In this The Taming of the Shrew passage I will be focussing on how the style contributes to the dramatic effect of the play, how the passage impacts the play and its audience, and how it contributes to the larger themes within the play. The purpose of scene 2 as a whole is to introduce Petruchio and put in motion Petruchio’s pursual of Katherine. In this passage we see Gremio and Grumio supporting but also questioning Petruchio’s decision in pursuing Kate. And the audience can foresee that this pursual will most likely result in conflict, as Katherine is considered an anti-social shrewish character.
In the first three lines of the passage we see three characters speak, each asking a question, first Gremio asks Petruchio if he will court Katherine- referring to her as a Wildcat, to which Petruchio asks “Will I live?” , and then Grumio echoes Gremio’s question “Will he woo her?” and answers it himself “Aye, or I’ll hang her.” The quick succession of questions adds to the dramatic effect of the play as the use of inflection allows for a change in pitch- low to high, for each question, thus creating a rhythm that is more interesting for the audience to hear. …show more content…
The use of rhetorical questions throughout Petruchio’s speech means a lot of inflection and again is adding to the rhythm by having every line or second line rising in pitch at the end. And the questions being rhetorical add to Petruchio’s character being a bit cocky, as the answers are a given that yes he has heard those things; “Have I not in my time heard lions roar?” (line 191), “Have I not in a pitchèd battle heard Loud 'larums, neighing steeds, and trumpets' clang?” (lines 196-197) The effect of this is the audience is learning more about Petruchio as a character and the rhythm is pleasing to the
In the first three lines of the passage we see three characters speak, each asking a question, first Gremio asks Petruchio if he will court Katherine- referring to her as a Wildcat, to which Petruchio asks “Will I live?” , and then Grumio echoes Gremio’s question “Will he woo her?” and answers it himself “Aye, or I’ll hang her.” The quick succession of questions adds to the dramatic effect of the play as the use of inflection allows for a change in pitch- low to high, for each question, thus creating a rhythm that is more interesting for the audience to hear. …show more content…
The use of rhetorical questions throughout Petruchio’s speech means a lot of inflection and again is adding to the rhythm by having every line or second line rising in pitch at the end. And the questions being rhetorical add to Petruchio’s character being a bit cocky, as the answers are a given that yes he has heard those things; “Have I not in my time heard lions roar?” (line 191), “Have I not in a pitchèd battle heard Loud 'larums, neighing steeds, and trumpets' clang?” (lines 196-197) The effect of this is the audience is learning more about Petruchio as a character and the rhythm is pleasing to the