not suffer me? Nay, now I see
837 She is your treasure, she must have a husband;
838 I must dance bare-foot on her wedding-day,
839 And, for your love to her, lead apes in hell.
840 Talk not to me: I will go sit and weep
841 Till I can find occasion of revenge.
[Exit.]
Katherina
842 BAPTISTA. Was ever gentleman thus griev'd as I?
843 But who comes here?
[Enter GREMIO, with LUCENTIO in the habit of a mean man; PETRUCHIO, with HORTENSIO as a musician; and TRANIO, with BIONDELLO bearing a lute and books.]
Gremio
844 Good morrow, neighbour Baptista.
Baptista
845 Good morrow, neighbour Gremio. God save you, gentlemen!
Petruchio
846 And you, good sir! Pray, have you not a daughter
847 Call'd Katherina, fair and virtuous?
Baptista
848 I have a daughter, sir, call'd Katherina.
Gremio
849 You are too blunt: go to it orderly.
Petruchio
850 You wrong me, Signior Gremio: give me leave.
851 I am a gentleman of Verona, sir,
852 That, hearing of her beauty and her wit,
853 Her affability and bashful modesty,
854 Her wondrous qualities and mild behaviour,
855 Am bold to show myself a forward guest
856 Within your house, to make mine eye the witness
857 Of that report which I so oft have heard.
858 And, for an entrance to my entertainment,
859 I do present you with a man of mine,
[Presenting HORTENSIO.]
Petruchio
860 Cunning in music and the mathematics,
861 To instruct her fully in those sciences,
862 Whereof I know she is not ignorant.
863 Accept of him, or else you do me wrong:
864 His name is Licio, born in Mantua.
Baptista
865 You're welcome, sir, and he for your good sake;
866 But for my daughter Katherine, this I know,
867 She is not for your turn, the more my grief.
Petruchio
868 I see you do not mean to part with her;
869 Or else you like not of my company.
Baptista
870 Mistake me not; I speak but as I find.
871 Whence are you, sir? What may I call your name?
Petruchio
872 Petruchio is my name, Antonio's son;
873 A man well known throughout all Italy.
Baptista
874 I know him well: you are welcome for his sake.
Gremio
875 Saving your tale, Petruchio, I pray,
876 Let us, that are poor petitioners, speak too.
877 Backare! you are marvellous forward.
Petruchio
878 O, pardon me, Signior Gremio; I would fain be doing.
Gremio
879 I doubt it not, sir; but you will curse your wooing.
880 Neighbour, this is a gift very grateful, I am sure of it. To
881 express the like kindness, myself, that have been more kindly
882 beholding to you than any, freely give unto you this young
883 scholar,
[Presenting LUCENTIO.]
Gremio
884 that has been long studying at Rheims; as cunning in Greek,
885 Latin, and other languages, as the other in music and
886 mathematics. His name is Cambio; pray accept his service.
Baptista
887 A thousand thanks, Signior Gremio; welcome, good Cambio.—
[To TRANIO.]
Baptista
888 But, gentle sir, methinks you walk like a stranger: may
889 I be so bold to know the cause of your coming?
Tranio
890 Pardon me, sir, the boldness is mine own,
891 That, being a stranger in this city here,
892 Do make myself a suitor to your daughter,
893 Unto Bianca, fair and virtuous.
894 Nor is your firm resolve unknown to me,
895 In the preferment of the eldest sister.
896 This liberty is all that I request,
897 That, upon knowledge of my parentage,
898 I may have welcome 'mongst the rest that woo,
899 And free access and favour as the rest:
900 And, toward the education of your daughters,
901 I here bestow a simple instrument,
902 And this small packet of Greek and Latin books:
903 If you accept them, then their worth is great.
Baptista
904 Lucentio is your name, of whence, I pray?
Tranio
905 Of Pisa, sir; son to Vincentio.
Baptista
906 A mighty man of Pisa: by report
907 I know him well: you are very welcome, sir.
[To HORTENSIO.]
Baptista
908 Take you the lute,
[To LUCENTIO.]
Baptista
909 and you the set of books;
910 You shall go see your pupils presently.
911 Holla, within!
[Enter a SERVANT.]
Baptista
912 Sirrah, lead these gentlemen
913 To my two daughters, and tell them both
914 These are their tutors: bid them use them well.
[Exit SERVANT, with HORTENSIO, LUCENTIO, and BIONDELLO.]
