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Enter BAPTISTA, VINCENTIO, GREMIO, the BAPTISTA, VINCENTIO, GREMIO, the

MERCHANT, LUCENTIO, BIANCA, MERCHANT, LUCENTIO, BIANCA,
PETRUCHIO, KATHERINE, HORTENSIO, PETRUCHIO, KATHERINE, HORTENSIO,
WIDOW, TRANIO, BIONDELLO, and WIDOW, TRANIO, BIONDELLO, and GRUMIO
GRUMIO, with the Servingmen bringing in a enter, with the servants bringing in a banquet.
banquet Everyone stands as LUCENTIO proposes a toast.
LUCENTIO
LUCENTIO
At last, though long, our jarring notes agree,
Finally, at long last, we’ve reconciled our
And time it is when raging war is done
differences. Now is the time—when war is safely
To smile at ’scapes and perils overblown.
over—to laugh at past dangers and adventures. My
My fair Bianca, bid my father welcome,
fair Bianca, bid my father welcome, while I with
5While I with selfsame kindness welcome thine.
equal affection welcome yours. Brother Petruchio,
Brother Petruchio, sister Katherina,
sister Katherina, and you, Hortensio, with your
And thou, Hortensio, with thy loving widow,
loving widow, you’ll find no better entertainment
Feast with the best, and welcome to my house.
anywhere. All of you are welcome in my house.
My banquet is to close our stomachs up,
This last course here is for closing up the stomach
10After our great good cheer. Pray you, sit
after great feasting. Now everyone be seated, as
down,
this is the part where we sit and chat as well as eat.
For now we sit to chat as well as eat.
PETRUCHIO PETRUCHIO

Nothing but sit and sit, and eat and eat! All we do is sit and sit and eat and eat.
BAPTISTA
BAPTISTA
Yes, Padua is famous for this pleasant life,
Padua affords this kindness, son Petruchio.
Petruchio, my son.
PETRUCHIO PETRUCHIO

Padua affords nothing but what is kind. Padua contains nothing that isn’t pleasant.
HORTENSIO
HORTENSIO
15For both our sakes, I would that word were
I wish that were true for both our sakes!
true.
PETRUCHIO
PETRUCHIO
Well what do you know! Hortensio fears his
Now, for my life, Hortensio fears his widow.
widow.

WIDOW WIDOW

Then never trust me if I be afeard. Me afraid of him? I don’t think so.

PETRUCHIO
PETRUCHIO
You are very sensible, and yet you miss my
That’s very sensible, but you missed my sense: I
sense:
meant Hortensio is afraid of you.
I mean, Hortensio is afeard of you.
WIDOW WIDOW
20He that is giddy thinks the world turns round. He who is dizzy thinks the world is spinning.
PETRUCHIO PETRUCHIO

Roundly replied. A very candid reply.

KATHERINE KATHERINE

Mistress, how mean you that? What’s that supposed to mean?

WIDOW WIDOW

Thus I conceive by him. That’s what I conceive of him.

PETRUCHIO
PETRUCHIO
Conceives by me ? How does that sit with you,
Conceives by me? How likes Hortensio that?
Hortensio?
HORTENSIO
HORTENSIO
25My widow says, thus she conceives her tale.
My widow means that her remark expressed the
way she understood him.
“That’s what I understand him to mean.”
PETRUCHIO
PETRUCHIO
Very well mended. Kiss him for that, good
Nice save! Kiss him for that, good widow.
widow.
KATHERINE
KATHERINE
“He that is giddy thinks the world turns
“He who is dizzy thinks the world is spinning”—
round”—
please, tell me what you meant by that.
I pray you, tell me what you meant by that.
WIDOW WIDOW

Your husband being troubled with a shrew Your husband, being saddled with a shrew, projects
30Measures my husband’s sorrow by his woe. his own suffering onto my husband. And now you
And now you know my meaning. know my meaning.
KATHERINE KATHERINE

A very mean meaning. A very nasty meaning.

WIDOW WIDOW

Right, I mean you. My meaning is nasty, for it’s you I mean.

KATHERINE KATHERINE

And I am mean indeed, respecting you. And I am nasty when it comes to you.

