THE TAMING OF THE SHREW: SHAKESPEARE MONOLOGUE 2 RESEARCH

18/06/13      

THE TAMING OF THE SHREW: SHAKESPEARE MONOLOGUE 2

RESEARCH

Synopsis/Plot

Starting with the induction of this play it begins with a poor beggar/ tinker named Christopher Sly who becomes the target of a prank by a local lord. Finding Sly drunk out of his wits in front of an alehouse, the lord has his men take Christopher to his manor, dress him in his finery, and treat him as a lord. As Sly recovers, the men tell him that he is a lord/nobleman himself and that he only believes himself to be a tinker because he has been insane for the past several years. Waking in the Lords bed, Christopher refuses to accept the men’s story, but when he hears of his “wife,” a pageboy dressed in women’s clothing, he readily agrees that he is the lord they purport him to be. Sly wants to be left alone with his wife a pageboy dressed in women’s clothing, he readily agrees that he is the lord they purport him to be. Christopher wants to be left alone with his wife, but the servants tell him that a troupe of actors has arrived to present a play for him and that play that Christopher watches makes up the main story of ‘‘The Taming of the Shrew’’ which is set in the Italian city of Padua and about a young rich man named Lucentio who arrives with his servants, Tranio and Biondello, to attend the local university. Lucentio is excited to begin his studies, but his priorities change as he sees Bianca, a beautiful, mild young woman with whom Lucentio instantly falls in love with. 

There are two main problems: Firstly Bianca has two suitors (A man who pursues a relationship with a particular woman, with a view to marriage.)…………….

 1)  Gremio – an elderly suitor of Bianca, and Hortensio - suitor of Bianca and friend to Petruchio      (spends some of the play disguised as Litio, a music tutor)

 2) Bianca’s father, a wealthy old man named Baptista Minola who has declared that no one may court Bianca until first her older sister, the vicious, ill-tempered Katherine, is married. 

 Lucentio then decides to overcome this problem by disguising himself as Bianca’s Latin tutor to gain an excuse to be in her company. Hortensio also disguises himself as her music teacher for this same reason. While Lucentio pretends to be Bianca’s tutor, Tranio dresses up as Lucentio and begins to confer with Baptista about the possibility of marrying his daughter.

The Katherine problem is solved for Bianca’s suitors when Hortensio’s friend Petruchio, a brash young man from Verona, arrives in Padua to find a wife. He intends to marry a rich woman, and does not care what she is like as long as she will bring him a fortune. Lucentio (Disguised as Tranio) agrees to marry Katherine sight unseen. The next day, he goes to Baptista’s house to meet her, and they have a tremendous duel of words and as

Katherine insults Petruchio repeatedly, Petruchio tells her that he will marry her whether she agrees or not. He then tells Baptista falsely, that Katherine has consented to marry him on Sunday. By Katherine Hearing this claim, she is strangely silent, and the wedding is set.

THE TAMING OF THE SHREW: PETRUCHIO MONOLOGUE (ACT 4 SCENE 1) COMEDY PLAY

Well, come, my Kate; we will unto your father's

Even in these honest mean habiliments:

Our purses shall be proud, our garments poor;

For 'tis the mind that makes the body rich;

And as the sun breaks through the darkest clouds,

So honour peereth in the meanest habit.

What is the jay more precious than the lark,

Because his fathers are more beautiful?

Or is the adder better than the eel,

Because his painted skin contents the eye?

O, no, good Kate; neither art thou the worse

For this poor furniture and mean array.

if thou account'st it shame. lay it on me;

And therefore frolic: we will hence forthwith,

To feast and sport us at thy father's house.

Go, call my men, and let us straight to him;

And bring our horses unto Long-lane end;

There will we mount, and thither walk on foot

Let's see; I think 'tis now some seven o'clock,

And well we may come there by dinner-time.

This file was created by Tee Quillin and distri

ANALYSIS OF THIS SCENE

In this scene Petruchio and Kate are about to arrive at Petruchio’s country house. Grumio arrives first, however, complaining that he has been sent ahead to ensure that the servants prepare for the arrival of their master and his new wife. Curtis, another servant, greets him and hears his tale of the journey from Padua—Kate fell into the mud. However Petruchio flew into a rage, and the horses ran away. Grumio then orders Curtis to assemble all the other servants, properly attired and on good behavior. Curtis calls for them, and a few arrive just as Petruchio and Kate return. Petruchio immediately becomes enraged, claiming that his servants fail to attend him properly. They do their best, but clearly he is not pleased by anything. He demands dinner, and they prepare it as quickly as possible, but he claims that the meat is burned and pushes the whole meal off the table.

Also there are tensions in this scene with the character of Katherina as she shifts between desperate attempts to assert herself, sometimes through reasoning, sometimes aggression, and an imposed submissiveness to Petruchio. She complains that she is ‘starved for meat, giddy for lack of sleep’ and asks Grumio to bring her food. Grumio taunts her by suggesting various dishes and then inventing excuses why she may not have them, until Katherina strikes him. Meanwhile Hortensio & Petruchio arrive with food, which Katherina may only have when she thanks her husband. Petruchio secretly instructs Hortensio to eat it, and Hortensio shows some discomfort at the situation, saying that Petruchio is 'to blame'. Later on Petruchio then tells Katherina that they have to visit her father, describing the new clothes that she will have for the occassion.

As soon as the tailor he provides visual emphasis of the play's clothing imagery and associated themes. He displays a cap and gown for Katherina, but Petruchio rejects both, on the grounds that they are not good enough for his wife to wear. Katherina then attempts to express her option claiming that she will 'be free...... in words', and claims that Petruchio means to make a puppet of her, but she is thwarted every time. The tailor is dismissed and Petruchio announces that he & Kate will go in their 'honest mean Habiliments', asseting that 'tis the mind that makes the body rich', which implies that true identuty is more important than external appearance.

CHARACTER BACKGROUND

The character that I'm portraying for this process is Petruchio. Petruchio is a fortune seeker who enters into a marriage with a strong-willed young woman named Kate (Also known as Katherina) and then proceeds to "tame" her temperamental spirit. Petruchio is seen as unabashedly selfish, materialistic and determined to be his wife’s lord and master, but he also loves her and realizes on some level that domestic harmony (on his terms, of course) would be better for her than her current life as a shrew in Padua, but to this extent Petruchio goes to alarming lengths to impose his mastery on Kate, keeping her tired and hungry for some time after their marriage, but he insists on framing this treatment in a language of love which indicating his eagerness for Kate to adapt to her rightful, socially appointed place and his willingness to make their marriage a happy one.

CHARACTER EXERCISE/PREPARATION

The exercises that I have done to discover my charcter more were...................

1. Looking at a few YouTube clips on how each portarys Petruchio: I wasn't just watching on how they speak, I was mainly looking at their physicality and presence so that I can apply on some of these techniques to help me get into Petruchio.

2. Going over my monologue while I'm in bed: By doing this exercise it felt natural and I Felt more comfortable with it. Also it made sense because this monologue is a sweet romantic piece it helps me explore my character Petruchio more and gives me more hints on what 'The Taming of The Shrew'.