I was absent from class on Wednesday, so I’m not sure if this was touched upon during the discussion, but I was very intrigued by the induction; though I’m curious as to the reasoning behind the whole “play within a play” premise. When I began reading the play, I found the plot of the induction to be very humorous and captivating at the same time – I wanted to know how long the Lord would maintain the ruse and if Sly would ever discover the truth, however the actual play starts so abruptly that it is impossible to discover definitive answers to my curiosities. I am making the argument that maybe the induction serves as a parallel to the story of Petruchio and Kate. Like the Lord, Petruchio must change his natural appearance/actions for his own personal gain. Instead of seeking humorous relief from drastic role changes, Petruchio changes his attitude and overall demanor in order to marry “weathily in Padua” (27). Petruchio deprives Kate of food, becomes increasingly nasty and to his servants, and intentionally utters outlandish contradictions in order to achieve his personal gain. Grumio confirms Petruchio’s true desire for riches from Kate: “Why, give him gold enough and marry him to a puppet…or an old trot with ne’er a tooth in her head” (27). All of this being said, I was very surprised when The Taming of the Shrew ended without returning to the original plot of the induction. Perhaps there is a purpose for this as well…?
I am just as surprised and upset that The Taming of the Shrew did not return to its original characters in the induction. What happens to Christopher Sly and what does the Lord decide to do with him? Does he continue to lead Sly to believe he is a Lord? For how long does this trick last? Does Sly ever find out that his pretend wife is really a boy dressed up in woman’s clothing?
I am not sure that the induction serves as a parallel to the story of Petruchio and Kate though. I would think it serves more to the story of Lucentio and Bianca because it is Lucentio who trades places with Tranio. He becomes Cambio and drops the status of master and becomes just a [serving]man. This is similar to the Lord switching places with Sly and calling Sly his noble lord. I see it more as a switch of status than switching for a personal gain, whether comic relief or marrying into wealth.
The only purpose I can think of for ending the play without returning to the induction’s characters is to leave the audience in suspense and curiosity, where it is up to us to imagine what happens to Sly.
If you look at p. lxvii of Robert Heilman’s introduction to the Signet edition and then go to the note on sources at the back of the book (115-18), you’ll see that there was an earlier play called The Taming of a Shrew in which Sly does come back. Nobody knows whether Shakespeare had a hand in the first play and whether anything is missing from the current play, but I think it’s plausible to say that the Induction serves its purposes by reminding us that we are always watching someone else’s private drama (so many of the scenes here have people standing back to observe, as in 5.1.59-60). We are all susceptible to being manipulated and it’s not necessarily to our detriment that that should be the case. Usually, in the theater, if you’re happy with the way Kate and Petruchio have agreed with each other, you don’t really miss Sly by the end of the play.