Act 4, Scene 1

A hall in PETRUCHIO'S country house.

[Enter GRUMIO.]
Grumio
1565 Fie, fie on all tired jades, on all mad masters, and all
1566 foul ways! Was ever man so beaten? Was ever man so ray'd? Was
1567 ever man so weary? I am sent before to make a fire, and they are
1568 coming after to warm them. Now, were not I a little pot and soon
1569 hot, my very lips might freeze to my teeth, my tongue to the roof
1570 of my mouth, my heart in my belly, ere I should come by a fire to
1571 thaw me. But I with blowing the fire shall warm myself; for,
1572 considering the weather, a taller man than I will take cold.
1573 Holla, ho! Curtis!
[Enter CURTIS.]
Curtis
1574 Who is that calls so coldly?
Grumio
1575 A piece of ice: if thou doubt it, thou mayst slide from my
1576 shoulder to my heel with no greater a run but my head and my
1577 neck. A fire, good Curtis.
Curtis
1578 Is my master and his wife coming, Grumio?
Grumio
1579 O, ay! Curtis, ay; and therefore fire, fire; cast on no
1580 water.
Curtis
1581 Is she so hot a shrew as she's reported?
Grumio
1582 She was, good Curtis, before this frost; but thou knowest
1583 winter tames man, woman, and beast; for it hath tamed my old
1584 master, and my new mistress, and myself, fellow Curtis.
Curtis
1585 Away, you three-inch fool! I am no beast.
Grumio
1586 Am I but three inches? Why, thy horn is a foot; and so long
1587 am I at the least. But wilt thou make a fire, or shall I complain
1588 on thee to our mistress, whose hand,—she being now at hand,—
1589 thou shalt soon feel, to thy cold comfort, for being slow in thy
1590 hot office?
Curtis
1591 I prithee, good Grumio, tell me, how goes the world?
Grumio
1592 A cold world, Curtis, in every office but thine; and
1593 therefore fire. Do thy duty, and have thy duty, for my master and
1594 mistress are almost frozen to death.
Curtis
1595 There's fire ready; and therefore, good Grumio, the news?
Grumio
1596 Why, 'Jack boy! ho, boy!' and as much news as thou wilt.
Curtis
1597 Come, you are so full of cony-catching.
Grumio
1598 Why, therefore, fire; for I have caught extreme cold.
1599 Where's the cook? Is supper ready, the house trimmed, rushes
1600 strewed, cobwebs swept, the serving-men in their new fustian,
1601 their white stockings, and every officer his wedding-garment on?
1602 Be the Jacks fair within, the Jills fair without, and carpets
1603 laid, and everything in order?
Curtis
1604 All ready; and therefore, I pray thee, news?
Grumio
1605 First, know my horse is tired; my master and mistress fallen out.
Curtis
1606 How?
Grumio
1607 Out of their saddles into the dirt; and thereby hangs a tale.
Curtis
1608 Let's ha't, good Grumio.
Grumio
1609 Lend thine ear.
Curtis
1610 Here.
[Striking him.]
Grumio
1611 There.
Curtis
1612 This 'tis to feel a tale, not to hear a tale.
Grumio
1613 And therefore 'tis called a sensible tale; and this cuff
1614 was but to knock at your car and beseech listening. Now I begin:
1615 Imprimis, we came down a foul hill, my master riding behind my
1616 mistress,—
Curtis
1617 Both of one horse?
Grumio
1618 What's that to thee?
Curtis
1619 Why, a horse.
Grumio
1620 Tell thou the tale: but hadst thou not crossed me, thou
1621 shouldst have heard how her horse fell and she under her horse;
1622 thou shouldst have heard in how miry a place, how she was
1623 bemoiled; how he left her with the horse upon her; how he beat me
1624 because her horse stumbled; how she waded through the dirt to
1625 pluck him off me: how he swore; how she prayed, that never prayed
1626 before; how I cried; how the horses ran away; how her bridle was
1627 burst; how I lost my crupper; with many things of worthy memory,
1628 which now shall die in oblivion, and thou return unexperienced to
1629 thy grave.
