the Shakespearean stage

In Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, he uses language cues in order to inform the audience of what time of day it is and where the characters are in the grand scheme of things. In Act 4 Scene 5 Katherine and Petruchio are on their way to Baptista’s (Katherine’s father) house. In this instance, we not only get an example of Shakespeare’s use of language for setting but an example of Petruchio’s growing control over Katherine. Petruchio says “…how bright and goodly shines the moon!” Katherine replies “The moon? The sun! It is not moonlight now.” Petruchio then goes on to say that it is in fact the night and Katherine must say it is so in order for them to continue on their journey to her sister’s wedding at her father’s house. With this exchange of words, we know that it is in fact the day time and that Petruchio’s control of Katherine is getting stronger. Also, when the true Vincentio (Lucentio’s father) enters the scene, Petruchio says “good morrow” which in indicative of the morning. Also, in Act 5 Scene 1, the true Vincentio approaches his son’s house and is confronted by the imposters. As the disagreement progresses Petruchio says to Katherine, “Prithee, Kate, let’s stand aside and see the end of this controversy.” With this statement, Petruchio and Katherine are forced to stand off to the side and observe the interactions of the other characters. The Shakespearean stage, with its lack of curtains, made it difficult for the audience to know what the actual setting was. However, with Shakespeare’s clever writing of dialogue, indicators of the setting made it possible to understand where and when the action took place.