Baptista
915 We will go walk a little in the orchard,
916 And then to dinner. You are passing welcome,
917 And so I pray you all to think yourselves.
Petruchio
918 Signior Baptista, my business asketh haste,
919 And every day I cannot come to woo.
920 You knew my father well, and in him me,
921 Left solely heir to all his lands and goods,
922 Which I have bettered rather than decreas'd:
923 Then tell me, if I get your daughter's love,
924 What dowry shall I have with her to wife?
Baptista
925 After my death, the one half of my lands,
926 And in possession twenty thousand crowns.
Petruchio
927 And, for that dowry, I'll assure her of
928 Her widowhood, be it that she survive me,
929 In all my lands and leases whatsoever.
930 Let specialities be therefore drawn between us,
931 That covenants may be kept on either hand.
Baptista
932 Ay, when the special thing is well obtain'd,
933 That is, her love; for that is all in all.
Petruchio
934 Why, that is nothing; for I tell you, father,
935 I am as peremptory as she proud-minded;
936 And where two raging fires meet together,
937 They do consume the thing that feeds their fury:
938 Though little fire grows great with little wind,
939 Yet extreme gusts will blow out fire and all;
940 So I to her, and so she yields to me;
941 For I am rough and woo not like a babe.
Baptista
942 Well mayst thou woo, and happy be thy speed!
943 But be thou arm'd for some unhappy words.
Petruchio
944 Ay, to the proof, as mountains are for winds,
945 That shake not though they blow perpetually.
[Re-enter HORTENSIO, with his head broke.]
Baptista
946 How now, my friend! Why dost thou look so pale?
Hortensio
947 For fear, I promise you, if I look pale.
Baptista
948 What, will my daughter prove a good musician?
Hortensio
949 I think she'll sooner prove a soldier:
950 Iron may hold with her, but never lutes.
Baptista
951 Why, then thou canst not break her to the lute?
Hortensio
952 Why, no; for she hath broke the lute to me.
953 I did but tell her she mistook her frets,
954 And bow'd her hand to teach her fingering;
955 When, with a most impatient devilish spirit,
956 'Frets, call you these?' quoth she 'I'll fume with them';
957 And with that word she struck me on the head,
958 And through the instrument my pate made way;
959 And there I stood amazed for a while,
960 As on a pillory, looking through the lute;
961 While she did call me rascal fiddler,
962 And twangling Jack, with twenty such vile terms,
963 As she had studied to misuse me so.
Petruchio
964 Now, by the world, it is a lusty wench!
965 I love her ten times more than e'er I did:
966 O! how I long to have some chat with her!
[To HORTENSIO.]
Baptista
967 Well, go with me, and be not so discomfited;
968 Proceed in practice with my younger daughter;
969 She's apt to learn, and thankful for good turns.
970 Signior Petruchio, will you go with us,
971 Or shall I send my daughter Kate to you?
Petruchio
972 I pray you do. I will attend her here.
[Exeunt BAPTISTA, GREMIO, TRANIO, and HORTENSIO.]
Petruchio
973 And woo her with some spirit when she comes.
974 Say that she rail; why, then I'll tell her plain
975 She sings as sweetly as a nightingale:
976 Say that she frown; I'll say she looks as clear
977 As morning roses newly wash'd with dew:
978 Say she be mute, and will not speak a word;
979 Then I'll commend her volubility,
980 And say she uttereth piercing eloquence:
981 If she do bid me pack, I'll give her thanks,
982 As though she bid me stay by her a week:
983 If she deny to wed, I'll crave the day
984 When I shall ask the banns, and when be married.
985 But here she comes; and now, Petruchio, speak.
[Enter KATHERINA.]
