The Taming of the Shrew: Act 2

by William Shakespeare
In this comedy, a wealthy lord refuses to allow his younger daughter to marry unless her willful older sister gets married first.

Here are links to our lists for the play: Induction, Act 1, Act 2, Act 3, Act 4, Act 5
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. disdain
    reject with contempt
    Good sister, wrong me not, nor wrong yourself,
    To make a bondmaid and a slave of me.
    That I disdain.
  2. dissemble
    make believe with the intent to deceive
    Of all thy suitors here I charge thee tell
    Whom thou lov’st best. See thou dissemble not.
  3. whence
    from what place, source, or cause
    Why, how now, dame, whence grows this insolence?
  4. insolence
    the trait of being rude and impertinent
    Why, how now, dame, whence grows this insolence?
  5. cross
    hinder or prevent the efforts, plans, or desires of
    Why dost thou wrong her that did ne’er wrong thee?
    When did she cross thee with a bitter word?
  6. flout
    treat with contemptuous disregard
    Her silence flouts me, and I'll be revenged!
  7. habit
    a distinctive attire worn by a member of a religious order
    Enter GREMIO; LUCENTIO disguised as CAMBIO in the habit of a mean man; PETRUCHIO with HORTENSIO disguised as LITIO; and TRANIO disguised as LUCENTIO, with his boy, BIONDELLO bearing a lute and books.
    Nowadays, we use the noun habit to refer to two specific types of attire: the attire worn by someone in a religious order (e.g., a monk or nun) or the attire of a horseback rider. In the context of the play, however, the word is used to mean "attire or clothing" more generally.
  8. bashful
    self-consciously timid
    I am a gentleman of Verona, sir,
    That hearing of her beauty and her wit,
    Her affability and bashful modesty,
    Her wondrous qualities and mild behavior,
    Am bold to show myself a forward guest
    Within your house, to make mine eye the witness
    Of that report which I so oft have heard
  9. fain
    in a willing manner
    O, pardon me, Signior Gremio, I would fain be doing.
  10. presently
    at this time or period; now
    You shall go see your pupils presently.
  11. covenant
    a signed written agreement between two or more parties
    Let specialties be therefore drawn between us,
    That covenants may be kept on either hand.
  12. peremptory
    offensively self-assured or exercising unwarranted power
    Why, that is nothing: for I tell you, father,
    I am as peremptory as she proud-minded
  13. lute
    a stringed instrument with a pear-shaped body
    I think she'll sooner prove a soldier!
    Iron may hold with her, but never lutes.
  14. pillory
    a wooden instrument of punishment on a post
    “‘Frets’ call you these?” quoth she. “I’ll fume with them!”
    And with that word she struck me on the head,
    And through the instrument my pate made way,
    And there I stood amazèd for a while,
    As on a pillory, looking through the lute
  15. discomfit
    cause to lose one's composure
    Well, go with me, and be not so discomfited.
  16. commend
    express a good opinion of
    Say she be mute and will not speak a word,
    Then I’ll commend her volubility
    And say she uttereth piercing eloquence.
  17. voluble
    marked by a ready flow of speech
    Say she be mute and will not speak a word,
    Then I'll commend her volubility
    And say she uttereth piercing eloquence.
  18. eloquence
    powerful and effective language
    Say she be mute and will not speak a word,
    Then I'll commend her volubility
    And say she uttereth piercing eloquence.
  19. dainty
    delicately beautiful
    You lie, in faith, for you are called plain Kate,
    And bonny Kate, and sometimes Kate the curst.
    But Kate, the prettiest Kate in Christendom,
    Kate of Kate Hall, my super- dainty Kate
    (For dainties are all Kates)—and therefore, Kate,
    Take this of me, Kate of my consolation
  20. cuff
    hit with the hand
    I swear I'll cuff you, if you strike again.
  21. herald
    a person who announces important news
