Act 3, Scene 1 — The Taming of the Shrew

The argument Lucentio and Hortensio compete for Bianca's lesson time, only to discover she is already running both of them — conducting her own private conversation with Lucentio in Latin, and then dismissing them on her terms.

Enter Lucentio, Hortensio and Bianca.

LUCENTIO ≋ verse Bianca is flirting openly now, testing Lucentio while maintaining her dutiful daughter image.

Fiddler, forbear; you grow too forward, sir.

Have you so soon forgot the entertainment

Her sister Katherine welcome’d you withal?

You've been an excellent teacher. I've learned so much from you.

You're a really good teacher. I've learned a lot.

you're good at teaching

HORTENSIO ≋ verse Lucentio is dropping his pretense, confessing his real purpose to Bianca.

But, wrangling pedant, this is

The patroness of heavenly harmony:

Then give me leave to have prerogative;

And when in music we have spent an hour,

Your lecture shall have leisure for as much.

Bianca, I need to tell you the truth. I'm not really a tutor. My name is Lucentio, and I came here to meet you.

Look, I have to be honest. I'm not actually a teacher. I'm Lucentio, and I came here because of you.

i'm not a tutor i'm lucentio i came because of you

LUCENTIO ≋ verse LUCENTIO's moment

Preposterous ass, that never read so far

To know the cause why music was ordain’d!

Was it not to refresh the mind of man

After his studies or his usual pain?

Then give me leave to read philosophy,

And while I pause serve in your harmony.

Preposterous ass, that never read so far To know the cause why music was ordain’d! Was it not to refresh the mind of man After his studies or his usua...

Preposterous ass, that never read so far To know the cause why music was ordain’d! Was it not to ref...

Preposterous ass, that never read so far To know the cause why music was ordain’d!...

"To know the cause why music was ordain'd" Lucentio is citing the classical curriculum: philosophy, music, poetry in sequence. He's using Aristotle to win an argument about who gets to flirt with Bianca first.

HORTENSIO HORTENSIO's moment

Sirrah, I will not bear these braves of thine.

BIANCA ≋ verse BIANCA's moment

Why, gentlemen, you do me double wrong,

To strive for that which resteth in my choice.

I am no breeching scholar in the schools,

I’ll not be tied to hours nor ’pointed times,

But learn my lessons as I please myself.

And, to cut off all strife, here sit we down;

Take you your instrument, play you the whiles;

His lecture will be done ere you have tun’d.

Why, gentlemen, you do me double wrong, To strive for that which resteth in my choice. I am no breeching scholar in the schools, I’ll not be tied to h...

Why, gentlemen, you do me double wrong, To strive for that which resteth in my choice. I am no breec...

Why, gentlemen, you do me double wrong, To strive for that which resteth in my...

Why it matters This is Bianca's power move — she dismisses both men's pretensions and takes control of the room, instantly undercutting the play's premise that she is passive and manageable.

HORTENSIO HORTENSIO's moment

You’ll leave his lecture when I am in tune?

[_Retires._]

LUCENTIO LUCENTIO's moment

That will be never: tune your instrument.

BIANCA BIANCA's moment

Where left we last?

LUCENTIO ≋ verse LUCENTIO's moment

Here, madam:—

_Hic ibat Simois; hic est Sigeia tellus;

Hic steterat Priami regia celsa senis._

Here, madam:— _Hic ibat Simois; hic est Sigeia tellus; Hic steterat Priami regia celsa senis._

"Hic ibat Simois; hic est Sigeia tellus" These lines are from Ovid's Heroides, a collection of love letters. Lucentio is using them as the literal text for the lesson — and as code to embed his real identity.

BIANCA BIANCA's moment

Construe them.

LUCENTIO LUCENTIO's moment

_Hic ibat_, as I told you before, _Simois_, I am Lucentio, _hic est_,

son unto Vincentio of Pisa, _Sigeia tellus_, disguised thus to get your

love, _Hic steterat_, and that Lucentio that comes a-wooing, _Priami_,

is my man Tranio, _regia_, bearing my port, _celsa senis_, that we

might beguile the old pantaloon.

