A recurrent theme In Shakespeare's plays is the idea that things are not always what they seem. The Taming of the Shrew shows a good example of this theme. In this play we find many discrepancies between what seems to be and what is. The main theme of this play is knowing what a person is really like is more important than how they appear to be. This is shown by Petruchio's relationship with Katherine; the changing roles of Tranio, Lucentio, and Hortensio; and the true characters of Bianca and Katherine. All three of these situations help to enrich the theme.

The play begins with an induction in which a drunkard, Christopher Sly, is fooled into believing he is a king and has a play performed for him. The play he watches is what constitutes the main body of The Taming Of The Shrew. In it, a wealthy landowner, Baptista Minola, attempts to have his two daughters married. One appears to be very shrewish, Katherine, while the other, Bianca, is the beautiful and gentle one. In order to ensure Katherine is married, Baptista disallows Bianca to be espoused until Katherine is wed, forcing the many suitors to Bianca to find a mate for Katherine in order for them to vie for Bianca'

Saccio, Peter. Shrewd and Kindly Farce. Shakespeare Survey. Ed. Stanley Wells. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984.

society of the late sixteenth century and of how one must obey the unwritten rules of a society to be accepted in it. Leo Hughes provides the reader with a reasonable and rationale purpose of the play, by saying:

low him to get close enough to win her love. Lucentio disguises his servant Tranio as himself and he himself changes into a language tutor named Cambio, which incidentally means "change" in Italian, according to Barron's Book Notes as they appear on the World Wide Web. This disguise of Tranio as Lucentio is also an interesting reflection of Christopher Sly as the servant who rules over the master. Tranio is also interesting as he, from the start, speaks very poetically, revealing that he is not a common man.

Another character, Hortensio also disguises himself in order to gain access to Bianca for the purpose of wooing her. His disguise is as of Lutio a music master. He too becomes a tutor for Bianca, but is eventually rejected by her. Before the changing of clothes, Hortensio is in competition with Lucentio for Bianca, and still is despite the change in clothes. These are examples of men who are knowingly disguising themselves in order to be able to pursue marriage. They are trying to deceive the family of Baptista by behaving in such a manner that they are something they know they are not, and their deception cannot, and is not meant to, go on forever. They even pull a complete stranger into the game when they persuade the Pedant to stand in as Vincentio, Lucanio's father. Like the disguise of Bartholomew, these are intended to last only for a short time and are for a specific purpose, to woo and wed Bianca. What Shakespeare is trying to convey is that although one is abl!

ists Kate's attempts to continue in her shrewishness, she relaxes and becomes her true, secure self. She becomes someone who does not always have to be "right" to be happy. This is evident in Act IV, Scene V when she determines that she will be content to go along with whatever Petrucio says. She has learned that some-times it is better to be "wrong" for the sake of harmony than "right "for the sake of pride. This is demonstrated in her soliloquy when she lectures the other wives on the proper way in which a woman should behave:

Barron's Book Notes on the WWW (I could not get the documentation information as when I tried to access the information on October 22, 2000, access was denied.)

Another part of the theme is that when a person changes outfits and roles in an effort to deceive someone else, their personalities and attitudes stay the same. In the main part of the play, we see two main story lines: one the wooing of a daughter of Baptista, the other the "taming" of her sister. Both involve suitors who disguise themselves as what they are not and both involve women who are not what they seem on the surface. L

Some common words found in the essay are:
Taming Shrew, IV Scene, Daniel Kate's, Katherine Bianca, Leo Hughes, Christopher Sly, Act Scene, Lucentio Bianca, Hibbard Bianca, Kate Bianca, taming shrew, theme play, christopher sly, win love, mistaken identity, cambridge university press, change clothes, false realities, nature revealed, main play, servant tranio, ed stanley cambridge, barron's book notes, stanley cambridge cambridge, shakespeare traditions comedy,
Approximate Word count = 2004
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)