Petruchio
986 Good morrow, Kate; for that's your name, I hear.
Katherina
987 Well have you heard, but something hard of hearing:
988 They call me Katherine that do talk of me.
Petruchio
989 You lie, in faith, for you are call'd plain Kate,
990 And bonny Kate, and sometimes Kate the curst;
991 But, Kate, the prettiest Kate in Christendom,
992 Kate of Kate Hall, my super-dainty Kate,
993 For dainties are all cates: and therefore, Kate,
994 Take this of me, Kate of my consolation;
995 Hearing thy mildness prais'd in every town,
996 Thy virtues spoke of, and thy beauty sounded,—
997 Yet not so deeply as to thee belongs,—
998 Myself am mov'd to woo thee for my wife.
Katherina
999 Mov'd! in good time: let him that mov'd you hither
1000 Remove you hence. I knew you at the first,
1001 You were a moveable.
Petruchio
1002 Why, what's a moveable?
Katherina
1003 A joint-stool.
Petruchio
1004 Thou hast hit it: come, sit on me.
Katherina
1005 Asses are made to bear, and so are you.
Petruchio
1006 Women are made to bear, and so are you.
Katherina
1007 No such jade as bear you, if me you mean.
Petruchio
1008 Alas! good Kate, I will not burden thee;
1009 For, knowing thee to be but young and light,—
Katherina
1010 Too light for such a swain as you to catch;
1011 And yet as heavy as my weight should be.
Petruchio
1012 Should be! should buz!
Petruchio
1013 KATHERINA. Well ta'en, and like a buzzard.
Petruchio
1014 O, slow-wing'd turtle! shall a buzzard take thee?
Katherina
1015 Ay, for a turtle, as he takes a buzzard.
Petruchio
1016 Come, come, you wasp; i' faith, you are too angry.
Katherina
1017 If I be waspish, best beware my sting.
Petruchio
1018 My remedy is, then, to pluck it out.
Katherina
1019 Ay, if the fool could find it where it lies.
Petruchio
1020 Who knows not where a wasp does wear his sting?
1021 In his tail.
Katherina
1022 In his tongue.
Katherina
1023 PETRUCHIO. Whose tongue?
Katherina
1024 Yours, if you talk of tales; and so farewell.
Petruchio
1025 What! with my tongue in your tail? Nay, come again,
1026 Good Kate; I am a gentleman.
Katherina
1027 That I'll try.
[Striking him.]
Petruchio
1028 I swear I'll cuff you if you strike again.
Katherina
1029 So may you lose your arms:
1030 If you strike me, you are no gentleman;
1031 And if no gentleman, why then no arms.
Petruchio
1032 A herald, Kate? O! put me in thy books.
Katherina
1033 What is your crest? a coxcomb?
Petruchio
1034 A combless cock, so Kate will be my hen.
Katherina
1035 No cock of mine; you crow too like a craven.
Petruchio
1036 Nay, come, Kate, come; you must not look so sour.
Katherina
1037 It is my fashion when I see a crab.
Petruchio
1038 Why, here's no crab, and therefore look not sour.
Katherina
1039 There is, there is.
Petruchio
1040 Then show it me.
Katherina
1041 Had I a glass I would.
Petruchio
1042 What, you mean my face?
Katherina
1043 Well aim'd of such a young one.
Petruchio
1044 Now, by Saint George, I am too young for you.
Katherina
1045 Yet you are wither'd.
Petruchio
1046 'Tis with cares.
Katherina
1047 I care not.
Petruchio
1048 Nay, hear you, Kate: in sooth, you 'scape not so.
Katherina
1049 I chafe you, if I tarry; let me go.
Petruchio
1050 No, not a whit; I find you passing gentle.
1051 'Twas told me you were rough, and coy, and sullen,
1052 And now I find report a very liar;
1053 For thou art pleasant, gamesome, passing courteous,
1054 But slow in speech, yet sweet as spring-time flowers.
1055 Thou canst not frown, thou canst not look askance,
1056 Nor bite the lip, as angry wenches will,
1057 Nor hast thou pleasure to be cross in talk;
1058 But thou with mildness entertain'st thy wooers;
1059 With gentle conference, soft and affable.
1060 Why does the world report that Kate doth limp?
1061 O sland'rous world! Kate like the hazel-twig
1062 Is straight and slender, and as brown in hue
1063 As hazel-nuts, and sweeter than the kernels.
1064 O! let me see thee walk: thou dost not halt.
Katherina
1065 Go, fool, and whom thou keep'st command.
Petruchio
1066 Did ever Dian so become a grove
1067 As Kate this chamber with her princely gait?
1068 O! be thou Dian, and let her be Kate,
1069 And then let Kate be chaste, and Dian sportful!
Katherina
1070 Where did you study all this goodly speech?
Petruchio
1071 It is extempore, from my mother-wit.
Katherina
1072 A witty mother! witless else her son.
Petruchio
1073 Am I not wise?
Katherina
1074 Yes; keep you warm.
Petruchio
1075 Marry, so I mean, sweet Katherine, in thy bed;
1076 And therefore, setting all this chat aside,
1077 Thus in plain terms: your father hath consented
1078 That you shall be my wife your dowry 'greed on;
1079 And will you, nill you, I will marry you.
1080 Now, Kate, I am a husband for your turn;
1081 For, by this light, whereby I see thy beauty,—
1082 Thy beauty that doth make me like thee well,—
1083 Thou must be married to no man but me;
1084 For I am he am born to tame you, Kate,
1085 And bring you from a wild Kate to a Kate
1086 Conformable as other household Kates.
1087 Here comes your father. Never make denial;
1088 I must and will have Katherine to my wife.
[Re-enter BAPTISTA, GREMIO, and TRANIO.]
