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Taming of the Shrew

By William Shakespeare - Stage play

Stage playStageACT II, Scene 1

Roles

  • Petruchio
  • Katherine

About this piece

Petruchio meets Katherine for the first time

Summary

The play is about Lucentio, a young man who goes to Padua with his two servants Tranio and Biondello to study at the university. As soon as he arrives he falls in love with a sweet and beautiful young woman, Bianca. The problems that he encounters to win her heart are her other two suitors, Gremio and Hortensio, and her father Baptista who has decided nobody will be able to court Bianca until her ill-tempered older sister Katherine finds an husband. An opportunity comes when Petruchio, a loud and quick witted gentleman from Verona, hears about a large dowry that would come with marrying Katherine. He decides to woo her and marry her for her money. In this scene Petruchio meets Katherine for the first time and the result is one of the most intense and funny scenes in the play. Katherine immediately verbally assaults him but Petruchio is quick witted and twists every attack with sexual innuendo. Nothing will stop Petruchio, not even a fist swinging and shouting Kate.

Tone

Flirting

Use cases

classrehearsal
View on Actorama

Library metadata only. SceneFiend never includes script text here - pick up the published version to rehearse.

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