Taming Of The Shrew Induction Research Paper

Importance of the Induction in
The Taming of the Shrew

British Literature

April 17, 2005

Many acclaimed scholars argue that the Induction in William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew is unnecessary and irrelevant to the main plot. (Bloom, 28) Shakespeare placed the induction into The Shrew for a specific dramatic purpose. The comedic tone of the play would be lost without the induction, resulting in a more literal interpretation of the play thus leaving the reader unable to distinguish the author's true intention. One cannot fully grasp the meaning of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew until one understands the importance of the tie between the induction and the main plot. Shakespeare reveals this tie with the use of
theme, character ties, gender roles, and imagery. Several themes are apparent which help tie the Induction to the plot. The most emphasized theme is that of Appearance vs. Reality. An example of this Appearance vs. Reality in the induction is the practical joke The Lord plays on Sly where Sly appears to be a Lord who has just woken up from a coma when in reality he is merely a beggar dressed in lords clothing. Shakespeare inserted this obvious example of Appearance vs. Reality so the reader would be aware of the theme later on in the play. Shakespeare uses this increased awareness of the theme in showing the reader Katherine's true feelings. On the surface it appears that Katherine is directly opposed to marry Petruchio. Katherine even says that she was "… forced/ To give [her] hand opposed against [her] heart/ Unto a mad-brain rudesby, full of spleen," (III.ii.8-11) when Petruchio is late arriving to their wedding. If Katherine truly were opposed to her union with Petruchio she would have not been this upset about being jilted. This fear of being jilted stems from having fallen in love with Petruchio. This goes against the appearance of hate that Katherine puts up throughout the play against Petruchio. Another link between the Induction and the main plot is the outstanding similarities between the characters in each part. An example of this tie is the parallel of The Lord in the induction to Petruchio in the main plot. In the Induction The Lord proves himself to be a clever manipulator treating the passed out beggar as a plaything, much as the way Petruchio treats Katherine. In the process of "taming" Katherine, Petruchio resorts to somewhat inhuman and cruel treatment. An example of this treatment arises in act four when Petruchio sends Katherine off to bed without having anything to eat. After he does this Petruchio begins his most famous soliloquy of the play.
"Thus have I politicly begun my reign,/ And ‘tis my hope to end successfully./ My falcon now is sharp and passing empty,/ And till she stoop she must not be full gorged,/ For then she never looks upon her lure./ Another way I have to man my haggard,/ To make her come and and know her keeper's call,/ That is, to watch her as we watch these kites/ That bate and beat and will not be obedient./ She eat no meat today, nor none shall eat./ Last night she slept not nor, tonight she shall not./ As with the meat, some undeserved fault/ I'll find about the making of the bed,/ And here I'll fling the pillow, there the bolster,/ This way the coverlet, another way the sheets./ Ay, and amid this hurly I intend/ That all is done in reverent care of her,/ And in conclusion she shall watch all night./ And if she chance to nod I'll rail and brawl/ And with the clamor keep her still awake./ This is a way to kill a wife with kindness,/ And thus I'll curb her mad and headstrong humor./ He that knows better how to tame a shrew,/ Now let him speak- ‘tis charity to show."
(IV.ii.182-205)

This dialogue shows the extent Petruchio will go to tame Katherine. Throughout the speech he consistently refers to Katherine as an untrained hawk and how he will break her by using hunger and sleep deprivation to cure her shrewness. This dehumanizing attitude towards Katherine is very similar to The Lord's approach to Sly (Campbell 846). The Lord shows no sympathy towards the passed out drunk. His air is that of a boy who is bored with his current playthings and seeks another. By finding Sly The Lord had found a new pet and source of amusement, the same way Petruchio sees Katherine. The importance of gender roles does not falter at all for the duration of the play. Shakespeare sets the tone for the way the reader should view the roles of the two sexes in the Induction using the directions The Lord gives to the page on how to act like a woman. The Lords directions outline the typical obedient wife. The Lord says that the page should " bear himself with honorable action/ Such as he hath observed in noble ladies/ Unto their lords, by them accomplished./ Such duty to the drunkard let him do/ With soft and low tongue and lowly courtesy… And if the boy have not a woman's gift/ To rain a shower of commanded tears, An onion will do well for such a shift." (IND. 2) By saying that it is a "woman's gift" to be able to shed tears on command implies that women are the weaker gender and that they should behave accordingly with "low tongue and lowly courtesy". Shakespeare sets up this idea of women as the weaker gender from the very start so that the reader will get the clear idea on how a woman should behave when the play switches to the main plot (Shiply 605). When the main plot begins, the actions of Katherine come as a complete reverse on how The Lord expected women to act. This contrast shocks the reader and achieves Shakespeare's goal of distancing Katherine from the reader so that the "taming" Petruchio puts her through does not cause sympathy for Katherine. Shakespeare wishes this impartial view from the reader so that one can see the transformation Katherine goes through without being influenced by ones affections (Kilvert 303). This transformation comes to a close at the end of the play where Katherine would seems like she is an ordinary obedient wife, when in reality she is merely acting like one so that she can influence Petruchio to serve her. The last parallel of the Induction to the main plot is imagery.
Shakespeare uses the paintings in Sly's chamber as comparisons to the relationships in the main plot. The first painting depicts the myth of the lovers Adonis and Venus. In that myth Venus, the goddess of love, becomes smitten with the young hunter Adonis. Venus later begins to leave the young hunter but while she is leaving he is killed by a wild boar. This compares to the bond between Bianca and Lucentio. When Lucentio is wooing Bianca she is madly in love with him but at the end of the book when he bets against Petruchio (the boar) that Bianca is more obedient than Katherine she refuses to come and Lucentio loses the bet. The second picture illustrates the myth of Apollo and Daphne. In this myth Apollo falls in love with Daphne who resists his affections and flees from him. When he finally catches her she transforms into a laurel tree so she would be unable to be exploited by Apollo. Apollo then acknowledges defeat and says that since she can't be his wife he will decorate himself with her leaves (www.loggia.com). This is much the same as Petruchio and Katherine. Katherine is resistant to Petruchio throughout the play. When Petruchio finally "catches" her she acts obedient so that he cannot torment her anymore. Petruchio also "decorates" himself with his wife's new show of obedience with the bet at the end of the
play. The ties between the Induction and the main plot are undeniable. Shakespeare clearly uses the Induction as a means to set up the themes and ideas expressed in the plot. Whether it is by theme, character similarities, gender roles, or imagery Shakespeare put in the Induction for a specific reason.