Curtis
1630 By this reckoning he is more shrew than she.
Grumio
1631 Ay; and that thou and the proudest of you all shall find
1632 when he comes home. But what talk I of this? Call forth
1633 Nathaniel, Joseph, Nicholas, Philip, Walter, Sugarsop, and the
1634 rest; let their heads be sleekly combed, their blue coats brush'd
1635 and their garters of an indifferent knit; let them curtsy with
1636 their left legs, and not presume to touch a hair of my master's
1637 horse-tail till they kiss their hands. Are they all ready?
Curtis
1638 They are.
Grumio
1639 Call them forth.
Curtis
1640 Do you hear? ho! You must meet my master to countenance my
1641 mistress.
Grumio
1642 Why, she hath a face of her own.
Curtis
1643 Who knows not that?
Grumio
1644 Thou, it seems, that calls for company to countenance her.
Curtis
1645 I call them forth to credit her.
Grumio
1646 Why, she comes to borrow nothing of them.
[Enter several SERVANTS.]
Nathaniel
1647 Welcome home, Grumio!
Philip
1648 How now, Grumio!
Joseph
1649 What, Grumio!
Nicholas
1650 Fellow Grumio!
Nathaniel
1651 How now, old lad!
Grumio
1652 Welcome, you; how now, you; what, you; fellow, you;
1653 and thus much for greeting. Now, my spruce companions, is all
1654 ready, and all things neat?
Nathaniel
1655 All things is ready. How near is our master?
Grumio
1656 E'en at hand, alighted by this; and therefore be not,—
1657 Cock's passion, silence! I hear my master.
[Enter PETRUCHIO and KATHERINA.]
Petruchio
1658 Where be these knaves? What! no man at door
1659 To hold my stirrup nor to take my horse?
1660 Where is Nathaniel, Gregory, Philip?—
All Servants
1661 Here, here, sir; here, sir.
Petruchio
1662 Here, sir! here, sir! here, sir! here, sir!
1663 You logger-headed and unpolish'd grooms!
1664 What, no attendance? no regard? no duty?
1665 Where is the foolish knave I sent before?
Grumio
1666 Here, sir; as foolish as I was before.
Petruchio
1667 You peasant swain! you whoreson malt-horse drudge!
1668 Did I not bid thee meet me in the park,
1669 And bring along these rascal knaves with thee?
Grumio
1670 Nathaniel's coat, sir, was not fully made,
1671 And Gabriel's pumps were all unpink'd i' the heel;
1672 There was no link to colour Peter's hat,
1673 And Walter's dagger was not come from sheathing;
1674 There was none fine but Adam, Ralph, and Gregory;
1675 The rest were ragged, old, and beggarly;
1676 Yet, as they are, here are they come to meet you.
Petruchio
1677 Go, rascals, go and fetch my supper in.
[Exeunt some of the SERVANTS.]
Petruchio
1678 Where is the life that late I led?
1679 Where are those—? Sit down, Kate, and welcome.
1680 Soud, soud, soud, soud!
[Re-enter SERVANTS with supper.]
Petruchio
1681 Why, when, I say?—Nay, good sweet Kate, be merry.—
1682 Off with my boots, you rogues! you villains! when?
1683 It was the friar of orders grey,
1684 As he forth walked on his way:
1685 Out, you rogue! you pluck my foot awry:
[Strikes him.]
Petruchio
1686 Take that, and mend the plucking off the other.
1687 Be merry, Kate. Some water, here; what, ho!
1688 Where's my spaniel Troilus? Sirrah, get you hence
1689 And bid my cousin Ferdinand come hither:
[Exit SERVANT.]
Petruchio
1690 One, Kate, that you must kiss and be acquainted with.
1691 Where are my slippers? Shall I have some water?
1692 Come, Kate, and wash, and welcome heartily.—
[SERVANT lets the ewer fall. PETRUCHIO strikes him.]
