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In Padua, the rich Baptista Minola will not let his gentle younger daughter Bianca marry until her elder sister Katherina, famous for her sharp tongue and…
In Padua, the rich Baptista Minola will not let his gentle younger daughter Bianca marry until her elder sister Katherina, famous for her sharp tongue and temper, has found a husband. Bianca's many suitors are delighted when Petruchio, a bold fortune hunter from Verona, arrives determined to marry Katherina for her dowry and to 'tame' her by contradicting, starving and exhausting her. The play is framed by a joke played on a drunken tinker, Christopher Sly, who is persuaded that he is a lord watching the performance.
Context and significance
Written in the early 1590s, it is one of Shakespeare's most debated comedies: some read Katherina's final speech of obedience as sincere, others as ironic, and modern productions often turn it upside down. It inspired the musical Kiss Me, Kate and the film 10 Things I Hate About You. Readers who enjoy it often go on to Much Ado About Nothing.
About the author
William Shakespeare (1564–1616), born in Stratford-upon-Avon, actor, playwright and shareholder of a London company, wrote about thirty-seven plays and 154 sonnets.