The Taming of the Shrew, written around 1590–1592, is one of Shakespeare’s earliest and most energetic comedies. The play is set in Padua, Italy, and centers on the courtship and marriage of Katherina Minola, a sharp-tongued, independent woman whom everyone calls a "shrew," and Petruchio, a brash young gentleman from Verona who is determined to marry her for her substantial dowry. Katherina’s younger sister Bianca is sweet, obedient, and has many suitors, but their father Baptista will not allow Bianca to marry until Katherina is wed first.
Petruchio takes on the challenge with gusto. He courts Katherina with a combination of wit, stubbornness, and deliberate absurdity — agreeing with everything she says by twisting her words, arriving at the wedding in ridiculous clothing, and after the marriage, denying her food, sleep, and new clothes under the pretence of excessive care. His strategy is to be more outrageous and unreasonable than she is, effectively "taming" her temper by mirroring it. Meanwhile, Bianca’s suitors engage in their own elaborate schemes of disguise and deception to win her hand.
The play is brilliantly funny but also deeply controversial. Modern audiences and scholars debate whether Shakespeare is endorsing the subjugation of women, satirizing it, or something more complex. Katherina’s famous final speech, in which she appears to advocate total obedience to husbands, has been interpreted as sincere submission, bitter irony, or a performance put on to win a wager. The ambiguity is part of what keeps the play alive and debatable after more than four hundred years.
For advanced English learners, The Taming of the Shrew is a superb introduction to Shakespeare’s language. The dialogue is fast, witty, and full of puns and wordplay. Reading Shakespeare builds vocabulary, teaches the roots of modern English expressions, and develops the ability to interpret figurative language. The Arden Shakespeare edition provides excellent notes explaining unfamiliar words and historical context.
Lecciones de inglés del libro.
1. ““My tongue will tell the anger of my heart, or else my heart concealing it will break.””
lo que significa: Katherina says she must speak her anger aloud, because if she holds it inside, it will destroy her.
📝 lección de ingles: "My tongue will tell" personifies the tongue as an independent agent. "Or else" introduces the alternative consequence. "Concealing it will break" means "hiding the anger will cause my heart to break." The structure "X will do Y, or else Z will happen" presents two options with consequences. This is a powerful way to express urgency in English.
2. ““There’s small choice in rotten apples.””
lo que significa: When all your options are bad, it does not matter which one you choose — they are all equally worthless.
📝 lección de ingles: "There’s small choice in" means "there is not much to choose between." "Rotten apples" is a metaphor for bad options. This proverb-like saying uses concrete imagery to express an abstract idea. Proverbs in English often use food, animals, or weather as metaphors. You can adapt this: "There’s small choice in bad deals."
3. ““Nothing comes amiss, so money comes withal.””
lo que significa: Petruchio does not care about anything as long as money comes with it. He is openly admitting that he is marrying for wealth.
📝 lección de ingles: "Comes amiss" means "goes wrong" or "is unwelcome." "So" here means "as long as." "Withal" is an old English word meaning "with it" or "along with it." In modern English: "Nothing goes wrong as long as money comes too." Shakespeare’s characters sometimes state uncomfortable truths bluntly, which creates dramatic comedy.
4. ““Kiss me, Kate, we will be married o’ Sunday.””
lo que significa: Petruchio declares, with characteristic boldness, that they will marry on Sunday — without actually waiting for Katherina to agree.
📝 lección de ingles: "O’" is a contraction of "on" or "of" common in Shakespeare. "We will be married" uses the passive future to state a fait accompli — something that will happen whether she likes it or not. The short, imperative sentence "Kiss me, Kate" followed by the declaration creates a rhythm of command and announcement that characterizes Petruchio’s speech throughout the play.
5. ““I see a woman may be made a fool, if she had not a spirit to resist.””
lo que significa: Katherina realizes that a woman can be easily manipulated and humiliated if she does not have the inner strength to fight back.
📝 lección de ingles: "May be made a fool" is the passive voice with a modal verb, meaning "can be turned into a fool by others." "If she had not a spirit to resist" is a conditional: "if she lacks the will to resist." "A spirit to resist" means "the courage or determination to fight back." This sentence shows Katherina’s intelligence and self-awareness.
6. ““Who wooed in haste and means to wed at leisure.””
lo que significa: Katherina sarcastically describes Petruchio as someone who rushed through the courtship but now seems in no hurry to actually get married — he arrived late and dressed absurdly.
📝 lección de ingles: This plays on the proverb "Marry in haste, repent at leisure." "Wooed" means "courted" or "pursued romantically." "In haste" means "quickly." "At leisure" means "slowly, taking one’s time." The contrast between "haste" and "leisure" is the joke. Shakespeare frequently inverts or adapts proverbs for comic effect.
7. ““Say that she rail; why then I’ll tell her plain she sings as sweetly as a nightingale.””
lo que significa: Petruchio outlines his strategy: if Katherina shouts at him, he will calmly tell her that her voice is as beautiful as a nightingale’s song.
📝 lección de ingles: "Say that" means "suppose that" or "imagine that." "Rail" means "shout angrily" or "complain loudly." "I’ll tell her plain" means "I will tell her directly." "As sweetly as a nightingale" is a simile comparing her angry voice to a bird’s beautiful song. Petruchio’s tactic is deliberate contradiction — he responds to anger with praise, disarming her.
8. ““My mind hath been as big as one of yours, my heart as great, my reason haply more.””
lo que significa: Katherina tells the other wives that her mind has been as ambitious as theirs, her heart as proud, and her intelligence perhaps even greater — yet she has learned something they have not.
📝 lección de ingles: "Hath" is the old English form of "has." "As big as" and "as great" are comparisons of equality. "Haply" means "perhaps" or "possibly." "More" at the end is deliberately understated. The parallel structure "my X as Y as yours, my Z as W" creates rhetorical balance. This is Katherina’s most complex moment — is she sincere or ironic? Shakespeare leaves it to the audience to decide.
Shakespeare’s language in The Taming of the Shrew is fast, witty, and full of rhetorical devices: similes, proverbs, parallel structures, and deliberate contradictions. These quotes provide excellent practice for advanced learners in understanding Early Modern English, interpreting figurative language, and recognizing irony.
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