Petruchio
1693 You whoreson villain! will you let it fall?
Katherina
1694 Patience, I pray you; 'twas a fault unwilling.
Petruchio
1695 A whoreson, beetle-headed, flap-ear'd knave!
1696 Come, Kate, sit down; I know you have a stomach.
1697 Will you give thanks, sweet Kate, or else shall I?—
1698 What's this? Mutton?
First Servant
1699 Ay.
Petruchio
1700 Who brought it?
[I.]
Petruchio
1701 'Tis burnt; and so is all the meat.
1702 What dogs are these! Where is the rascal cook?
1703 How durst you, villains, bring it from the dresser,
1704 And serve it thus to me that love it not?
[Throws the meat, etc., at them.]
Petruchio
1705 There, take it to you, trenchers, cups, and all.
1706 You heedless joltheads and unmanner'd slaves!
1707 What! do you grumble? I'll be with you straight.
Katherina
1708 I pray you, husband, be not so disquiet;
1709 The meat was well, if you were so contented.
Petruchio
1710 I tell thee, Kate, 'twas burnt and dried away,
1711 And I expressly am forbid to touch it;
1712 For it engenders choler, planteth anger;
1713 And better 'twere that both of us did fast,
1714 Since, of ourselves, ourselves are choleric,
1715 Than feed it with such over-roasted flesh.
1716 Be patient; to-morrow 't shall be mended.
1717 And for this night we'll fast for company:
1718 Come, I will bring thee to thy bridal chamber.
[Exeunt PETRUCHIO, KATHERINA, and CURTIS.]
Nathaniel
1719 Peter, didst ever see the like?
Peter
1720 He kills her in her own humour.
[Re-enter CURTIS.]
Grumio
1721 Where is he?
Curtis
1722 In her chamber, making a sermon of continency to her;
1723 And rails, and swears, and rates, that she, poor soul,
1724 Knows not which way to stand, to look, to speak,
1725 And sits as one new risen from a dream.
1726 Away, away! for he is coming hither.
[Exeunt.]
[Re-enter PETRUCHIO.]
Petruchio
1727 Thus have I politicly begun my reign,
1728 And 'tis my hope to end successfully.
1729 My falcon now is sharp and passing empty.
1730 And till she stoop she must not be full-gorg'd,
1731 For then she never looks upon her lure.
1732 Another way I have to man my haggard,
1733 To make her come, and know her keeper's call,
1734 That is, to watch her, as we watch these kites
1735 That bate and beat, and will not be obedient.
1736 She eat no meat to-day, nor none shall eat;
1737 Last night she slept not, nor to-night she shall not;
1738 As with the meat, some undeserved fault
1739 I'll find about the making of the bed;
1740 And here I'll fling the pillow, there the bolster,
1741 This way the coverlet, another way the sheets;
1742 Ay, and amid this hurly I intend
1743 That all is done in reverend care of her;
1744 And, in conclusion, she shall watch all night:
1745 And if she chance to nod I'll rail and brawl,
1746 And with the clamour keep her still awake.
1747 This is a way to kill a wife with kindness;
1748 And thus I'll curb her mad and headstrong humour.
1749 He that knows better how to tame a shrew,
1750 Now let him speak; 'tis charity to show.
[Exit.]

Reading mode

Word definitions on hover

Notes

TLN 1565archaic vocab
“Fie, fie on all tired jades”
'Jades' are worn-out, worthless horses — the contemptuous term a rider would apply to a broken-down nag. Grumio has just made a miserable winter journey on horseback and opens the scene complaining about the horses, the road, and his master all at once.
TLN 1566archaic vocab
“Was ever man so ray'd”
'Ray'd' (also spelled 'rayed') means dirtied, besmirched — splattered with mud. Grumio is describing the disastrous journey: Katherina's horse fell and she was thrown into the mire, and Petruchio's servants were covered in muck by the time they arrived.
TLN 1568rhetorical device
“were not I a little pot and soon hot”
Grumio quotes a proverbial phrase — 'a little pot is soon hot' — meaning a small vessel heats quickly, i.e. a short person has a quick temper. He is self-mockingly applying it to himself, the small servant who is already fuming despite the cold. The proverb also draws attention to Grumio's short stature, a running comic point of the play.