HORTENSIO. [_Returning._]

Madam, my instrument’s in tune.

_Hic ibat_, as I told you before, _Simois_, I am Lucentio, _hic est_, son unto Vincentio of Pisa, _Sigeia tellus_, disguised thus to get your love, _H...

_Hic ibat_, as I told you before, _Simois_, I am Lucentio, _hic est_, son unto Vincentio of Pisa, _S...

_Hic ibat_, as I told you before, _Simois_, I am Lucentio, _hic est_, son unto...

Why it matters The play's central disguise is revealed directly to Bianca here — making her a participant in the deception, not just its target.

BIANCA BIANCA's moment

Let’s hear.—

[Hortensio _plays._]

O fie! the treble jars.

LUCENTIO LUCENTIO's moment

Spit in the hole, man, and tune again.

BIANCA BIANCA's moment

Now let me see if I can construe it: _Hic ibat Simois_, I know you not;

_hic est Sigeia tellus_, I trust you not; _Hic steterat Priami_, take

heed he hear us not; _regia_, presume not; _celsa senis_, despair not.

Now let me see if I can construe it: _Hic ibat Simois_, I know you not; _hic est Sigeia tellus_, I trust you not; _Hic steterat Priami_, take heed he ...

Now let me see if I can construe it: _Hic ibat Simois_, I know you not; _hic est Sigeia tellus_, I t...

Now let me see if I can construe it: _Hic ibat Simois_, I know you...

Why it matters Bianca doesn't fall for Lucentio's charm immediately — she answers in the same code, with five conditions. She's playing this game too, and she's better at it.

🎭 Dramatic irony Bianca's five-part coded reply to Lucentio — 'I know you not, I trust you not, presume not, despair not' — shows she is not the naive prize everyone has been scheming for. The audience watching her navigate this scene knows she's smarter than both suitors.

HORTENSIO HORTENSIO's moment

Madam, ’tis now in tune.

LUCENTIO LUCENTIO's moment

All but the base.

HORTENSIO HORTENSIO's moment

The base is right; ’tis the base knave that jars.

"The base is right; 'tis the base knave that jars" A pun on 'base' (the low string) and 'base' (low, villainous). Hortensio calls Lucentio a 'base knave' — the low-born scoundrel — while commenting on the tuning.

[_Aside_] How fiery and forward our pedant is!

Now, for my life, the knave doth court my love:

Pedascule, I’ll watch you better yet.

BIANCA BIANCA's moment

In time I may believe, yet I mistrust.

LUCENTIO ≋ verse LUCENTIO's moment

Mistrust it not; for sure, Æacides

Was Ajax, call’d so from his grandfather.

Mistrust it not; for sure, Æacides Was Ajax, call’d so from his grandfather.

"Æacides / Was Ajax" Ajax was named Aeacides after his grandfather Aeacus. Lucentio is making a tortured classical argument that names don't define identity — and therefore he is really who he says he is.

BIANCA ≋ verse BIANCA's moment

I must believe my master; else, I promise you,

I should be arguing still upon that doubt;

But let it rest. Now, Licio, to you.

Good master, take it not unkindly, pray,

That I have been thus pleasant with you both.

I must believe my master; else, I promise you, I should be arguing still upon that doubt; But let it rest. Now, Licio, to you. Good master, take it no...

I must believe my master; else, I promise you, I should be arguing still upon that doubt; But let it...

I must believe my master; else, I promise you, I should be arguing still upon...

[_To Lucentio_] You may go walk and give me leave a while;

HORTENSIO HORTENSIO's moment

My lessons make no music in three parts.

LUCENTIO LUCENTIO's moment

Are you so formal, sir? Well, I must wait,

[_Aside_] And watch withal; for, but I be deceiv’d,

Our fine musician groweth amorous.

HORTENSIO ≋ verse HORTENSIO's moment

Madam, before you touch the instrument,

To learn the order of my fingering,

I must begin with rudiments of art;

To teach you gamut in a briefer sort,

More pleasant, pithy, and effectual,

Than hath been taught by any of my trade:

And there it is in writing, fairly drawn.

