NAVIGATION: Index of Dr. Weller's Class Materials Index of Shakespeare Materials

The Development of Katherine's Character: Questions about Four Key Scenes.
[For each scene, tell Katherine's story. What was she trying to do or get? How has she changed by the end of the scene?]
Act 2, Scene 1, lines 1 - 36
  1. Bianca says that Katherine wrongs herself by making "a bondmaid and slave" of her (Bianca). What does Bianca mean? How could Katherine be wronging herself by harassing Bianca?
  2. What do the facts that Bianca's hands are tied and that Bianca offers to pull off her "gawds" imply about what has happened between her and Katherine just before they enter this scene?
  3. Is there any sarcasm in Bianca's "So well I know my duty to my elders"?
  4. Why would Katherine think that Bianca is lying when Bianca declares that she has never yet "beheld that special face / Which I could fancy more than any other"?
  5. What does the following statement by Bianca reveal about her opinion of Katherine? "If you affect him, sister, here I swear / I'll plead for you myself, but you shall have him."
  6. Why should Katherine's accusation that Bianca favors Gremio lead Bianca to the conclusion that Katherine is just kidding? (You'll have to remind yourself who Gremio is. Please remember that he is not Grumio.)
  7. Why is Bianca's silence insulting to Katherine?
Act 2, Scene 1, lines 281 - 324
  1. Baptisa says, "Why, how now, daughter Katharina! in your dumps?" Does this mean that Katherine is looking: baffled? angry? incredulous? calculating? [insert descriptor]?
  2. When Petruchio announces that "Sunday is the wedding-day," Katherine responds, "I'll see thee hang'd on Sunday first," but that's the last thing that she says in the rest of the scene. Why doesn't she say anything else?
  3. When Baptista says, "but give me your hands" (line 318), how does Katherina react? Does she draw her hand back? Does she offer her hand reluctantly? Does she stick out her hand aggressively? Does she [insert descriptor]?
  4. When Petruchio says "And kiss me, Kate, we will be married o'Sunday," what does Katherine do?
  5. The stage direction following line 324 is "Exeunt PETRUCHIO and KATHARINA," but editors often add the word "severally," meaning that Petruchio and Katherine do not leave by the same door. What do you think? Is it possible that they could leave together?
Act 4, Scene 5
  1. What is "our father's" and what is going to happen there?
  2. What time of day is it? (At the end of 4.3 Petruchio and Katherine had a discussion about this topic.)
  3. What is a rush-candle? And how does it compare to the moon or sun?
  4. What is the tone of the line "And the moon changes even as your mind"? Soothing? Charming? Arch? Submissive? [insert descriptor]?
  5. How old is Vincentio?
  6. At line 46, what kind of look does Katherine give Petruchio when she says the word "sun"? Questioning? Defiant? [insert descriptor]?
Act 5, Scene 2
  1. How is Katherine's relationship with the widow that Hortensio married similar to Katherine's relationship with Bianca?
  2. What does Katherine witness when she is out of our sight, sitting "by the parlor fire" with Bianca and the widow that Hortensio married? What conclusions might Katherine draw from what she has witnessed?
  3. Petruchio says, "Katharina, that cap of yours becomes you not: / Off with that bauble, throw it under-foot." Is "that cap" the same one that Katherine was wearing in Act 4, Scene 3, line 62 ff?
  4. Petruchio says, "Katharina, that cap of yours becomes you not: / Off with that bauble, throw it under-foot," and Katherine does so. How does she so? With downcast eyes? With a smile? With a frown? With a wink? With a sigh? In other words, what is the tone and meaning of her gesture?
  5. At the end of her final speech does Katherine actually place her hand beneath her husband's foot?