Act 1 Scene 2

Petruccio and his servant Grumio have arrived in Padua# we are told a little about Petruccio’s circumstances — and shown something of his temper. He declares his intention of finding a rich wife for himself, and when Hortensio describes Katherine, Petruccio happily accepts the challenge. Grumio, the servant, adds his own comments on his master. Hortensio confides in Petruccio, and tells of his plan to gain access to Bianca. His rival Gremio, meanwhile, has found another teacher for Bianca — and this is Lucentio, disguised as Tranio and calling himself by his servant’s name. Petruccio is introduced as the man who is willing to marry Katherine and thereby free Bianca so that one of her lovers can get her hand in marriage. The real Tranio, calling himself Lucentio, enters to announce his determination to court Bianca, and agrees to share with Hortensio and Gremio in paying Petruccio to marry Katherine.
2	of all: most of all.
3	approv#aged: trusted.
4	trow: believe.
this is his house: The Elizabethan stage had two doors at the back# Petruccio could enter at one door, coming into Padua, and cross to the other, finding Hortensio’s “house”.
6, 7	Knock . . . rebused: Grumio misunderstands Petruccio’s words, and confuses his own# “knock” was commonly used as “beat”, but “rebused” is Grumio’s own muddle of “abused” and “rebuked”.
8	me: for me.
12	rap me well: knock loudly for me.
knave’s pate: fool of a head. The doggerel rhyming verse is appropriate for slapstick comedy.
13	“You want me to hit you first” — so Grumio would give Petruccio reason to beat his servant.
14	comes by: suffers.
15	Petruccio is exasperated.
16	an: if.
ring it: i.e. the bell — with a pun on “wring”.
17	solfa: sing a musical scale# the verb from “solfa” is Shakespeare’s own coinage.
21	How do you all: how is everybody.
23	fray: fighting.
24	“With all my heart, it’s good to meet you.”
25	“Welcome to our house, most honoured Petruccio.”
27	compound: settle.
28	’leges: alleges# Grumio is an English servant in his mistrust of foreign languages, mistaking Italian for Latin.
32	two . . . out: Grumio implies that Petruccio is slightly mad — perhaps drunk. He alludes to the card game “One and thirty” (in French, trente et un), where the player must collect cards whose spots (pips) amount to 31 exactly# to score 32 was excessive. Perhaps, also, Grumio refers to his master’s age.
38	for my heart: for my life.
42	come you now: are you now saying.
43	advise: warn.
44	pledge: surety.
45	this: this is.
a heavy chance: a bad business.
46	pleasant: merry.
47	happy: fortunate.
49	Such: the same.
50	farther . . . home: away from home.
51	Where . . . grows: where there’s not much opportunity.
in a few: briefly.
52	thus it stands: it’s like this.
54	thrust . . . maze: i.e. come out into the confused paths of this world.
55	Happily: with any luck.
to wive . . . may: get married and do as well as I can for myself.
56	Crowns: money.
57	abroad: away from home.
58	come . . . thee: tell you straight.
59	wish thee to: show you how to get.
shrewd: shrewish.
ill-favoured: bad tempered.
60	Thou’dst . . . little: you wouldn’t thank me much.
63	wish: The sense is slightly different from that of “wish” in line 59# Hortensio would not want his good friend to be married to a wife like Katherine.
67	burden: musical accompaniment.
68	Florentius’ love: To save his life, Sir Florent (in Gower’s Confessio Amantis, Book I) must find out what it is that women most desire. An old hag promises to tell him, on condition that he marries her. He accepts, and is told that all women want to be “sovereign of man’s love”. On the wedding-night the old woman, released from a magic spell when Lorent keeps his promise to marry her, turns back into a beautiful young girl. A version of the story is told by the Wife of Bath in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.
69	Sibyl: A prophetess in classical mythology who asked the god Apollo to grant her as many years of life as the grains of sand that she held in her hand.
70	Xanthippe: The wife of Socrates, the Greek philosopher, was notorious for her bad temper.
71	moves me not: doesn’t worry me.
72	Affection’s edge: my keen desire.
74	wive it wealthily: make a rich marriage.
78	aglet-baby: Perhaps this was a little doll hanging (as a decorative tag) at the end of a lace.
trot: hag.
79, 80	as . . . horses: Horses, like cars, are always “going wrong”# Grumio’s comparison emphasizes the commercial aspect of Petruccio’s wooing.
81	so: provided that.
82	are . . . in: have got so far in this matter.
83	broached in jest: started to suggest as a joke.
88	intolerable curst: unbearably bad-tempered.
89	forward: perverse.
beyond all measure: extreme.
90	state: financial situation.
94	board her: woo her# Petruccio’s image is from naval warfare.
chide: grumble.
103	thus bold: so rude.
104	“To leave you now although we have only just met.”
105	thither: i.e. to Baptista’s house.
106	while . . . lasts: as long as he is in this mood.
108	do little good: have no effect.
111	in his rope-tricks: in his own language# Grumio means “rhetoric”.
an: if.
111	stand him: argue with him.
112	throw . . . with it: answer her in such a way that will silence her. Grumio refers to a rhetorical figure of speech# when Kate is dis-figured, she will be bereft of language.