Baptista
1089 Now, Signior Petruchio, how speed you with my daughter?
Petruchio
1090 How but well, sir? how but well?
1091 It were impossible I should speed amiss.
Baptista
1092 Why, how now, daughter Katherine, in your dumps?
Katherina
1093 Call you me daughter? Now I promise you
1094 You have show'd a tender fatherly regard
1095 To wish me wed to one half lunatic,
1096 A mad-cap ruffian and a swearing Jack,
1097 That thinks with oaths to face the matter out.
Petruchio
1098 Father, 'tis thus: yourself and all the world
1099 That talk'd of her have talk'd amiss of her:
1100 If she be curst, it is for policy,
1101 For she's not froward, but modest as the dove;
1102 She is not hot, but temperate as the morn;
1103 For patience she will prove a second Grissel,
1104 And Roman Lucrece for her chastity;
1105 And to conclude, we have 'greed so well together
1106 That upon Sunday is the wedding-day.
Katherina
1107 I'll see thee hang'd on Sunday first.
Gremio
1108 Hark, Petruchio; she says she'll see thee hang'd first.
Tranio
1109 Is this your speeding? Nay, then good-night our part!
Petruchio
1110 Be patient, gentlemen. I choose her for myself;
1111 If she and I be pleas'd, what's that to you?
1112 'Tis bargain'd 'twixt us twain, being alone,
1113 That she shall still be curst in company.
1114 I tell you, 'tis incredible to believe
1115 How much she loves me: O! the kindest Kate
1116 She hung about my neck, and kiss on kiss
1117 She vied so fast, protesting oath on oath,
1118 That in a twink she won me to her love.
1119 O! you are novices: 'tis a world to see,
1120 How tame, when men and women are alone,
1121 A meacock wretch can make the curstest shrew.
1122 Give me thy hand, Kate; I will unto Venice,
1123 To buy apparel 'gainst the wedding-day.
1124 Provide the feast, father, and bid the guests;
1125 I will be sure my Katherine shall be fine.
Baptista
1126 I know not what to say; but give me your hands.
1127 God send you joy, Petruchio! 'Tis a match.
Baptista
1128 GREMIO, TRANIO.
1129 Amen, say we; we will be witnesses.
Petruchio
1130 Father, and wife, and gentlemen, adieu.
1131 I will to Venice; Sunday comes apace;
1132 We will have rings and things, and fine array;
1133 And kiss me, Kate; we will be married o' Sunday.
[Exeunt PETRUCHIO and KATHERINA, severally.]
Gremio
1134 Was ever match clapp'd up so suddenly?
Baptista
1135 Faith, gentlemen, now I play a merchant's part,
1136 And venture madly on a desperate mart.
Tranio
1137 'Twas a commodity lay fretting by you;
1138 'Twill bring you gain, or perish on the seas.