TLN 1597archaic vocab
“you are so full of cony-catching”
A 'cony' is a rabbit, and 'cony-catching' was Elizabethan slang for cheating or swindling, from the con-man's practice of luring a 'cony' (a gull or dupe) into a trap. Curtis is telling Grumio to stop spinning yarns and stop trying to trick him into expecting a story that will not come.
TLN 1599cultural context
“rushes strewed, cobwebs swept, the serving-men in their new fustian”
Grumio's checklist of household readiness reflects Elizabethan domestic practice. Floors were strewn with rushes as a kind of living carpet; 'fustian' was a coarse cotton-and-linen cloth used for working livery. 'Jacks' and 'jills' were leather and metal drinking-vessels; 'carpets' at this period were table-coverings, not floor-coverings. The whole passage sketches the standard preparation of a gentleman's country house for a master's arrival.
TLN 1615archaic vocab
“Imprimis, we came down a foul hill”
'Imprimis' is Latin for 'first of all' or 'in the first place.' It was the standard opening word of legal inventories, wills, and formal lists in Elizabethan England. Grumio adopts mock-legal formality to begin his account of the disaster on the road — the comedy lies in using the solemnity of a lawyer's document to narrate a muddy horseback comedy of errors.
TLN 1622archaic vocab
“how she was bemoiled; how he left her with the horse upon her”
'Bemoiled' means muddied, plastered in mire — splattered from head to foot. The word is rare; Shakespeare uses it only here. The detail that Petruchio left Katherina pinned under the fallen horse while he beat Grumio is the first concrete example of his calculated 'taming' through deliberate cruelty disguised as distraction or incompetence.
TLN 1634cultural context
“their blue coats brush'd and their garters of an indifferent knit”
Blue was the conventional colour of serving-men's livery in Elizabethan England — so standard that 'blue coat' simply meant a servant. 'Garters of an indifferent knit' means garters of a middling, acceptable quality — neither too fine (above a servant's station) nor too rough. Grumio is drilling the household in the precise level of turnout appropriate for their rank when receiving a master and new mistress.
TLN 1657archaic vocab
“Cock's passion, silence”
'Cock's passion' is a minced oath — a softened form of 'God's passion,' referring to Christ's suffering on the cross. Elizabethan law and convention discouraged taking God's name directly in oaths, so speakers substituted 'Cock' (or 'Gog,' 'Zounds' for 'God's wounds,' etc.). Grumio uses it as a sudden, flustered exclamation when he hears his master at the door.
TLN 1663archaic vocab
“You logger-headed and unpolish'd grooms”
'Logger-headed' means blockheaded, dull-witted — literally having a head like a log or block of wood. 'Grooms' in this context means servants or attendants, not specifically stable-hands. Petruchio launches immediately into theatrical abuse of his servants the moment he arrives home — which is part of his calculated strategy to disorient Katherina by creating domestic chaos around her.
TLN 1671cultural context
“Gabriel's pumps were all unpink'd i' the heel”
'Pumps' are light flat shoes, and 'pinking' was a decorative technique of cutting small holes or eyelets in leather in patterns — fashionable on fine Elizabethan footwear. Grumio is listing the servants' sartorial failings: Gabriel's dress shoes had not been properly trimmed and decorated at the heel. This is the mock-precise comic inventory of excuses for not meeting Petruchio in the park.
TLN 1678rhetorical device
“Where is the life that late I led?”
This is the opening line of a real Elizabethan popular song, sung here in a fragment. The question — 'Where is the life that late I led?' — is a nostalgic lament for the bachelor life of freedom. Petruchio breaks off ('Where are those--?') before finishing it, which is in itself a comic admission that marriage has already disrupted that carefree existence. Shakespeare quotes the song again in 2 Henry IV (5.3).