113	eyes . . . cat: Editors agree that these words do not make sense# perhaps the phrase should refer to a blind cat suggesting that Petruccio has disfigured Kate by scratching her eyes out.
115	Tarry: wait a moment.
116	heep: keeping# a castle’s “keep” was the safe for all its treasures. Hortensio sustains a gentle word-play in the following lines.
117	in hold: in custody.
119	withholds: keeps.
other: others. This use of the singular form is common in Elizabethan usage.
more: as well as me.
121	Supposing: believing.
122	before rehearsed: just told you about.
124	order . . . ta’en: Baptista has made this plan.
126	curst: cursed# but the sense is not so strong as “damned” — perhaps “perverse”, or “wilful”.
129	do me grace: do me a favour.
130	in sober robes: wearing an academic gown.
132	Well seen: fully qualified.
134	make love: i.e. declare his love.
136	Grumio makes his comment directly to the audience, before drawing Hortensio’s attention to the new arrivals.
beguile: deceive.
137	lay . . . together: make plots.
141	a proper stripling: a fine young man: Grumio is ironic.
142	note: i.e. the list of books.
143	fairly bound: Elizabethan books were often sold unbound, and the purchasers would put handsome covers on them.
144	at any hand: in any case.
145	see . . . her: make sure you don’t teach her anything else.
147	liberality: generosity (in paying the tutor’s wages).
148	mend . . . largess: add something as a present to you.
paper: i.e. the booklist referred to in line 142.
149	them: i.e. the books he has ordered# the Elizabethans liked to have things scented.
151	read to her: study with her.
154	as . . . place: as though you were present yourself.
158	woodcock: a bird (of the snipe family) noted for its foolishness.
160	mum: keep quiet.
162	Trow you: do you know.
166	lighted well: discovered.
168	Fit . . . turn: just what she needs.
176	bags: i.e. money-bags.
177	vent: talk about.
178	speak me fair: deal honestly with me.
179	indifferent: equally.
181	“If we can come to some agreement with him”# Hortensio wants to make Gremio share in the expenses of wooing Katherine.
184	So . . . done: Gremio’s phrase seems to combine two proverbial savings — “No sooner said than done” and “It is easier said than done”. He is happy to pay his share of Petruccio’s expenses, but doubtful whether the scheme will work.
186	irksome: hateful (the sense is stronger than that of the modern usage).
scold: quarrelsome woman.
188	sayst me so: is that all you have to say.
What countryman: where are you from.
191	good . . . see: to have a long and happy life.
193	if . . . stomach: if that’s what you want.
to’t: get on with it.
a: in
196	or . . . her: or be hanged to her. The sense of Grumio’s comment is not immediately obvious, but it seems to be a dismissal of Katherine.
197	to that intent: for that purpose.
197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205	Petruccio’s description of his heroic past fits him for a role as romantic lover — although it is probably fictitious.
201	chafed: enraged.
202	ordnance: cannon.
field: battlefield.
205	’larums: battlecries.
clang: the technical name for the sound of a military trumpet.
208	chestnut: i.e. the explosion of a roasted chestnut.
209	fear . . . bugs: frighten children with bugbears (= goblins).
212	happily: fortunately.
215	charge of wooing: the cost of his courtship.
whatsoe’er: whatever it is.
217	would: wish.
217s.d.	brave: finely dressed.
219	readiest: quickest.
221	Biondello is playing a pre-arranged part.
223	Even he: that’s exactly the man I mean.
224	her to-: Gremio suspects another rival, come to woo Bianca# but Tranio is impatient. The rhymed couplets of the following lines suggest a battle of wits.
225	What . . . do?: what business is it of yours?
226	at any hand: in any case.
233	so . . . she: Bianca is not available for Tranio to woo.
236	choice: chosen.
238	Softly: take it easy# Tranio, pretending to be Lucentio, tries to talk like a courtly gentleman.
244	Tranio is comparing Bianca to Helen of Troy, the daughter of Leda and Jupiter. She was said (in Greek mythology) to be the most beautiful woman in the world, and was stolen away from her husband by Paris, son of Priam. This was the cause of the Trojan War.
247	speed alone: be the only one to succeed.
249	give him head: let him run on (as though he were an unchecked horse).
a jade: a weak horse that will quickly tire.
256	let her go by: leave her alone.
257	Gremio considers the wooing of Katherine to be a task equal to the twelve apparently impossible labours imposed on Hercules (whose family name was Alcides).
259	understand . . . sooth: i.e. let me put it plainly.
260	hearken for: are interested in.
266	stead: help.
267	break the ice: get started.
269	whose hap: the man whose luck.
270	graceless: ill-bred.
ingrate: ungrateful.
271	conceive: understand.
273	gratify: reward# Hortensio is still concerned that Petruccio shall be paid for his task.
274	generally: together.
beholding: indebted.
275	slack: slow in paying.
276	contrive: get together.
277	quaff carouses . . . health: do some drinking, toasting Bianca’s health.
278	as adversaries in law: i.e. like the lawyers representing opposing sides.
280	motion: suggestion.
282	I . . . venuto: be my guest# the Italian words (which mean, literally, “welcome”) end the scene with a courtly flourish.