Baptista
1139 The gain I seek is, quiet in the match.
Gremio
1140 No doubt but he hath got a quiet catch.
1141 But now, Baptista, to your younger daughter:
1142 Now is the day we long have looked for;
1143 I am your neighbour, and was suitor first.
Tranio
1144 And I am one that love Bianca more
1145 Than words can witness or your thoughts can guess.
Gremio
1146 Youngling, thou canst not love so dear as I.
Tranio
1147 Greybeard, thy love doth freeze.
Gremio
1148 But thine doth fry.
1149 Skipper, stand back; 'tis age that nourisheth.
Tranio
1150 But youth in ladies' eyes that flourisheth.
Baptista
1151 Content you, gentlemen; I'll compound this strife:
1152 'Tis deeds must win the prize, and he of both
1153 That can assure my daughter greatest dower
1154 Shall have my Bianca's love.
1155 Say, Signior Gremio, what can you assure her?
Gremio
1156 First, as you know, my house within the city
1157 Is richly furnished with plate and gold:
1158 Basins and ewers to lave her dainty hands;
1159 My hangings all of Tyrian tapestry;
1160 In ivory coffers I have stuff'd my crowns;
1161 In cypress chests my arras counterpoints,
1162 Costly apparel, tents, and canopies,
1163 Fine linen, Turkey cushions boss'd with pearl,
1164 Valance of Venice gold in needle-work;
1165 Pewter and brass, and all things that belong
1166 To house or housekeeping: then, at my farm
1167 I have a hundred milch-kine to the pail,
1168 Six score fat oxen standing in my stalls,
1169 And all things answerable to this portion.
1170 Myself am struck in years, I must confess;
1171 And if I die to-morrow this is hers,
1172 If whilst I live she will be only mine.
Tranio
1173 That 'only' came well in. Sir, list to me:
1174 I am my father's heir and only son;
1175 If I may have your daughter to my wife,
1176 I'll leave her houses three or four as good
1177 Within rich Pisa's walls as any one
1178 Old Signior Gremio has in Padua;
1179 Besides two thousand ducats by the year
1180 Of fruitful land, all which shall be her jointure.
1181 What, have I pinch'd you, Signior Gremio?
Gremio
1182 Two thousand ducats by the year of land!
1183 My land amounts not to so much in all:
1184 That she shall have, besides an argosy
1185 That now is lying in Marseilles' road.
1186 What, have I chok'd you with an argosy?
Tranio
1187 Gremio, 'tis known my father hath no less
1188 Than three great argosies, besides two galliasses,
1189 And twelve tight galleys; these I will assure her,
1190 And twice as much, whate'er thou offer'st next.
Gremio
1191 Nay, I have offer'd all; I have no more;
1192 And she can have no more than all I have;
1193 If you like me, she shall have me and mine.
Tranio
1194 Why, then the maid is mine from all the world,
1195 By your firm promise; Gremio is out-vied.
Baptista
1196 I must confess your offer is the best;
1197 And let your father make her the assurance,
1198 She is your own; else, you must pardon me;
1199 If you should die before him, where's her dower?
Tranio
1200 That's but a cavil; he is old, I young.
Gremio
1201 And may not young men die as well as old?
Baptista
1202 Well, gentlemen,
1203 I am thus resolv'd. On Sunday next, you know,
1204 My daughter Katherine is to be married;
1205 Now, on the Sunday following, shall Bianca
1206 Be bride to you, if you make this assurance;
1207 If not, to Signior Gremio.
1208 And so I take my leave, and thank you both.
Gremio
1209 Adieu, good neighbour.
[Exit BAPTISTA.]
Gremio
1210 Now, I fear thee not:
1211 Sirrah young gamester, your father were a fool
1212 To give thee all, and in his waning age
1213 Set foot under thy table. Tut! a toy!
1214 An old Italian fox is not so kind, my boy.
[Exit.]
Tranio
1215 A vengeance on your crafty wither'd hide!
1216 Yet I have fac'd it with a card of ten.
1217 'Tis in my head to do my master good:
1218 I see no reason but suppos'd Lucentio
1219 Must get a father, call'd 'suppos'd Vincentio';
1220 And that's a wonder: fathers commonly
1221 Do get their children; but in this case of wooing
1222 A child shall get a sire, if I fail not of my cunning.
[Exit.]

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Word definitions on hover

Notes

TLN 808archaic vocab
“these other gawds”
'Gawds' (or 'gauds') are trinkets, trifles, ornamental baubles — cheap or showy adornments. Bianca tells Katherina she will pull off her jewellery and ribbons herself, every bit down to her 'petticoat,' if that is what is commanded.
TLN 818archaic vocab
“Minion, thou liest”
'Minion' is a term of contempt for a pet, favourite, or darling — used here by Katherina to accuse Bianca of playing the spoiled favourite of their father. The word could also mean a hussy or kept mistress, sharpening the taunt.
TLN 819archaic vocab
“you affect him, sister”
'Affect' here means 'feel affection for' or 'be inclined toward' — not the modern sense of to pretend or pose. Bianca is offering to step aside if Katherina has a liking for Hortensio herself.
TLN 831archaic vocab
“thou hilding of a devilish spirit”
A 'hilding' is a base, worthless wretch — a coward or good-for-nothing. Baptista uses it as a rebuke of the very spirit that, ironically, defines Katherina throughout the play: he calls her a low, mean-spirited troublemaker.
TLN 838cultural context
“dance bare-foot on her wedding-day”
An older sister whose younger sister married first was said by Elizabethan custom to have to 'dance barefoot' at the wedding — a humiliation marking her as the unchosen, passed-over daughter. Katherina spells out her grievance: Bianca's marriage before hers disgraces her.