PETRUCHIO PETRUCHIO

To her, Kate! You tell her, Kate!

HORTENSIO HORTENSIO

35To her, widow! You tell her, widow!

PETRUCHIO PETRUCHIO
 I’ll bet you a hundred marks, my Kate puts her flat
A hundred marks, my Kate does put her down.
on her back.
HORTENSIO HORTENSIO

That’s my office. Well, that’s really my job.

PETRUCHIO PETRUCHIO

Spoke like an officer! Ha' to thee, lad! Well said! Here’s to you!
Drinks to HORTENSIO He drinks to HORTENSIO
BAPTISTA
BAPTISTA
What do you think of these quick-witted folks,
How likes Gremio these quick-witted folks?
Gremio?
GREMIO GREMIO

40Believe me, sir, they butt together well. They certainly do like to butt heads!
BIANCA
BIANCA
Head and butt! An hasty-witted body
A clever person would say their butting heads had
Would say your head and butt were head and
horns on them.
horn.
VINCENTIO VINCENTIO

Ay, mistress bride, hath that awakened you? Ah, our bride has woken up!
BIANCA
BIANCA
Ay, but not frighted me. Therefore I’ll sleep
Yes, but not out of fear. I’ll go back to sleep now.
again.
PETRUCHIO PETRUCHIO

45Nay, that you shall not. Since you have begun, No, you shall not. Since you chimed in, let’s see if
Have at you for a bitter jest or two! we can trade a caustic joke or two.
BIANCA BIANCA

Am I your bird? I mean to shift my bush, Am I the bird you’re going to shoot at now? I’ll
And then pursue me as you draw your bow.— move my bush , so you’ll have to aim at a moving
You are welcome all. target. Thank you all for coming.
Exeunt BIANCA, KATHERINE and WIDOW BIANCA, KATHERINE and WIDOW exit.

PETRUCHIO
PETRUCHIO
50She hath prevented me. Here, Signior Tranio,
Well, she got away. Signior Tranio, you also took
This bird you aimed at, though you hit her not.
aim at that bird, though you didn’t hit her.—So
—
here’s a health to all who’ve shot and missed.
Therefore a health to all that shot and missed.
TRANIO
TRANIO
Oh well, sir, I was really just like a greyhound that
Oh, sir, Lucentio slipped me like his greyhound,
Lucentio let off the leash: I did the running, but the
Which runs himself and catches for his master.
catch was his.
PETRUCHIO PETRUCHIO
55A good swift simile, but something currish. A witty if a cynical reply.
TRANIO TRANIO

'Tis well, sir, that you hunted for yourself. It’s good you hunted for yourself, sir. It’s rumored
'Tis thought your deer does hold you at a bay. that your deer holds you at bay .
BAPTISTA BAPTISTA

Oh, Oh, Petruchio! Tranio hits you now. Oh-ho, Petruchio! Tranio got you that time.
LUCENTIO LUCENTIO

I thank thee for that gird, good Tranio. I thank you for that quip, good Tranio.
HORTENSIO HORTENSIO

60Confess, confess, hath he not hit you here? Fess up, fess up, didn’t that one strike home?
PETRUCHIO PETRUCHIO

He has a little galled me, I confess. He’s made me a little sore, I’ll admit. But since the
And, as the jest did glance away from me, gibe glanced off me, ten to one it hit you both
'Tis ten to one it maimed you two outright. straight on.
BAPTISTA BAPTISTA

Now, in good sadness, son Petruchio, Seriously, though, son Petruchio, I think you have
65I think thou hast the veriest shrew of all. the most thoroughgoing shrew of us all.
PETRUCHIO
PETRUCHIO
Well, I say no. And therefore, for assurance,
Well, I disagree. But why not put it to the test?
Let’s each one send unto his wife;
Let’s each one send for his wife. Whichever’s is
And he whose wife is most obedient
most obedient and comes most readily shall win
To come at first when he doth send for her,
the bet that we’ll propose.
70Shall win the wager which we will propose.
HORTENSIO HORTENSIO

Content. What’s the wager? Agreed. What’s the bet?

