History Theatre / TheTamingOfTheShrew

* GoldDigger: Petruchio, oh so much.

* TheBeard: Tranio (disguised as Lucentio) and Bianca fake being a couple so successfully that they have all the other characters fooled. Meanwhile, Bianca's in love with the real Lucentio, who's disguised himself as her tutor.

* DecoyProtagonist: Lucentio is set up as the main character in the first scene. He's not.

The play was adapted to film several times. A 1929 version starred Hollywood power couple Creator/MaryPickford and Creator/DouglasFairbanks in her second talking film and his first, and the only film they appeared in together. Probably the most well-known adaptation is the 1967 version, directed by Franco Zeffirelli and starring another Hollywood power couple, Creator/ElizabethTaylor and Creator/RichardBurton (it's the source of the page image). The Italian movie ''Film/IlBisbeticoDomato'' is also loosely based on this. The movie ''Film/TenThingsIHateAboutYou'' is a HighSchoolAU adaptation of the story, treating it as a teen comedy. It also inspired the Music/ColePorter musical ''Theatre/KissMeKate''.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Tranio's father was a "sail maker" from land-locked Bergamo. Bergamo is the nearest large city to Lake Iseo and close to Lake Como, creating a Bergamo boat-making and sail-making industry which started long before the 16th century and continues to this day.

The play was adapted to film several times. A 1929 version starred Hollywood power couple Creator/MaryPickford and Creator/DouglasFairbanks in her second talking film and his first, and the only film they appeared in together. Probably the most well-known adaptation is the 1967 version, directed by Franco Zeffirelli and starring another Hollywood power couple, Creator/ElizabethTaylor and Creator/RichardBurton (it's the source of the page image). The movie ''Film/TenThingsIHateAboutYou'' is a HighSchoolAU adaptation of the story, treating it as a teen comedy. It also inspired the Music/ColePorter musical ''Theatre/KissMeKate''.

* DoubleStandard: This is a comedy. Now hundreds of years later the other way round is played as comedy, whereas this written now would be played for drama and angst.

* BreakTheHaughty

* AttractiveBentGender: In the play outside the play, the tinker Christopher Sly is lusting after a page who the local lord has dressed up as a woman as part of an elaborate joke. (This is MetaHumor, of course.)

* WedlockBlock: Bianca can't get married until Kate does.

''The Taming of the Shrew'' is one of Creator/WilliamShakespeare's more famous comedies and an interesting exploration of historical ValuesDissonance in the realm of gender relations.

* TheAllegedSteed: The horse Petruchio rides to his wedding has just about every disease a horse could possibly have, and the moth-eaten saddle and broken bridle probably don't help appearances. (Sadly, this being a stage show, we never actually get to see it.)

* AsYouKnow: Lucentio's opening speech to Tranio. [[{{Exposition}} For some reason]], feels the need to tell his servant where they are, why they're here, where he was born, and where he was raised. We later find out that Tranio was taken in by Lucentio's family at the age of ''three''. There is no excuse for him not to know any of this.

* Gaslighting: The turning point comes when Kate submits to Petruchio and agrees with his insistence that it's 7 am and time to go out, when it's really no later than 2 am. Shortly thereafter she agrees with his insistence that the sun is really the moon and that an old man passing them on the road is really a young maid. Kate gives Petruchio no trouble thereafter.

* HairTriggerTemper: What makes Kate a shrew. Petruchio pretends to have one as part of his taming scheme, though it [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation may be]] more real than not, depending on how he's played (the very first time we see him he's beating up on Grumio).

* LysistrataGambit: According to some interpretations, Petruchio giving Kate a "sermon of continency (abstinence)" on their wedding night is a gender-reversed example of this, just as much a taming method as withholding food and sleep. ([[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation The other possibility]] is that since she hasn't warmed up to him yet, he's simply showing the common decency not to force anything while continuing to [[ObfuscatingInsanity feign insanity]].)

** "Bianca" means "white", referring to [[TheIngenue the purity of her nature]] (this could be an IronicName [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation depending on your interpretation]]).

* ObfuscatingInsanity: Petruchio--although as in the case of ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'', he seems to be pretty crazy anyway and [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation how much of it is faked depends on interpretation]].

The play was adapted to film several times. A 1929 version starred Hollywood power couple Creator/MaryPickford and Creator/DouglasFairbanks in her second talking film and his first, and the only film they appeared in together. Probably the most well-known adaptation is the 1967 version, directed by Franco Zeffirelli and starring another Hollywood power couple, Creator/ElizabethTaylor and Creator/RichardBurton (it's the source of the page image). The movie ''Film/TenThingsIHateAboutYou'' is a HighSchoolAU adaptation of the story, treating it as a teen comedy.

* ShipperOnDeck: Tranio and Biondello for Lucentio/Bianca. Also just about everyone for Petruchio/Katherina, if only because they want Katherina out of the way.