TLN 839cultural context
“lead apes in hell”
This was a proverbial Elizabethan saying: a woman who died unmarried and without children would 'lead apes in hell' in the afterlife, since she had no children to lead to heaven. It was the standard insult for a spinster, here flung by Katherina at Baptista's preferential treatment of Bianca.
TLN 877archaic vocab
“Backare! you are marvellous forward”
'Backare' (sometimes written 'baccare') is a mock-Latin command meaning 'stand back!' or 'get back!' — a comic coinage used to push someone away. Gremio deploys it to tell the blunt-spoken Petruchio to wait his turn before the other suitors can be heard.
TLN 925cultural context
“the one half of my lands, And in possession twenty thousand crowns”
The financial terms of the marriage settlement are the scene's commercial axis. The 'dowry' is money and land the bride's father gives the groom; the 'jointure' is what the groom settles on the wife if she outlives him ('widowhood'). Petruchio immediately enters the negotiation by pledging his own lands and leases — legally binding covenants ('specialities') to be 'drawn between us.'
TLN 935archaic vocab
“as peremptory as she proud-minded”
'Peremptory' means absolutely resolute, allowing no contradiction, commanding and decisive. Petruchio is claiming he is as stubbornly self-willed as Katherina is proud — and that two equally strong fires will cancel each other out.
TLN 944archaic vocab
“Ay, to the proof, as mountains are for winds”
'To the proof' means proof-armoured — armour tested and proved impenetrable to weapons. Petruchio says he is armoured as mountains are armoured against wind: they do not shake no matter how hard it blows. 'Proof' armour was specifically armour that had been tested against shot or blade and certified as reliable.
TLN 951wordplay
“thou canst not break her to the lute”
Baptista asks whether Hortensio can 'break' Katherina to the lute — meaning train or accustom her to it, as one 'breaks' a horse. Hortensio's answer, 'she hath broke the lute to me,' reverses the verb: she has literally smashed the instrument over his head. The two senses of 'break' (to tame; to shatter) make the exchange a sharp comic pun.
TLN 953wordplay
“she mistook her frets”
'Frets' on a lute are the ridges across the fingerboard that guide the player's fingers to the correct notes. But 'to fret' also means to be consumed by irritation or anger. Hortensio says Katherina 'mistook her frets'; she replies she will 'fume with them' — she is not correcting her finger-positions but expressing rage. The wordplay is Shakespeare's own invention for the scene.
TLN 961archaic vocab
“rascal fiddler, And twangling Jack”
'Rascal' and 'Jack' are both terms for a low-born, worthless fellow; 'twangling' means plucking strings in a thin, jangling, irritating way. Katherina is heaping contempt on the teacher by calling him a cheap, scraping street-musician, not a gentleman.
TLN 974cultural context
“Say that she rail; why, then I'll tell her plain She sings as sweetly as a nightingale”
Petruchio's soliloquy before Katherina enters announces his strategy: he will systematically contradict whatever she does, praising her for the opposite of what she performs. If she rages, he will call it sweetness; if she frowns, he will call it brightness; if she refuses marriage, he will set the wedding day. This is the 'taming' method — denying her reality's feedback — that continues through Acts 3 and 4.
TLN 1001wordplay
“you were a moveable”
Katherina uses 'moveable' in two senses: (1) a piece of furniture (moveable property, as opposed to land), suggesting Petruchio is a mere piece of portable goods — a low insult; (2) something that can be moved or shifted, i.e. unsteady and unreliable. Petruchio plays along — 'Why, what's a moveable?' — letting her define him as a joint-stool, the most ordinary and lowly of seats.
TLN 1012wordplay
“Should be! should buz!”
Petruchio's 'should buz!' mocks Katherina's 'should be' by reducing it to the sound of a buzzing insect — 'buzz' was an exclamation of dismissal, like our 'whatever,' and a buzzard was both a stupid person and a worthless kind of hawk. The word-game that follows (turtle/dove and buzzard as birds) plays the slow, faithful turtle-dove against the stupid buzzard-hawk who fails to catch her.
TLN 1030cultural context
“you are no gentleman; And if no gentleman, why then no arms”
In Elizabethan England, the right to bear a coat of arms was the legal mark of a gentleman; heraldic devices were registered by the College of Arms and gave a man his social standing. Katherina's argument is: if he strikes a woman he is no gentleman, and if no gentleman he has no right to his coat of arms. 'A herald, Kate? O! put me in thy books' — he jokes that she should register him with the College of Arms.