LUCENTIO LUCENTIO

Twenty crowns. Twenty crowns.

PETRUCHIO PETRUCHIO

Twenty crowns? Twenty crowns? That’s a bet I’d make on my hawk

I’ll venture so much of my hawk or hound, or my hound. I’d wager twenty times as much on
75But twenty times so much upon my wife. my wife.
LUCENTIO LUCENTIO

A hundred then. A hundred then.

HORTENSIO HORTENSIO

Content. Agreed.
PETRUCHIO PETRUCHIO

A match! 'Tis done. Good! It’s a bet.

HORTENSIO HORTENSIO
Who shall begin?
Who should begin?
LUCENTIO LUCENTIO

80That will I. I will. Biondello, go and tell your mistress to come

Go, Biondello, bid your mistress come to me. to me.
BIONDELLO BIONDELLO

I go. Here I go.

Exit He exits.
BAPTISTA BAPTISTA

Son, I’ll be your half Bianca comes. Son, I’ll stake you half that Bianca comes.
LUCENTIO LUCENTIO

I’ll have no halves. I’ll bear it all myself. I’ll have no halves. I’ll shoulder the whole bet
Enter BIONDELLO BIONDELLO enters.
85How now, what news? Well, what happened
BIONDELLO BIONDELLO

Sir, my mistress sends you word Sir, my mistress sends you word that she is busy
That she is busy, and she cannot come. and cannot come.
PETRUCHIO PETRUCHIO

How! “She’s busy, and she cannot come!” What! “She’s busy and cannot come!” Is that an
Is that an answer? answer?

GREMIO GREMIO

90Ay, and a kind one too. Yes, and a nice one at that. Pray God your wife
Pray God, sir, your wife send you not a worse. doesn’t send you a worse one.
PETRUCHIO PETRUCHIO

I hope better. I’m hoping for better.

HORTENSIO HORTENSIO

Sirrah Biondello, go and entreat my wife You there, Biondello, go and request that my wife
To come to me forthwith. come to me straight away.
Exit BIONDELLO BIONDELLO exits.
PETRUCHIO
PETRUCHIO
95O, ho, entreat her!
Oh-ho, he requests! Why, then she’ll have to come.
Nay, then she must needs come.
HORTENSIO HORTENSIO

I am afraid, sir, I rather think, sir, that yours will not grant a
Do what you can, yours will not be entreated. request in any case.
Enter BIONDELLO BIONDELLO enters.
Now, where’s my wife? So, where’s my wife?
>BIONDELLO BIONDELLO
100She says you have some goodly jest in hand. She says she thinks this is a prank. She will not
She will not come. She bids you come to her. come. She says that you should come to her.
PETRUCHIO PETRUCHIO

Worse and worse. She will not come! Worse and worse! She will not come! It’s vile,
O vile, intolerable, not to be endured!— intolerable, not to be endured!—You there,
Sirrah Grumio, go to your mistress, Grumio, go to your mistress. Say that I command
105Say I command her to come to me. her to come to me.
Exit GRUMIO GRUMIO exits.
HORTENSIO HORTENSIO

I know her answer. I can guess her answer.

PETRUCHIO PETRUCHIO

What? What?
HORTENSIO HORTENSIO

She will not. She will not.

PETRUCHIO PETRUCHIO

The fouler fortune mine, and there an end. The worse for me, no doubt about it.
Enter KATHERINE KATHERINE enters.
BAPTISTA BAPTISTA

Now, by my holidam, here comes Katherina! By all that’s holy, here comes Katherina!
KATHERINE
KATHERINE
You sent for me, sir? Is there something you’d like
What is your will, sir, that you send for me?
me to do for you?
PETRUCHIO PETRUCHIO

110Where is your sister, and Hortensio’s wife? Where are your sister and Hortensio’s wife?
KATHERINE KATHERINE

They sit conferring by the parlor fire. They sit chatting by the parlor fire.
PETRUCHIO PETRUCHIO

Go fetch them hither. If they deny to come, Go bring them here. If they refuse to come, get
Swinge me them soundly forth unto their physical—use a whip if you have to, but get them
husbands. out here to their husbands. Go on, I said. Bring
Away, I say, and bring them hither straight. them here straight away.
Exit KATHERINE KATHERINE exits.
LUCENTIO LUCENTIO

115Here is a wonder, if you talk of a wonder. This is a miracle, if you talk of miracles.
HORTENSIO HORTENSIO

And so it is. I wonder what it bodes. It is. I wonder what it means.

