The Taming of the Shrew Pd.1 Summarizer/ww Post 2
Hey guys we did not get to talk about how much we are reading, but read through acts 2 and 3. That way we will have two for the last post too.
Act II Scene I
A lot occurs during this scene. It opens with the Katherine and Biance fighting about the suitors and which Bianca likes the most. After this occurs we are brought to a tavern where all of the people disguised as others are introduced to Baptista. They present their gifts to him in exchange to see Biance or Katharine. After Baptista tells Petruchio that Kate comes with a hefty dowry he assures him that he will be able to woo and wed Katherine. When the two finally meet they wind up in a pretty deep fight that goes back and forth between them with pretty quick and snippy remarks. At this point their wedding is set to take place on Sunday. After this the suitors of Bianca talk to Baptista to figure out who will have her hand in marriage. He pretty much states that whoever has the most money is the one who will marry her, and for that reason she is going to marry Lucentio. Because of the sudden wedding plans forced upon Kate she is not sure how to respond so for some odd reason she just stops talking. Yet, at the end of the scene she seems to comply with Petruchio. In this act we truly see that up to this point Kate truly hates men.
Act III Scene I
This Scene is all about Bianca and her suitors trying to court her. After a little bit she makes it quite clear that she prefers Lucentio to Hortensio. She does this by deciding to have her latin lesson first, and by dismissing Hortensio on multiple occasions so she can talk longer. At the very end of the scene Biance goes off to help prepare things for Kates wedding. We also learn that Hortensio realizes that most likely he has lost his chance with Bianca, but he finds himself able to accept that fact.
Act III Scene II
The wedding day has finally arrived and Petruchio is late. This causes Kate to become incredibly upset resulting in her running away in tears. Biondello arrives to announce that Petruchio is in fact on his way. When he finally does arrive he is dressed in a ridiculus outfit that embarrasses Baptista. Baptista begs him to change but Petruchio does not listen.
Act III Scene III
The main idea of this scene is that Gremio returns to Tranio and Lucentio by telling them the terrible news of the wedding. The whole thing was a complete disaster and no Petruchio claims that they have to leave at that moment. This does not go through well with Kate because she wants to be congratulated by her friends and family, but still Petruchio insists. Most of the guests just laugh at the pair and continue with the festivities.
Words to know
bondmaid- slave
fair- beautiful
flouts- mocks
Bacare- get back (derived from Latin)
fain- rather
lusty- lively
pate- head
craven- coward
mother wit- natural intelligence
froward- strong willed
meacock- meak
speeding- success
lave- wash
list- listen
ducats- gold coins
cavil- a meaningless object
gamester- a person who gambles
Sire- father
leave- to have permission
Conster- interpret
gamut- the musical scale used during the 11th century
rudesby- rude
jerkin- short jacket worn by males during the time period
begnawn- eaten away
crupper- strap under a horse that keeps the saddle on
halt- limp
unreverent- not respectable
quaint- cunning or crafty
quaffed- drank
chattels- property
Questions
1. What do you believe is Petruchio’s reasoning for dressing and acting so strange during the wedding? Try to support your answer.
2. Do you think that Baptista/Bianca will go through with the idea of her marrying Lucentio? Why?
3. Do you believe it is right to marry because of money when it was the most common thing to do during the time or should it be different? After defending one side, explain why the other view is true too.
4. What do you think will become of Kate and Petruchio? Be specific.
~Erin Campbell =]
Also I think I did a good job with this post. It took a long time to do.
Category: Summarizer/Word Watcher 5 comments »
May 16th, 2009 at 9:04 am
The 3rd act begins with a meeting in the forest. Bottom says that they need to change the play because they will be performing in front of a large amount of nobles. They all are worried that the suicide scene will scare the women. They decide to make sure they know that no one is really dying. They next assign a part of ‘the wall.’ Puck comes in and messes with Bottom, turning his head into an ‘ass.’ All of the crew run for their lives in fear. Titania awakes and falls in love with the ‘ass-headed creature.’ She says that a bunch of fairies grant his every wish. He says that his friends have acted like asses; how ironic!!!
The second scene starts when Puck tells Oberon that his plan is working. They both realize that a serious mistake has been made and that Puck needs to fix it. Demitrius cannot find Lysander and he fears he is dead. Hermia then goes to look for Lysander. Helena is angry and hurt that Lysander is following her and mocking her. Oberon sends Puck to put the potion on Demirtius. When he awakes he falls in love with Helena. Hermia gets angry with both of them when they declare their love; she still thinks they are mocking her. Helena yells at Hermia and says that this is just a joke, and how could you treat our friendship like this? The two boys are ready to fight. The two girls are about to brawl also. The boys then storm off into the forest and Hermia is amazed with the turn of events. Oberon then tells Puck to stop the fight. All four of the lovers fall asleep and in the morning, Puck says that everything is going to be alright.
