What happens in The Taming of the Shrew

Lucentio, a young scholar from Pisa, rides into Padua to study philosophy and forgets all about it the moment he sees Bianca. She is the gentle younger daughter of Baptista Minola, a wealthy man with a firm rule: nobody marries Bianca until her sharp-tongued elder sister Katharina has a husband first. Two of Bianca’s suitors, the old Gremio and the younger Hortensio, agree to a truce. They will find some man brave enough to take Kate off the market so the rest of them can court Bianca.

That man arrives almost on cue. Petruchio, a gentleman from Verona whose father has just died, has come to “wive it wealthily” wherever he can. The stories of Kate’s temper don’t scare him in the least. He has heard lions roar and cannons fire; a woman’s tongue is nothing. He strikes a deal, then meets Kate and trades insult for insult with her, matching her line for line. Where she expects a fight, he answers with mock praise and sheer noise. Before she can refuse, he announces to the astonished Baptista that they are engaged and the wedding is set for Sunday.

While Petruchio storms ahead, the quieter plot turns on disguise. Lucentio poses as a tutor named Cambio to get near Bianca, and his servant Tranio dresses up and plays Lucentio so the family thinks a rich heir is courting her too. Hortensio also slips in as a music teacher. Bianca, far less obedient than she looks, plays the men against each other and quietly chooses Lucentio. To satisfy Baptista’s demand for proof of a wealthy father, Tranio talks a passing pedant into impersonating Vincentio, Lucentio’s real father.

The taming itself is strange and a little cruel. Petruchio shows up to his own wedding hours late, dressed in rags, and hauls Kate off before the feast. At his country house he denies her food, denies her sleep, and rejects every gown and cap a craftsman brings, blaming everyone but himself and calling it all kindness. Worn down, Kate starts to agree with whatever he says. On the road back to Padua he insists the sun is the moon, and she gives in completely, calling it whatever he wishes. When they meet the real Vincentio, the two of them greet the old man as a blushing young girl, and Kate plays along with a wit that now looks like partnership rather than defeat.

Everything collides in Padua. Lucentio and Bianca slip off to Saint Luke’s church and marry in secret. The real Vincentio turns up to find a stranger wearing his name, and chaos breaks out until Lucentio kneels, confesses the whole scheme, and begs his father’s pardon. Baptista, stunned but pleased, accepts the love match. Hortensio, having given up on Bianca, has meanwhile married a wealthy widow.

At the wedding feast Petruchio proposes a wager. Each husband will send for his wife, and the one whose wife comes most willingly wins. Bianca and the widow both refuse the summons. Kate comes at once, and at Petruchio’s word delivers a long speech urging wives to serve their husbands, offering to place her hand beneath his foot. Petruchio collects his winnings and leads her off to bed. The other men sit amazed. Whether Kate has truly been changed or has simply learned to play the cleverest hand at the table, the play leaves for you to decide.