The taming of the shrew

Materie:	Riassunto
Categoria:	Inglese
Download:	859
Data:	06.04.2009
Numero di pagine:	3
Formato di file:	.doc (Microsoft Word)

The taming of the shrew
by
William Shakespeare

Christopher Sly is a poor man who owns a lot of money to a landboy: one evening he’s drunk and the landlady throws him out of her tavern, where he falls asleep. A lord, who’s passing by, decides to play a trick on him: he wants him to believe he’s a lord who’s gone mad losing his memory. Sly believes him and he’s taken to see a play.

The play

Lucentio, a gentleman who comes from Pisa, comes to Padua and, with his servant Tranio, overhears men quarreling.
Gremio and Hortensio are both suitors to Bianca, Baptista’s daughter, but her father has decided that she won’t get married before her older quarrelsome sister Katharine does. Baptista’s looking for a tutor for Bianca, so Lucentio, wh’s fallen in love with her, decides to disguise as a tutor, while Tranio, disguised as Lucentio, tries to arrange the marriage between them with Baptista.
In the meantime Gremio and Hortensio decide to find a husband for Katharine.
Petruchio, a business man from Verona, comes to Padua in search of adventure, and perhaps, of a wife. He’s a friend of Hortensio and he’s not interested in a girl’s rudeness, but in her whealth, so Hotrensio proposes him to marry Bianca’s sister. Petruchio agrees.
Hortensio and Lucentio enter Baptista’s house disguised as tutors, the first one with thename of Licio, the second one with the name of Cambio. Baptista and Petruchio arrange Katharine’s marriage and Petruchio decides that the only way to tame her is to act as Katharine means the opposite of what she says and does.
Petruchio and Katharine meet, he plays his strategy and decides to marry her on the next Sunday. Tranio (disguised as Lucentio) and Gremio try to obtain Bianca’s hand. Baptista decides to give her to the richest one, who turns out to be Tranio. As Tranio’s young, Baptista’s wants his father to confirm his whealth. As a consequence Lucentio and Tranio decide to find a merchant to act as Vincetio, Lucentio’s father.
Hothensio and Lucentio, who have been both employed as tutors, confess their love to Bianca during their lessons. They both try to prevent the other one from seeing her.
On the wedding day Petruchio’s late and he’s not dressed for a wedding at all: his jacket’s old and dirty, his bootsare broken, his sword’s rusty and his hosrse’s old and tired. He doesn’t want Katharine to take part to her wedding feast, so as soon as the wedding’s finished, he takes her to Verona.
They get home and Petruchio decides to deprive her of food and sleep, pretending that’s all for her sake.
Back to Baptista’s place, Lucentio and Bianca fall in love, Hotensio descovers the affair and decides to marry an old but gentle widow. Tranio, who’s been told about the love affair by Hotensio, pretends not to want Bianca anymore.
Hotensio visits Petruchio, and they decide to visit Baptista in Padua. Bianca and Lucentio get secretely married, while Baptista, the merchant and Tranio try to arrange the marriage .
Petruchio, Katharine and Hotensio are going to Padua. By the way petruchio continues to tell false statements, wanting Katharine to agree. They meet Vincentio and they travel together. Once there Baptista and Vincentio find out about Lucentio’s trick adn his marriage with Bianca.
At the banquet to celebrate the marriages (Hotensio’s got married, too) the men bet upon their wives’ obedience. They ask them to come and Katharine’s the first to obey. The play ends with a monologue spoken by Katharine about marriage: the husbund is the lord and the protector of the wife, therefore she has to obey him.