PETRUCHIO PETRUCHIO

Marry, peace it bodes, and love, and quiet life, I’ll tell you what it means. It means peace and love
And awful rule, and right supremacy, and a quiet life, supremacy based on reverence and
And, to be short, what not that’s sweet and profound respect, and—not to go on and on about
happy? it—everything that’s sweet and happy.
BAPTISTA BAPTISTA

120Now, fair befall thee, good Petruchio! May good fortune come to you, good Petruchio!
The wager thou hast won, and I will add You’ve won the wager, and I will add twenty
Unto their losses twenty thousand crowns, thousand crowns to what they owe you. Another
Another dowry to another daughter, dowry for another wife, for, truly, she is so
For she is changed as she had never been. transformed she’s like a completely new woman.

PETRUCHIO PETRUCHIO

125Nay, I will win my wager better yet, Wait, I will win the wager more spectacularly,
And show more sign of her obedience, going even further to demonstrate her obedience,
Her new-built virtue and obedience. her newly created virtue and obedience.
Enter KATHERINE with BIANCA and
KATHERINE enters with BIANCA and WIDOW.
WIDOW
See where she comes and brings your froward
Look, here she comes, with your ungovernable
wives
wives in tow, like prisoners of her womanly
As prisoners to her womanly persuasion.—
persuasion.—Katherine, that cap of yours doesn’t
130Katherine, that cap of yours becomes you
look good on you. Take it off and throw it on the
not.
ground.
Off with that bauble, throw it underfoot.
WIDOW WIDOW

Lord, let me never have a cause to sigh, Lord, may I never see a day of trouble until the day
Till I be brought to such a silly pass! I let someone treat me like that.
BIANCA BIANCA

Fie! What a foolish duty call you this? For shame! What kind of loyalty is this?
LUCENTIO
LUCENTIO
135I would your duty were as foolish too.
I wish your loyalty were as foolish. The wisdom of
The wisdom of your duty, fair Bianca,
your loyalty, fair Bianca, has cost me a hundred
Hath cost me an hundred crowns since
crowns since dinner.
suppertime.
BIANCA BIANCA

The more fool you for laying on my duty. The more fool you for betting on my loyalty.
PETRUCHIO
PETRUCHIO
Katherine, I charge thee, tell these headstrong
Katherine, I’d like you to lecture these headstrong
women
women on the nature of the loyalty they owe their
140What duty they do owe their lords and
lords and husbands.
husbands.
WIDOW
WIDOW
Come, come, you’re mocking. We will have no
You must be joking. There will be no lecture.
telling.
PETRUCHIO PETRUCHIO
Come on, I say, and first begin with her. Do it, I say. You can begin with her.
WIDOW WIDOW

She shall not. She shall not.

PETRUCHIO PETRUCHIO

I say she shall.—And first begin with her. I say she shall.—And first begin with her.

