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Taming of the Shrew Characters

Terms in this set (35)

Katherine
The "shrew" of the play's title, the daughter of Baptista Minola, with whom she lives in Padua
Petruchio
gentleman from Verona. Loud, boisterous, eccentric, quick-witted, and frequently drunk, he has come to Padua "to wive and thrive."
Bianca
The younger daughter of Baptista. proves herself the opposite of her sister, Kate, at the beginning of the play: she is soft-spoken, sweet, and unassuming.
Baptista
is one of the wealthiest men in Padua, and his daughters become the prey of many suitors due to the substantial dowries he can offer.
Lucentio
A young student from Pisa, the good-natured and intrepid Comes to Padua to study at the city's renowned university, but he is immediately sidetracked when he falls in love with Bianca at first sight.
Tranio
Lucentio's servant, accompanies Lucentio from Pisa.
Gremio
Bianca's suitors at the beginning of the play. Older Suitor "pantaloons"
Hortensio
Bianca's suitor at the beginning of the play
Grumio
Petruchio's servant and the fool of the play—a source of much comic relief.
Biondello
Lucentio's second servant, who assists his master and Tranio in carrying out their plot.
Christopher Sly
The principal character in the play's brief Induction, a drunken tinker, tricked by a mischievous nobleman into thinking that he is really a lord.
Verona
Where Petruccio is from
Padua,
Where the play takes place
Players
A travelling troupe of actors who perform the play of Katherine and Petruchio before Sly, the Lord, and the Lord's household.
Vincentio
A gentleman of Pisa; father of Lucentio.
A Merchant
A teacher from Mantua. He agrees to impersonate Vincentio for Tranio (unaware he is disguising himself as Lucentio).
A page, servants, huntsmen
All work for or with the Lord to dupe Sly.
A Lord
A gentleman who delights in duping Sly after he finds him passed out on his property.
1550-1600
Time when Shakespeare lived
London
Pop. of 100,000, largest city in england
Puritan City Fathers
Didn't want 'evil' activities, such as plays, bear-baiting, prostitution, and gambling to happen in London, so they sent them outside the city
Southbank/Shoreditch
Laws didn't apply here since it is outside London, this is where outlawed activities such as plays continued
Bubonic Plague
A plague which killed many in Shakespeare's time. Bubos appeared on victims' skin. Some said it was God punishing people for watching/doing evil things
Anthropocentric/Geocentric beliefs
beliefs of human-centered or earth-centered universe
Ptolemaic Universe
Claudius Ptolemy's theory of a geo/anthrocentric universe
Sunrise/sunset
A leftover of the ptomelaic universe belief
Heaven (up) Hell (down)
another leftover of ptomelaic universe
Religious Impact
We were made in God's image, we must be central
Claudius Ptolemy
90 AD Egyptian mathematician, geographer, astronomer, and astrologer
Taming
teaching to change a behavior
Induction
An introduction to themes/major ideas in the play
Hunting, appearances are deceiving, identities
Themes introduced in the induction
Shrew
a scolding nagging bad-tempered woman
Cambio
The disguise of a Latin instructor that Lucentio takes on
Litio
The disguise of a music teacher that Hortensio takes on
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