Original: Hence comes it that your kindred shuns your house,
Modern: That’s why your family avoids your house,

Original: As beaten hence by your strange lunacy.
Modern: As if they’ve been driven away by your strange madness.

Original: O noble lord, bethink thee of thy birth!
Modern: Oh noble lord, remember who you were born to be!

Original: Call home thy ancient thoughts from banishment,
Modern: Bring back your old way of thinking from exile,

Original: And banish hence these abject lowly dreams.
Modern: And get rid of these shameful, lowly fantasies.

Original: Look how thy servants do attend on thee,
Modern: Look at how your servants are waiting to serve you,

Original: Each in his office ready at thy beck.
Modern: Each one at their post, ready at your command.

Original: Wilt thou have music? Hark! Apollo plays,
Modern: Do you want music? Listen! Apollo is playing,

Original: And twenty caged nightingales do sing.
Modern: And twenty caged nightingales are singing.

Original: Or wilt thou sleep? We’ll have thee to a couch
Modern: Or do you want to sleep? We’ll take you to a bed

Original: Softer and sweeter than the lustful bed
Modern: Softer and sweeter than the luxurious bed

Original: On purpose trimm’d up for Semiramis.
Modern: That was specially decorated for the legendary queen Semiramis.

Original: Say thou wilt walk: we will bestrew the ground.
Modern: If you say you want to walk, we’ll scatter flowers on the ground.

Original: Or wilt thou ride? Thy horses shall be trapp’d,
Modern: Or do you want to ride? Your horses will be decorated,

Original: Their harness studded all with gold and pearl.
Modern: Their equipment covered with gold and pearls.

Original: Dost thou love hawking? Thou hast hawks will soar
Modern: Do you love hunting with hawks? You have hawks that will fly

Original: Above the morning lark. Or wilt thou hunt?
Modern: Higher than the morning lark. Or do you want to hunt?

Original: Thy hounds shall make the welkin answer them
Modern: Your hunting dogs will make the sky echo back

Original: And fetch shall echoes from the hollow earth.
Modern: And bring back echoes from the deep earth.

The scene opens with the Lord and his huntsmen discovering Christopher Sly, a drunken tinker, passed out outside an alehouse. The Lord devises an elaborate practical joke, instructing his servants to carry the unconscious Sly to his manor and treat him as if he were a nobleman who has been suffering from a fifteen-year bout of madness. When Sly awakens, he is to be convinced that his life as a tinker was merely a delusion brought on by his illness. The Lord assigns specific roles to his servants, directing them to address Sly as “your honor” and “your lordship,” and to provide him with fine clothes, music, and every luxury befitting a lord.

A page is instructed to disguise himself as Sly’s wife, having been supposedly separated from him during his long illness. When a troupe of traveling actors arrives seeking the Lord’s patronage, he welcomes them and arranges for them to perform a play for Sly’s entertainment, warning them not to laugh at anything the supposed madman might say or do during the performance. The Lord views this elaborate deception as both entertainment and a test of how malleable human nature can be when circumstances are dramatically altered. The scene concludes with all the preparations in place for the grand deception to unfold when Sly regains consciousness.

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.