TLN 1033wordplay
“What is your crest? a coxcomb?”
A heraldic 'crest' is the emblem worn above the shield in a coat of arms. A 'coxcomb' was a fool's cap shaped like a rooster's comb — and also, separately, a fool himself. Katherina asks what his heraldic emblem is and immediately answers: a fool's cap. Petruchio's retort — 'a combless cock' (a rooster with the comb removed, i.e. castrated or emasculated) 'so Kate will be my hen' — continues the rooster/hen pun, pressing that she is destined to be his wife.
TLN 1037wordplay
“It is my fashion when I see a crab”
'Crab' means a crab-apple — notoriously sour-tasting. Seeing a sour thing makes her look sour; she implies Petruchio is the crab-apple. He claims there is no crab here, so she need not look sour; she replies the crab is standing in front of her. When she says she would show it him in a mirror ('Had I a glass I would'), the sour crab becomes Petruchio's own face.
TLN 1044cultural context
“Now, by Saint George, I am too young for you”
Saint George was the patron saint of England and the chivalric ideal: a knight who slays a dragon and rescues an imperilled woman. Swearing 'by Saint George' was the standard English oath of a gentleman or soldier. Petruchio invokes him to insist he is not the aged, withered man Katherina is implying — an irony, since George is also the patron of a man pursuing an unruly woman.
TLN 1066classical allusion
“Did ever Dian so become a grove As Kate this chamber”
Diana (Dian) was the goddess of the hunt and the moon — a beautiful, chaste, physically active deity who moved through groves and woods. Petruchio compares Katherina walking across the room to Diana gracing a grove: an elaborately flattering image that directly inverts what everyone has just seen (Katherina smashing a lute over Hortensio's head). He then inverts the comparison: let Diana be 'Kate' (chaste but a goddess) and Kate be Diana (chaste and equally divine) — the same strategy of contradicting reality that he announced in his soliloquy.
classical Diana, virgin goddess of the moon
TLN 1074archaic vocab
“Yes; keep you warm”
Petruchio asks 'Am I not wise?' Katherina answers 'Yes; keep you warm' — a proverbial put-down: 'just barely wise enough to keep yourself warm' was the Elizabethan equivalent of 'you have enough sense to come in out of the rain' — the minimum required, meaning he is in fact a fool. Petruchio immediately takes the other sense of 'warm' ('in thy bed') to turn it into a sexual proposition.
TLN 1079archaic vocab
“will you, nill you, I will marry you”
'Will you, nill you' is the ancestor of 'willy-nilly': whether you will it or not, whether you agree or refuse. 'Nill' is 'ne will' — will not. Petruchio announces flatly that Katherina's consent is irrelevant: her father has agreed and the wedding will happen regardless.
TLN 1084cultural context
“I am he am born to tame you, Kate, And bring you from a wild Kate”
Petruchio puns on 'wild Kate' and 'wild cat' — the two are near-homophones in Elizabethan pronunciation. He announces his programme as a taming: she is the untamed animal (wild cat/Kate) who will be brought to domestic submission ('conformable as other household Kates,' i.e. as tame as a household cat). The 'taming' vocabulary, which escalates in Acts 3 and 4, frames the whole marriage as falconer-to-hawk or horse-breaker-to-horse.
historical Falconry and the taming of the haggard
TLN 1100rhetorical device
“If she be curst, it is for policy”
Petruchio's public lie — that Katherina is not really shrewish but only plays it 'for policy' (strategic calculation) — is a deliberate piece of theatre staged for Baptista, Gremio, and Tranio. It takes away Katherina's own description of their meeting and replaces it with his fabricated version. 'Policy' means cunning calculation, the deliberate use of deceit to serve a purpose.
TLN 1103historical topical
“she will prove a second Grissel”
Griselda (Grissel) was the medieval byword for absolute, uncomplaining wifely obedience: she endured her husband's cruelties — including the pretend murder of her own children — without a murmur. To call Katherina 'a second Grissel' in front of the men who have just watched her smash a lute over a tutor's head is Petruchio's most brazen fiction of the scene.
historical Patient Griselda
TLN 1104classical allusion
“Roman Lucrece for her chastity”
Lucretia (Lucrece) was the Roman woman whose rape by Sextus Tarquinius, and her subsequent suicide to preserve her honour, drove the kings from Rome and founded the Republic. Her name was the classical standard for female chastity, the counterpart to Griselda for patience. Petruchio's public claim that Katherina will be 'Roman Lucrece for her chastity' is another elaborate irony: the most notoriously unbiddable woman in Padua is compared to the greatest emblem of Roman feminine virtue.
classical Tarquin and the rape of Lucrece
TLN 1121archaic vocab
“A meacock wretch can make the curstest shrew”
A 'meacock' is a weak, spiritless, cowardly person — a milksop. Petruchio is telling Gremio and Tranio that when a man and woman are alone, even the most submissive, feeble man can tame the worst shrew, implying that his own boldness makes it easy. The word is rare and gives Petruchio a contemptuous flourish.
