Original: The more my wrong, the more his spite appears.
Modern: The more he wrongs me, the more his cruelty shows.

Original: What, did he marry me to famish me?
Modern: Did he marry me just to starve me to death?

Original: Beggars that come unto my father’s door
Modern: Beggars who come to my father’s house

Original: Upon entreaty have a present alms;
Modern: Get charity right away when they ask for it;

Original: If not, elsewhere they meet with charity;
Modern: If not there, they find help somewhere else;

Original: But I, who never knew how to entreat,
Modern: But I, who never learned how to beg,

Original: Nor never needed that I should entreat,
Modern: And never had to beg for anything before,

Original: Am starv’d for meat, giddy for lack of sleep;
Modern: Am starving for food and dizzy from no sleep;

Original: With oaths kept waking, and with brawling fed;
Modern: Kept awake by his swearing, and fed only arguments;

Original: And that which spites me more than all these wants-
Modern: And what angers me more than all these needs—

Original: He does it under name of perfect love;
Modern: He does it all in the name of perfect love;

Original: As who should say, if I should sleep or eat,
Modern: As if to say that if I were to sleep or eat,

Original: ‘Twere deadly sickness or else present death.
Modern: It would make me deathly sick or kill me instantly.

Original: I prithee go and get me some repast;
Modern: Please go and get me some food;

Original: I care not what, so it be wholesome food.
Modern: I don’t care what it is, as long as it’s decent food.

In Act IV, Scene 3 of “The Taming of the Shrew,” Katherina and Grumio are present when Petruchio enters. Katherina is clearly hungry and frustrated, having been deprived of food as part of Petruchio’s strategy to “tame” her. Grumio teases her about food but refuses to actually provide any. When Petruchio arrives, he presents Katherina with meat, but then suddenly decides she doesn’t deserve it and takes it away, claiming she is not grateful enough. A Haberdasher and Tailor enter with fine clothing - a cap and gown - that Petruchio has ordered for Katherina.

Petruchio examines the clothing and finds fault with both items, rejecting the cap as too fashionable and criticizing the gown’s construction and style, despite Katherina’s protests that the clothing is perfectly acceptable. He dismisses both tradesmen without payment, sending them away with their goods. Petruchio then announces that he and Katherina will travel to her father’s house in their current plain clothes, declaring that fine clothing is unnecessary and that they will be honored for who they are rather than what they wear. Throughout the scene, Katherina attempts to assert her preferences but is consistently overruled by her husband’s decisions.

The Taming of the Shrew opens with an induction featuring Christopher Sly, a drunken tinker who is tricked by a lord into believing he is nobility. A troupe of players performs the main play for Sly’s entertainment, though this framing device is largely forgotten after the first act.

The central plot follows Petruchio of Verona, who comes to Padua seeking a wealthy wife. He learns of Katherina Minola, the shrewish elder daughter of the rich Baptista, whom no man dares court due to her fierce temper and sharp tongue. Baptista has decreed that no suitor may court his younger, gentler daughter Bianca until Katherina is married. Petruchio, undaunted by Katherina’s reputation and attracted by her substantial dowry, courts and weds her despite her protests and violent resistance during their first meeting.

Meanwhile, multiple suitors pursue Bianca, including Lucentio (who disguises himself as a Latin tutor), Gremio (an old pantaloon), and Hortensio (who disguises himself as a music teacher). Lucentio and his servant Tranio orchestrate an elaborate deception, with Tranio assuming his master’s identity to court Bianca openly while Lucentio teaches her in disguise. Eventually, Bianca falls in love with Lucentio, and they secretly marry, while Hortensio abandons his pursuit and marries a wealthy widow.

After his wedding, Petruchio takes Katherina to his country house, where he employs various tactics to “tame” her, including depriving her of food and sleep under the pretense that nothing is good enough for her, and contradicting her at every turn. Gradually, Katherina appears to submit to his will. The play concludes with a feast where the three new husbands wager on whose wife is most obedient. Katherina proves most compliant, delivering a lengthy speech on wifely duty and obedience, winning Petruchio the wager and apparently demonstrating her complete transformation.