Study questions for The Taming of the Shrew

• What is the purpose of the Induction?  What is a frame narrative?  Is it significant that the frame is never closed in this play?
• In what ways is the play "metatheatrical"--where does it comment on issues such as wearing costumes, acting, cross-dressing, and dissolving the boundaries between reality and fiction?
• What does a person's use of language reveal about him/herself?  What does Christopher Sly's language reveal about him?  What does Petruccio's use of language reveal about him?
• How do you feel about how women are treated in this play?  Can you identify specific places where women are abused--what form does this abuse take?  The play's treatment of women is often excused using the "well, that's just the way things were in the 1590s" defense.  Do you agree with this?
• Does the play seem artifical or conventional to you in any way?  If so, do you attribute these elements to the fact that this is one of Shakespeare's early plays?  Are there other possible reasons?  If some elements of the play seem artificial to you, what elements of the play transcend this artificiality?