KATHERINE KATHERINE

145Fie, fie! Unknit that threat'ning unkind brow Girls, girls! Wipe those frowns off your faces and
And dart not scornful glances from those eyes stop rolling your eyes. This disrespectful stance
To wound thy lord, thy king, thy governor. toward the man who is your lord, your king, your
It blots thy beauty as frosts do bite the meads, governor tarnishes your beauty the way the frosts
Confounds thy fame as whirlwinds shake fair of winter blights the land. It mars your reputations
buds, as whirlwinds shake fair buds. And in no sense is it
150And in no sense is meet or amiable. fitting or attractive. An angry woman is like an
A woman moved is like a fountain troubled, agitated fountain—muddy, unpleasant, lacking in
Muddy, ill-seeming, thick, bereft of beauty, beauty. And in this condition, no one—however
And while it is so, none so dry or thirsty dry or thirsty he may be—will stoop to sip or touch
Will deign to sip or touch one drop of it. one drop of it. Your husband is your lord, your life,
155Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper, your keeper, your head, your sovereign, one who
Thy head, thy sovereign, one that cares for thee, cares for you and who, for your ease and comfort,
And for thy maintenance commits his body commits his body to harsh labor both on land and
To painful labor both by sea and land, sea. Long, stormy nights at seas he stays awake, by
To watch the night in storms, the day in cold, day he endures cold while you lie safe and warm,
160Whilst thou liest warm at home, secure and secure in your beds at home. And in exchange he
safe, seeks no more from you but love, kind looks, and
And craves no other tribute at thy hands true obedience—too little payment for so great a
But love, fair looks and true obedience— debt. A woman owes her husband the same loyalty
Too little payment for so great a debt. a subject owes his king. And when she is peevish
Such duty as the subject owes the prince, and perverse, sullen, sour, and disobedient to his
165Even such a woman oweth to her husband. honest wishes, what is she but a loathsome,
And when she is froward, peevish, sullen, sour, warlike rebel and an ungrateful traitor to her loving
And not obedient to his honest will, lord? I am ashamed that women are so foolish as to
What is she but a foul contending rebel declare war when they should plead on their knees
And graceless traitor to her loving lord? for peace, that they seek authority, supremacy, and
170I am ashamed that women are so simple power when they are under an obligation to serve,
To offer war where they should kneel for peace; love, and obey. Why are our bodies soft and weak
Or seek for rule, supremacy and sway and smooth, unfit for toil and trouble in the world,
When they are bound to serve, love, and obey. if not so that our soft qualities and our hearts
Why are our bodies soft and weak and smooth, should agree with our external parts? Come, come,
175Unapt to toil and trouble in the world, you weak, ungovernable worms!
But that our soft conditions and our hearts
Should well agree with our external parts?
Come, come, you froward and unable worms!

My mind hath been as big as one of yours, My spirit has been as proud as each of yours, my
180My heart as great, my reason haply more, courage as great, and my reason perhaps even
To bandy word for word and frown for frown. better suited to bandy words back and forth and
But now I see our lances are but straws, exchange frown for frown. But now I see our
Our strength as weak, our weakness past weapons are like straws, our strength like a straw’s
compare,
That seeming to be most which we indeed least weakness, and our weakness past comparison, so
are. that we seem to be the thing we most are not.
185Then vail your stomachs, for it is no boot, Humble your pride, then, since it’s useless, and
And place your hands below your husband’s place your hand beneath your husband’s foot. As a
foot: gesture of my loyalty, my hand is ready if he cares
In token of which duty, if he please, to use it. May it bring him comfort.
My hand is ready, may it do him ease.
PETRUCHIO
PETRUCHIO
Why, there’s a wench! Come on and kiss me,
There, that’s my girl! Come on and kiss me, Kate.
Kate.
LUCENTIO
LUCENTIO
190Well, go thy ways, old lad, for thou shalt ha
Congratulations, old pal, you’ve won the bet.
’t.
VINCENTIO VINCENTIO

'Tis a good hearing when children are toward. It’s nice to see children playing well together.
LUCENTIO LUCENTIO

But a harsh hearing when women are froward. But not so nice when women misbehave.
PETRUCHIO
PETRUCHIO
(to LUCENTIO)
Come, Kate, let’s go to bed. We three are married,
Come, Kate, we’ll to bed.
but you two are defeated. (to LUCENTIO) I was
195We three are married, but you two are sped.
the one who won the wager, though you hit the
'Twas I won the wager, though you hit the white,
white . And as the winner here I say good night.
And, being a winner, God give you good night!
Exeunt PETRUCHIO and KATHERINE PETRUCHIO and KATHERINE exit.
HORTENSIO HORTENSIO

Now, go thy ways, thou hast tamed a curst Well, congratulations. You’ve tamed a terrible
shrew. shrew.
LUCENTIO LUCENTIO

'Tis a wonder, by your leave, she will be tamed It’s amazing, if I may say so, that she let herself be
so. tamed.
Exeunt They all exit.