    A herald, Kate? O, put me in thy books.
  22. coy
    modestly or warily rejecting approaches or overtures
    ’Twas told me you were rough, and coy, and sullen,
    And now I find report a very liar.
  23. sullen
    showing a brooding ill humor
    ’Twas told me you were rough, and coy, and sullen,
    And now I find report a very liar.
  24. askance
    with suspicion or disapproval
    Thou canst not frown, thou canst not look askance,
    Nor bite the lip as angry wenches will,
    Nor hast thou pleasure to be cross in talk.
  25. slanderous
    harmful and often untrue; tending to discredit or malign
    Why does the world report that Kate doth limp?
    O sland’rous world!
  26. chaste
    morally pure
    O, be thou Dian and let her be Kate,
    And then let Kate be chaste and Dian sportful.
  27. ruffian
    a cruel and brutal fellow
    Call you me daughter? Now I promise you
    You have showed a tender fatherly regard,
    To wish me wed to one half lunatic,
    A madcap ruffian and a swearing Jack,
    That thinks with oaths to face the matter out.
  28. temperate
    not extreme in behavior
    If she be curst, it is for policy,
    For she’s not froward, but modest as the dove;
    She is not hot, but temperate as the morn.
  29. twain
    two items of the same kind
    ’Tis bargained ’twixt us twain, being alone,
    That she shall still be curst in company.
  30. novice
    someone new to a field or activity
    O, you are novices! ’Tis a world to see
    How tame, when men and women are alone,
    A meacock wretch can make the curstest shrew.
  31. shrew
    a scolding nagging bad-tempered woman
    O, you are novices! ’Tis a world to see
    How tame, when men and women are alone,
    A meacock wretch can make the curstest shrew.
    Other characters in the play frequently refer to Katherine as a shrew, a bad-tempered person who causes annoyance or trouble. Likewise, when Shakespeare calls Katherine shrewd, he does not mean that she is clever or cunning (as in the modern sense of the word), but rather that she is shrewish: ill-tempered and difficult to manage.
  32. apace
    rapidly; in a speedy manner
    Father, and wife, and gentlemen, adieu.
    I will to Venice. Sunday comes apace.
  33. array
    especially fine or decorative clothing
    We will have rings, and things, and fine array,
    And kiss me, Kate.
  34. venture
    put at risk
    Faith, gentlemen, now I play a merchant’s part
    And venture madly on a desperate mart.
  35. strife
    bitter conflict; heated or violent dissension
    Content you, gentlemen. I will compound this strife.
  36. coffer
    a chest especially for storing valuables
    In ivory coffers I have stuffed my crowns,
    In cypress chests my arras counterpoints,
    Costly apparel, tents, and canopies,
    Fine linen, Turkey cushions bossed with pearl
  37. arras
    a wall hanging of handwoven fabric with pictorial designs
    In ivory coffers I have stuffed my crowns,
    In cypress chests my arras counterpoints,
    Costly apparel, tents, and canopies,
    Fine linen, Turkey cushions bossed with pearl
    Arras is typically used as a noun to mean "a tapestry," but here Shakespeare uses the word adjectivally to mean "made of the same fabric as a tapestry." A counterpoint is a covering for a bed.
  38. ducat
    formerly a gold coin of various European countries
    If I may have your daughter to my wife,
    I’ll leave her houses three or four as good,
    Within rich Pisa walls, as any one
    Old Signior Gremio has in Padua,
    Besides two thousand ducats by the year
    Of fruitful land, all which shall be her jointure.
  39. galley
    a large medieval vessel with guns at stern and prow
    Gremio, ’tis known my father hath no less
    Than three great argosies, besides two galliasses
    And twelve tight galleys.
    A galliass is another type of ship, as is an argosy.
  40. cavil
    a minor objection evading the point of an argument
    That’s but a cavil. He is old, I young.
Created on Mon Mar 12 15:26:58 EDT 2018 (updated Tue Sep 21 13:51:29 EDT 2021)

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