TLN 1683cultural context
“It was the friar of orders grey, As he forth walked on his way”
Petruchio breaks into a snatch of song about a grey-habited Franciscan friar. 'Orders grey' identifies the Franciscans, who wore grey or brown habits (as opposed to the black of the Dominicans or white of the Carmelites). Singing fragments of ballads mid-action is part of Petruchio's deliberately erratic behaviour: he keeps everyone, Katherina included, off-balance by mixing fury, song, and tenderness in unpredictable sequence.
TLN 1712cultural context
“it engenders choler, planteth anger; And better 'twere that both of us did fast, Since, of ourselves, ourselves are choleric”
Petruchio invokes Elizabethan humoral medicine to justify throwing away the food. In the four-humour theory, the body's health depended on balancing four fluids: blood, phlegm, black bile (melancholy), and yellow bile (choler). Burnt or dried-out meat was thought to increase choler — the hot, dry humour associated with anger and irascibility. Because he and Katherina are both 'choleric' by nature, eating choleric food will only inflame them further.
TLN 1720cultural context
“He kills her in her own humour”
The servant Peter identifies Petruchio's strategy in a single phrase: he is out-performing Katherina in her own element, using her own technique of disruptive, irrational behaviour against her. 'Humour' here draws on both the popular sense of 'mood or whim' and the humoral medical sense: Petruchio matches and exceeds her choleric temper so that she cannot sustain it. The line is the clearest neutral description in the play of what Petruchio is doing.
TLN 1722archaic vocab
“making a sermon of continency to her”
'Continency' means self-restraint, chastity, or abstinence — particularly sexual self-control. Curtis reports that Petruchio is lecturing Katherina on the virtue of restraint even on their wedding night, which is both another form of deliberate deprivation and a comic inversion of what a bride would expect from a bridegroom. The word 'sermon' underlines the irony: the wildest-behaved man in the scene is preaching virtue.
TLN 1727rhetorical device
“Thus have I politicly begun my reign”
Petruchio's soliloquy opens with a consciously political metaphor: he has 'begun his reign' like a new monarch. 'Politicly' means by deliberate strategy, by calculated policy — the adverb of a ruler governing a state, not a husband managing a household. The word applies the vocabulary of power to marriage, explicitly framing what he is doing as a campaign of governance. The soliloquy that follows elaborates this as a falconry taming conceit.
TLN 1729cultural context
“My falcon now is sharp and passing empty, And till she stoop she must not be full-gorg'd, For then she never looks upon her lure. Another way I have to man my haggard”
Petruchio describes his treatment of Katherina in the technical vocabulary of falconry. A 'haggard' is a wild-caught adult female hawk, the hardest kind to train. To 'man' the bird is to tame it to the human hand. 'Sharp and passing empty' means hungry, keen to hunt. To be 'full-gorg'd' (fed to satiety) makes a hawk ignore the 'lure' (the baited dummy the falconer swings to recall it). 'Stoop' is to swoop obediently back to the call. The passage maps this taming regime onto Katherina: kept hungry and sleepless until she answers his call.
historical Falconry and the taming of the haggard
TLN 1734archaic vocab
“watch her, as we watch these kites That bate and beat”
'Watching' a hawk means keeping it awake — preventing it from sleeping until it is too exhausted to resist the falconer's training. 'Kites' are a species of raptor, used here loosely for any wild hawk. 'Bate' is the technical term for a hawk flapping and fluttering in frustrated attempts to fly free while tethered. Petruchio plans to keep Katherina awake all night by noisy bedchamber chaos, as a falconer keeps a haggard sleepless to break its wildness.
historical Falconry and the taming of the haggard
TLN 1747rhetorical device
“This is a way to kill a wife with kindness. And thus I'll curb her mad and headstrong humour”
'Kill with kindness' is a proverbial expression meaning to destroy someone by excessive or suffocating care — here used ironically, since Petruchio's 'kindness' is deliberately performed cruelty. Everything he has done — throwing the food, striking the servants, noise, bedchamber lecturing — has been framed outwardly as concern for Katherina's health or comfort. The line closes the soliloquy and names his entire strategy in a single epigrammatic paradox.