The play of William Shakespeare "The Taming of the Shrew," a summary of the acts of which will be presented below, has become one of the most famous works of not only English, but also world classical literature. The comedy in five acts not only ironically describes the lives of the heroes, but is also able to show the whole tragedy of the life of that time.
Main characters
A summary of The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare must begin with a description of the main characters. The play involves a huge number of heroes. When analyzing Shakespeare's “Taming of the Shrew”, it is important to note how much the characters differ from each other.
The Lord is a true gentleman with excellent manners. Spends his time in aristocratic circles.
Christopher Sly is a local craftsman in copper processing.
The mistress is a woman in whose possessions there is her own tavern.
Hunters and servants are secondary heroes who create the background of the work.
Baptista - a gentleman with excellent education; rich man whose life goes on in Padua.
Vincenzo is a rich and old gentleman who spent his life in Pisa.
Lucentio is the young son of Vincenzo, who at first sight fell in love with one of the heroines of the comedy - Bianca. It was he who later became her teacher of literature, and then - and her husband.
Petruccio is a young and wealthy man who married Katarina, 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 its reciprocity.
Gortencio is another gentleman in love with Bianca who failed to achieve her love. He got into a family with his beloved music teacher, but the girl did not feel sympathy for Gortenzio. After a while, the 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 of Lucentio.
Grumio and Curtis are the servants of Senor Petruccio.
Pedant is a teacher at school.
Katarina is the eldest of the Baptist daughters. Katarina had an extremely complex character, the people around her called her an obstinate, but the girl’s behavior was explained by her fears and insecurity of her own happiness.
Bianca is the youngest daughter of the Baptists, who enjoyed the sympathy of many gentlemen, offering her to accept their love and marry one of them.
The widow is the richest senor who believed that she knew her own worth and therefore, as a result, did not marry for a long time after the death of her husband.
Other servants are also present in the play, subordinate to Baptista and Petruccio.
Prologue that starts the story
Summary “The Taming of the Shrew” by William Shakespeare begins with the local master craftsman Sly falling asleep near the tavern. The rich lord, who had just returned from a hunt, together with his servants decides to play a trick on the tinker. The drunken master is carried to the Lord’s chambers, washed with fragrant water, and laid in bed on soft feather beds. Waking up in a rich dress and luxurious bed, Sly does not understand what happened to him. The servants of the lord tell him that he slept for exactly fifteen years. They also tell him that for a long time he suffered from insanity. Sly, in turn, tells that all this time he had a very strange dream - he’s a brazier who worked all his life doing his craft. Servants are trying to convince the artisan that he is really a large and respected figure, that his wife is one of the most beautiful and well-mannered 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 stray actors to his house, who are happy to accept the offer to participate in the "performance" for the poor worker.
First action. First picture
Further events of the summary “The Taming of the Shrew” take place already outside the house of the Lord.
Lucentio arrives in Padua in order to give himself entirely to such a science as philosophy. When a young gentleman talks with his trusted servant about what philosophy is, a Baptista appears in the main square of the city, accompanied by his two daughters. Solid dignitaries, Gortenzio and Gremio, who are in love with Bianca, go next to their daughters. Baptista says that under no pretext will she give her youngest daughter to marriage until Katarina is happily married. After these words of the important and serious father of the sisters Gremio and Gortenzio, one has to forget that they are rivals who have long been waging an internecine struggle for the hand and heart of Bianca. They have to help in finding a husband for the eldest of the Baptista's daughters, despite the fact that Katarina has a very difficult character - she is too impudent and absurd, unlike her sister, who was distinguished by her complaisance and meekness.
The 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 Gortencio, which is why he easily admits to his friend that he came to such a beautiful city in order to improve his finances, and immediately after that - to marry a girl with a rich dowry. An old friend, jokingly, offers Petruccio to 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 Baptista. It was at that moment that Gortensio realized 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 ends up in the sisters' house as a music teacher. On the same day, Lucentio also falls into the home of the Baptista family, but as a professor and teacher of literature.
Second action. First picture
The summary of Shakespeare's “Taming of the Shrew” continues with the following events: due to the bad character of her sister, Bianca is forced to endure constant beatings and bullying by Katarina. One of these bullying provoked Katarina's sympathy for Gortenzio, who is in love with Bianca.
The literature teacher tells Petruccio that the girl is extremely nasty: during her lesson, she broke one of the musical instruments about him - a lute.