TLN 1134archaic vocab
“Was ever match clapp'd up so suddenly?”
'Clapped up' means concluded or settled hastily, struck like a quick deal — from the custom of sealing a bargain by clapping hands. Gremio's astonishment captures the scene's comic breathlessness: the negotiation that took most of the scene has collapsed into a done deal in moments.
TLN 1135cultural context
“now I play a merchant's part, And venture madly on a desperate mart”
Baptista describes himself as a merchant gambling on a risky voyage — 'a desperate mart' (a bad bargain; 'mart' is both a market and an act of trading). Tranio continues the mercantile metaphor: 'a commodity lay fretting by you; / 'Twill bring you gain, or perish on the seas.' Katharina is the unsaleable goods that have been 'fretting' (spoiling, or chafing) on the shelf; Petruchio is the merchant who bets on risky cargo.
TLN 1146cultural context
“Youngling, thou canst not love so dear as I”
The bidding-war between Gremio and the disguised Tranio for Bianca's hand is also a comic debate between old age and youth as suitors. Gremio calls Tranio a 'youngling' (young upstart); Tranio calls Gremio 'greybeard,' and Gremio calls him a 'skipper' (a lightheaded, jumping youth). Gremio argues that age nourishes — he is richer and more settled; Tranio replies that youth 'flourisheth' in ladies' eyes.
TLN 1159cultural context
“My hangings all of Tyrian tapestry”
Gremio's inventory of his house catalogues the luxury furnishings of a wealthy Elizabethan gentleman: 'Tyrian tapestry' (tapestry dyed with the famous, expensive Tyrian purple from Tyre), 'arras counterpoints' (embroidered bed-coverings, named for Arras in Flanders, the tapestry centre), 'Turkey cushions boss'd with pearl' (elaborately embroidered Ottoman cushions), and 'Valance of Venice gold' (bed-drapery fringed with Venetian gold thread).
TLN 1184archaic vocab
“besides an argosy That now is lying in Marseilles' road”
An argosy was a large, richly-laden merchant ship — originally from the port of Ragusa (Dubrovnik), whose ships were called 'Raguseys' or 'Argosies.' By Shakespeare's day the word simply meant any great merchant vessel. 'In Marseilles' road' means anchored in Marseilles' roadstead (a stretch of water off a harbour where ships wait). Tranio tops Gremio's one argosy with three great argosies plus 'two galliasses' (large oared galleys) and twelve galleys.
TLN 1194archaic vocab
“the maid is mine from all the world, By your firm promise; Gremio is out-vied”
'Vied' is a gambling term: in the card game primero, to 'vie' was to stake a higher bet than your opponent; to be 'out-vied' is to be beaten by a higher stake. Tranio announces that Gremio has been out-bid at a game whose vocabulary belongs to cards and dice, completing the scene's sustained metaphor of courtship as commerce and gambling.
TLN 1216archaic vocab
“I have fac'd it with a card of ten”
Another card-playing term: 'faced it with a card of ten' means Tranio has bluffed with a ten — a moderately high card in the game of primero — not a trump, not a certainty. He is admitting to himself that his bid was a bluff and that the credit he promised (his father's ships and lands) was invented. The gambling metaphor reinforces that Tranio's entire performance of wealth was a calculated fiction.
TLN 1218cultural context
“suppos'd Lucentio Must get a father, call'd 'suppos'd Vincentio'”
Tranio's closing soliloquy acknowledges the play's game of 'supposes' — the Italian word for theatrical substitutions and disguises, used as the title of Ariosto's comedy I Suppositi (1509; translated by George Gascoigne as Supposes, 1566), which is the direct source of the Bianca subplot. Since 'Lucentio' is actually Tranio, he must now find a man to play the father, 'supposed Vincentio' — a substitute father for a substitute son, deepening the layer of mistaken identities.