The Taming of the ShrewBy William Shakespeare

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The play is set in PADUA, Italy.

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Shakespeare’s audience was particularly interested in the topic of RELATIONSHIPS since most marriages during this time period were ARRANGED and a DOWRY was the reason why most men got married.

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Of particular worry to this society were “SHREWS” or “SCOLDS” —that is, cantankerous or gossipy WIVES.

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A large number of sermons, plays, and pamphlets of the time address related topics: the TAMING of shrews by their husbands or the public punishment of scolds, by, for example, repeatedly DUNKING them in a river.

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The play begins with a FRAME story, where a drunkard named Christopher Sly has a joke played on him by the local lord.

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They convince him that he is a RICH man who has been ill for a while and has just now regained his MEMORY.

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They dress up a young MAN as his wife and he decides that he wants to believe them.

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While Sly wants to be alone with his “wife,” they tell him that he must first watch a PLAY performed by a troupe of actors who recently came to the castle. So, he sits down and watches the play, THE TAMING OF THE SHREW.

Character Map