Madam, before you touch the instrument, To learn the order of my fingering, I must begin with rudiments of art; To teach you gamut in a briefer sort, ...

Madam, before you touch the instrument, To learn the order of my fingering, I must begin with rudime...

Madam, before you touch the instrument, To learn the order of my fingering, I must...

"the order of my fingering" Hortensio means the technical order of placing fingers on lute strings — but the phrasing has an obvious double edge that the Elizabethan audience would catch.

BIANCA BIANCA's moment

Why, I am past my gamut long ago.

HORTENSIO HORTENSIO's moment

Yet read the gamut of Hortensio.

BIANCA ≋ verse BIANCA's moment

_Gamut_ I am, the ground of all accord,

_A re_, to plead Hortensio’s passion;

_B mi_, Bianca, take him for thy lord,

_C fa ut_, that loves with all affection:

_D sol re_, one clef, two notes have I

_E la mi_, show pity or I die.

Call you this gamut? Tut, I like it not:

Old fashions please me best; I am not so nice,

To change true rules for odd inventions.

_Gamut_ I am, the ground of all accord, _A re_, to plead Hortensio’s passion; _B mi_, Bianca, take him for thy lord, _C fa ut_, that loves with all af...

_Gamut_ I am, the ground of all accord, _A re_, to plead Hortensio’s passion; _B mi_, Bianca, take h...

_Gamut_ I am, the ground of all accord, _A re_, to plead Hortensio’s passion; _B...

"Gamut I am, the ground of all accord" Hortensio has written a love-poem using the musical solmization system (gamut, A re, B mi, C fa ut, D sol re, E la mi) — each note maps to a phrase of his courtship. Bianca reads it aloud and is politely amused.

↩ Callback to 1-1 Bianca's amused reading of Hortensio's musical love letter echoes the 1-1 promise that she would practice her books 'alone' — she's using both lessons entirely on her own terms.

Enter a Servant.

SERVANT ≋ verse SERVANT's moment

Mistress, your father prays you leave your books,

And help to dress your sister’s chamber up:

You know tomorrow is the wedding-day.

Mistress, your father prays you leave your books, And help to dress your sister’s chamber up: You know tomorrow is the wedding-day.

Mistress, your father prays you leave your books, And help to dress your sister’s chamber up: You kn...

Mistress, your father prays you leave your books, And help to dress your sister’s chamber...

BIANCA BIANCA's moment

Farewell, sweet masters, both: I must be gone.

[_Exeunt Bianca and Servant._]

LUCENTIO LUCENTIO's moment

Faith, mistress, then I have no cause to stay.

[_Exit._]

HORTENSIO ≋ verse HORTENSIO's moment

But I have cause to pry into this pedant:

Methinks he looks as though he were in love.

Yet if thy thoughts, Bianca, be so humble

To cast thy wand’ring eyes on every stale,

Seize thee that list: if once I find thee ranging,

Hortensio will be quit with thee by changing.

But I have cause to pry into this pedant: Methinks he looks as though he were in love. Yet if thy thoughts, Bianca, be so humble To cast thy wand’ring...

But I have cause to pry into this pedant: Methinks he looks as though he were in love. Yet if thy th...

But I have cause to pry into this pedant: Methinks he looks as though he...

[_Exit._]

The Reckoning

This is the scene where the play quietly turns Bianca's narrative upside down. She's supposed to be the compliant one, the prize, the reason everyone is scheming — but here she controls the room, schedules the tutors, and decodes Lucentio's hidden message with perfect cool. The audience gets its first real look at who Bianca actually is, and it's unsettling in the best way.

If this happened today…

Two guys both convinced they've secured a private tutoring arrangement with the same girl. One arrives to find the other already there, and they immediately start bickering about whose lesson comes first. Meanwhile the girl calmly arbitrates — 'I'll do your subject first, then yours' — and while one of them tunes his guitar in the corner, quietly has a completely different conversation with the other one in a language the guitar guy doesn't speak. She's been handling them both all along.

Continue to 3.2 →