(Words will come later)
-Dan
May 16th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
1. I don’t know why he dressed up that way but I think He is trying to embarress Kathrina for being so shrewd. If he acts crazy he can get back at her for her being so rude. Althought this is pretty dumb because they could have called off the wedding and he would not have gotten any of the money he is after.
2. I don’t think that they will go through with it because I think that they will find out that everybody is disguised as eachother and will have cancel it in rage. Baptisa will want to keep all the suitors away and Bianca will want Lucentio to be with her.
3. I don’t think that it is right to marry for money because marriage is supposed to be about love. If you marry for money you are not marrying the person but the object and you will probably go crazy around that person and obsess over the money. this would ruin your life. From the other side it is right to marry for money because it helps you to do more things and grow in status among others. The main goal in life for many people is to be happy and having this money can make them happy because they can afford to do things that want to do.
4. I think that she will fall in love with him and he will have enough of her. They will grow seperate and she will plead for him like he pleaded for her. I think that eventually he will actually fall in love with her and they will be happy in love with eachother and he will not be love with money.
(oh, Erin you did a fantastic job on this post)
-Taran
May 17th, 2009 at 9:59 am
Colin Easter
1. I think that this is part of Petruchio’s plans to tame Kate. By acting worse than she does, he is trying to make her become a better woman. He is showing her just how bad her attitude is and is hoping she will change. I think that he did go too far by hitting the priest though.
2. I don’t think that they will go through with the plan to marry Lucentio. She will find out that he and Tranio switched places so that Lucentio could get closer to her. This will outrage her father. They are also trying to find an old man to pose as Lucentio’s father to promise the dowry. This won’t go over well with either of them if it is discovered.
3. I think that it is ok to marry for increased social status or money as long as you know what you are getting into. Many people in those times married certain people because it would allow them to advance farther than they would have been able to without those connections. However, marrying who you want will generally bring greater happiness and contentment. It is usually a choice between money or happiness.
4. I think that Kate will become a much more normal person and will love Petruchio. She is already acting better than before now that Petruchio is acting oddly. Petruchio will most likely return to normal after a little bit and they will fall in love.
May 17th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
To answer your first question I would like to say that there may be many different reasons why Petruchio had acted the way that he did at his own wedding. The first reason why he may have done this would be to show Kate how he can also be brash and spontaneous, and we already know that Kate can be somewhat brash and spontaneous. So by doing this he may have been trying to bond with his wife and trying to have a slightly successful marriage. Another reason why he could have acted this way could be because maybe he wanted to bail out on marrying Kate, but he had already promised the other suitors that he would marry Kate, and by acting in a way that Kate’s father may end up disaproving of the marriage he technically wouldn’t be bailing.
Now to answer your second question, Yes, I think that both Bianca and her father will both end up following through the idea of Bianca marrying Lucentio. The reason why I think this is because Lucentio, unlike some of the other suitors comes out and tells who he really is. Also we as the reader can see that Lucentio is really intent on finding love in Bianca. He’s even willing to temporarily switch lives with his servant just to get a girl to like him. So these were the reasons why I personally think that both Bianca and her father will approve of Lucentio.
Now for your third question, I personally think that it is extremely wrong and immoral to marry someone due to their economic situation. The reason why I think this is because when people get married only because of money they will find that they don’t really like each other and this will end up in either a divorce of some kind or in a mutual hatred of one another. Even though I think it’s an extremely bad thing to do I can understand why they did that in the old days. The reason why is because back then women were nothing less than land and it seemed sensible to find a fairly well tended to piece of land with fertile hills(ha ha).
Now to answer your third and final question I’d like to say that I personally think that Petruchio seems competent enough to find a way to control his wife Kate. They could also end up finding out that they have plenty in common and they could actually fall in love with one another. This is what I personally think is actually going to happen when we get farther throughout the book, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see. For some reason though I’m thinking that Kate will end up being the better wife in the end of the play and that Bianca will end up being a “w”itch at the end of the play.
By now you’re probably wondering who this is. Oh, and by the way, you did do a good job on this blog Giddy.
~Sherpa Teddy Bear =]
(Sonam Sherpa)
May 17th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
Maybe he is just trying to impress her. If he can out shrew her maybe he can earn her respect and then get what he wants. Money… and other things.
I do think that she will marry him. Not that she is in total love with the guy, but its the lesser of two evils. She will take the best out of the worst becuase its the only thing she has. Does she really have another smart option?
I think that it is wrong to marry for money. Marriage is a sacred thing and shouldnt be sacrificed for money. It is lessening marriage and weaking the bond made for marriage.
They will fall in love. Thats that. I mean Shakespeare is so predictiable. He wouldnt have them not fall in love. That wouldnt bring in people to see the show.