The Taming of the Shrew

Reading Check questions are designed for in-class review on key plot points or for quick verbal or written assessments. Multiple Choice and Short Answer Quizzes create ideal summative assessments, and collectively function to convey a sense of the work’s tone and themes.

Induction-Act III

Reading Check

1. Who is ejected from the pub in the beginning of the Induction?

2. According to the Messenger in the Induction, what do the doctors suggest Sly do in order to feel better?

3. Why has Lucentio arrived in Padua?

4. Why does Baptista not want his daughter Bianca to marry?

5. What plan do Gremio and Hortensio devise?

6. Who is Petruchio? Identify Petruchio with 1-2 character actions and 1 relationship to another character.

7. What type of books does Gremio recommend Lucentio read to Bianca?

8. How does Petruchio help Hortensio?

9. What is the first question Petruchio asks of Baptista as they walk in the orchard?

10. How will Baptista determine who gets Bianca’s hand in marriage?

11. What important event does Petruchio not want to attend?

Multiple Choice

1. Which of the following phrases best describes the Lord’s reaction when he comes across Sly?

A) pity and compassion

B) sadness and shame

C) delight and friendship

D) disgust and mischievousness

2. In Act I, Lucentio remarks on Bianca’s beauty :

“O yes, I saw sweet beauty in her face,

Such as the daughter of Agenor had,

That made great Jove to humble him to her hand

When with his knees he kissed the Cretan strand.” (Act I, Scene 1, Lines 460-463)

Which of the following literary devices is NOT evident in this quote?

A) allusion

B) irony

C) alliteration

D) metaphor

3. Which of the following statements best summarizes how Petruchio feels about meeting Katherine?

A) He is initially delighted, but after hearing of her difficult nature, he changes his mind.

B) He is undeterred by her nature, since his primary ambition is to marry for wealth.

C) He is nervous, considering that she is known in Padua as the most beautiful of young women.

D) He is concerned about her difficult nature, since he wants to marry for love.

4. In Act I, Scene 2, Petruchio declares to Hortensio:

“[…] and therefore, if thou know

One rich enough to be Petruchio’s wife,

As wealth is burden of my wooing dance,

Be she as foul as was Florentius’ love,

As old as Sibyl, and as curst and shrewd

As Socrates’ Xanthippe, or a worse,

She moves me not, or not removes, at least,

Affection’s edge in me, were she as rough

As are the swelling Adriatic seas:

I come to wive it wealthily in Padua;

If wealthily, then happily in Padua.” (Act I, Scene 2, Lines 622-632)

Which literary term does he use to explain his motive to marry?

A) personification

B) simile

C) oxymoron

D) paradox

5. How does the audience find Bianca and Katherine at the beginning of Act II?

A) comforting each other about their difficulty in finding suitors

B) filled with anger and disgust towards their father’s unjust rules

C) embracing in happiness that they have found their loves

D) disagreeing with each other over different suitors

6. Which of the following best describes the first dialogue between Petruchio and Katherine in Act II?

A) witty and clever

B) romantic and wooing

C) awkward and shameful

D) fiery and cruel

7. Which of the following emotions best describes Katherine’s reaction to Petruchio’s leaving the wedding feast early?

A) anger

B) relief

C) shame

D) nonchalance

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What is the plan concocted by the Lord and his companions in the Induction?

2. What plan do Tranio and Lucentio devise in order to secure a marriage for Bianca?

3. Describe the first moment in which Petruchio is introduced in the play. What is happening in this scene? How is this indicative of his behavior in general?

4. In Act II, Petruchio describes a tactic he will use to win Katherine over. What is this tactic? Does it work?

5. Both Petruchio and Lucentio are interested in pursuing relationships with Baptista’s daughters. Compare and contrast their feelings, as well as motivations, in their pursuits.

6. Describe the scene between Bianca and her two tutors in the beginning of Act III. What is her reaction to their behavior?

7. What is unusual about Petruchio’s entrance to the wedding?

Acts IV-V

Reading Check

1. What does Hortensio see Lucentio (as Cambio) and Bianca doing in Scene 2 of Act IV?

2. What agreement is sworn between Hortensio and Tranio (as Lucentio) in Scene 2 of Act IV?

3. What does Tranio (as Lucentio) ask of the merchant?

4. Where are Katherine and Petruchio going at the end of Act IV, Scene 3?

5. What is agreed upon among Baptista, Tranio (as Lucentio), and the merchant (as Vincentio)?

6. Whom do Katherine and Petruchio meet on their journey to Bianca’s wedding?

7. What is the group celebrating in the beginning of Act V, Scene 2?

8. What game do the husbands play in the last scene?

Multiple Choice

1. In what state does the audience find Grumio in the beginning of Act IV, Scene 1?

A) nursing a wound from a fight

B) discussing Katherine with Petruchio

C) complaining of the cold weather

D) planning on taking Bianca for himself

2. Which of the following best describes Petruchio’s treatment of his servants in Act IV?

A) compassionate and gentle

B) sincere and respectful

C) cruel and boisterous

D) dispassionate and cold

3. Petruchio states that he will “kill a wife with kindness” (Act IV, Scene 1, Line 1842). What type of literary device is in this sentence?

A) personification

B) anaphora

C) simile

D) oxymoron

4. Which of the following terms best describes Katherine at the beginning of Act IV, Scene 3?

A) delighted

B) exhausted

C) perplexed

D) embarrassed

5. In Act IV, Scene 3, Katherine says,

“Why, sir, I trust I may have leave to speak;

And speak I will; I am no child, no babe:

Your betters have endured me say my mind,

And if you cannot, best you stop your ears.

My tongue will tell the anger of my heart,

Or else my heart concealing it will break,

And rather than it shall, I will be free

Even to the uttermost, as I please, in words.” (Act IV, Scene 3, Lines 2049-2056)

Which literary term is evident in these lines?

A) simile

B) onomatopoeia

C) allusion

D) personification

6. When the tailor brings garments for Petruchio and Katherine, Petruchio remarks,

“What’s this? a sleeve? ’tis like a demi-cannon:

What, up and down carved like an apple tart?

Here’s snip and nip and cut and slish and slash,

Like to a censer in a barber’s shop:

Why, what a devil’s name, tailor, call’st thou this?”(Act IV, Scene 3, Lines 2064-2068)

Which of the following literary terms is repeatedly used in these lines?

A) simile

B) irony

C) allusion

D) personification

7. What is the atmosphere among the final couples at the wedding banquet in Act V, Scene 2?

A) It is morose. Everyone is in low spirits, as some suitors’ hearts are broken.

B) It is festive. Everyone is good-natured, teasing each other and celebrating the day.

C) It is uncomfortable. Katherine is furious with Petruchio and resolves to leave her husband.

D) It is bitter. Hortensio renounces his new wife and states his love publicly to Bianca.

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. At the end of Act IV, Scene 1, Petruchio gives a monologue that provides some insight into his behavior. Describe what information is learned from this monologue.

2. Has the relationship changed between Katherine and Petruchio in Act IV?

3. In Act IV, Scene 5, Lucentio and Biondello discuss important plans privately. What are these plans?

5. At the beginning of Act IV, Scene 5, Katherine and Petruchio are in an unusual argument. What is this argument about and why is it occurring?

6. In the beginning of Act V, Scene 1, there is an awkward confrontation between several characters. Describe this scene and the confusion amongst them.