However, the lack of follow-through with the Induction is admittedly a fault of the play - at least in the version we have inherited. Such a decision, though, undermines some of the key messages of the play, especially those related to notions of identity and disguise. It is as if Shakespeare is winking to us from the play's onset, telling us we'd better be on the lookout because we'll soon find things are not quite what they seem! If we miss his early warning, we'll find ourselves duped, and the joke will be on us.īecause the story set forth in the Induction is not carried throughout the entirety of The Taming of the Shrew, it is often cut or minimized in performance. It invites audiences to consider individual identities and whether or not people can either impersonate others (generally of another class - inferior to superior or vice versa) or, in the case of Christopher Sly, be convinced that he is someone other than who he is.
Because we are introduced to these themes from the very beginning, we are consciously and unconsciously preparing ourselves to look for them as the action unfolds.Īlthough the Induction may seem merely a precursor to the play itself, it is more cleverly conceived than that. In keeping with the latter definition, the Induction cleverly introduces several key themes such as identity, disguise, illusion, and reality which are developed fully in the play itself. The Taming of the Shrew's Induction leads us into the play proper, as the first definition suggests, but it does much more than that. However, an induction can also be "a bringing forward of separate facts or instances, so as to prove a general statement." In many ways, this, too, is what Shakespeare is doing. Bartholomew is to disguise himself as a gentlewoman and pretend to be Sly's wife.Īn induction is traditionally "an introduction preface or prelude," a definition which easily fits what Shakespeare is doing here. The Lord enlists his servant Bartholomew's help in making Sly's duping complete. He requests they perform a play later that evening (which will mark the play we have come to think of as The Taming of the Shrew). While Sly sleeps off his binge, a group of players appears and are quickly enlisted in the Lord's duping of Sly. Should Sly not believe he is and always has been lord of the estate, he is to be told he was ill and had lost his memory. Sly is placed in the finest chamber and dressed in the finest clothes so that he will be convinced that he owns the lavish setting in which he finds himself. When the Lord returns from hunting, he decides to have some fun at Sly's expense and quickly devises a plan to have his household convince Sly that he is a lord, rather than a beggar. Christopher Sly, a beggar, is tossed out of an alehouse because of his disruptive behavior and quickly falls asleep in front of a Lord's house.
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