The second picture
After Petruccio is hired, he demands from his friends, Gortenzio and Gremio, so that he can immediately see the beautiful and rich Katarina. It is Petruccio who dares to tell Baptista about his love for his eldest daughter. The Baptista immediately says that his daughter is too difficult in nature, to which the newly-born groom replies that he himself is a “terrible stubborn”. At the first meeting of two young people, Petruccio manages to adequately respond to all of Katarina's jokes. However, the girl cannot endure such an attitude towards herself: Petruccio receives a strong slap in the face. Having suffered such humiliation, he tells the impudent girl that it was he who was destined by fate to humble her temper. He is already ready to go to Venice in order to purchase rings for the wedding. He asks Katarina to kiss him goodbye.
Third action. First picture
The summary of “The Taming of the Shrew” by Shakespeare continues with the fact that during the next lesson of literature, Lucentio confesses his boundless love to 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. Lucentio himself chose an extremely romantic way of expressing his feelings: he is trying to say about his love with musical notes.
The second picture
Summary of “The Taming of the Shrew” is gaining extremely ironic momentum.
Petruccio arrives at his own wedding late and drunk. He looks extremely untidy: he is dressed in rags that he does 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, spills a glass of wine directly in the face of the local priest, rudely grabs Katarina by the neck to give her a wet and loud kiss. Immediately after the young couple was married, Petruccio decides to leave home with his new wife immediately, despite the fact that all the guests, and the bride herself, are asking him to stay and celebrate the wedding. Petruccio responds to these requests that his young and impudent wife is now only his property and he has the right to do with her what he wants.
The fourth action. First picture
The summary of The Taming of the Shrew in chapters (in this case, actions) continues with extremely amazing events.
The servant Petruccio - Grumio, is declared in the newlyweds house, which is located outside the city, in order to announce the very soon arrival of the newlyweds. In addition, Grumio tells all residents of the house what happened on the way home: Petruccio's horse stumbled, which caused Katarina to fall right into the mud. Her newly-minted husband did not help her up; instead, he began to beat Grumio hard, accusing him of this accidental clumsiness of a sick horse. Seeing that Petruccio did not cost anything to kill his faithful servant, the bride had to wade through the mud in order to drag her husband from the already panting Grumio. When Petruccio was able to pull himself together, the horses had already fled from fear. Despite the fact that the road to the country house was very long and difficult, Petruccio does not feel tired. Going beyond the threshold, the young bridegroom began very insulting to turn to the servant, beat dishes, throw out the whole dinner that was prepared for the arrivals. Petruccio did not stop there: he ruined the whole bed, specially prepared for sleeping after a difficult road. By such actions, the newly-found husband deprived his bride of both supper and sleep. Petruccio believed that this is the only way he can tame Katarina’s temper and openly stated that if someone knows a better way, then let him tell the whole world about it - it can help many.
The second picture
The summary of The Taming of the Shrew in Briefley suggests that at the same time in Padua, Gortencio abandoned all attempts to achieve Bianca's love, which she preferred to Lucentio. It was after this that Gortensio decided to marry a rich widow who had tried more than once to tell him about her feelings.
The fifth action. First picture
Poor Katarina still can neither eat nor sleep. The only joy for the girl is an unusually beautiful dress, which was made to order from the best tailor in the neighborhood. Time passes and the newlyweds decide to go to Padua to visit Katharina’s father. On the way to the homeland of the girl, Petruccio continues to continue his disgusting behavior. He makes Katarina kiss the old man who he meets along the way. It turned out that the old man is Lucentio's father, who is in a hurry for his son’s wedding. Then Petruccio says that they are brother-in-law and offers the elderly man to go with them, to which the elder agrees.
The second picture
Travelers come to the Baptista’s house. Servants begin to lie and dodge, so that their deceptions do not surface. Suddenly, Bianca and Lucentio appear, who have already managed to secretly get married. Gremio, Petruccio and Lucentio argue over whose wife is the most obedient. Petruccio says that Katarina obeys him like a father, and his friends begin to laugh at him. As a result, all three wives were called, but only Katarina came to the call of her husband. The Baptista is so surprised by the changes in his daughter that he increases her dowry, saying that his daughter has become different, which means that her dowry will be different.
This completes Shakespeare's work. To better understand its meaning, it is recommended to familiarize yourself with its full content.