Character guide

Katharina

major

Also known as Kate, Katharine, Katharina Minion, Katharina Well, Katharina Ay, Good Kate, sweet Katharine, bonny Kate, Katharina Minola, Katharine the curst, curst Katharine, Kate the curst, Katharina Mistress, Katharina Asses, the prettiest Kate in Christendom, Kate of Kate Hall, my super-dainty Kate

Katharina is the elder daughter of Baptista, famed throughout Padua for a temper that scares off suitors and clears the field for her gentler sister Bianca. Her fury is not random cruelty but a bristling defense against a world that treats her as merchandise to be bid on and disposed of, and she gives as good as she gets in every verbal duel. When Petruchio arrives declaring he will marry her regardless, their clashes become the play's central contest of wills, forcing audiences to ask whether her fire is being matched, mocked, or extinguished.

Petruchio

major

Also known as Enter Petruchio, Petruchio Signior Hortensio, signormio Petruchio, Petruchio Hortensio, Petruchio A, Petruchio Why, Petruchio O, Petruchio Who, Petruchio Signior Baptista, Petruchio Gentlemen, Petruchio Grumio, Petruchio Father, Petruchio Sir, Petruchio Katharina, Petruchio Prithee, Petruchio Villain, Petruchio Sirrah, Exeunt Petruchio, Brother Petruchio

Petruchio comes to Padua with one blunt aim: find a rich wife. Hearing of Katharina's reputation, he treats her shrewishness less as a warning than an invitation, and his courtship is a gleeful contest of outrageous claims and stubborn logic. His method — denying her food, sleep, and fine clothes while calling it love — is both comically absurd and genuinely unsettling, making him the play's most magnetic and most troubling figure as he tests how far will can bend another's.

Lucentio

major

Also known as Lucentio Tranio, Lucentio O Tranio, Lucentio Fiddler, Vincentio Lucentio, Signior Lucentio, Lucentio Sirrah, Lucentio Biondello, Lucentio Mistress, Lucentio Gramercies, Baptista Lucentio

Lucentio arrives in Padua to study philosophy but is instantly distracted by Bianca, whose father has locked her away from suitors until her elder sister marries. Undeterred, he trades places with his servant Tranio, disguising himself as the tutor Cambio so he can whisper love into Bianca's ear under the cover of Latin lessons. His scheme is clever, reckless, and thoroughly charming, and it sets in motion the play's parallel plot of courtship-by-deception alongside Petruchio's blunter campaign.

Bianca

major

Also known as sweet Bianca, Bianca That, Bianca God, Bianca Sister, Bianca Cambio, Bianca Ay, Binaca

Bianca is the prized younger sister whose mild manners and beauty draw a crowd of suitors, but whose father refuses to let her marry until the dreaded Katharina is wed. She plays the dutiful daughter in public while quietly trading coded Latin barbs with her disguised tutor and keeping multiple admirers guessing. Her apparent gentleness throws her sister's temper into relief, and her eventual choice of husband — and her willingness to mock her would-be wooers — hints that her sweetness is more strategic than it looks.

Hortensio

supporting

Also known as Hortensio Sir, Signior Hortensio, Hortensio Sirrah, Plead Hortensio, Hortensio Signior Baptista, Hortensio Gremio, Hortensio Madam, Hortensio Grumio, Hortensio Petruchio

Hortensio is one of Bianca's eager suitors, so determined that he poses as the music master Licio to gain access to her house. When he discovers his rival Lucentio already has Bianca's ear, he forswears her on the spot and pivots to a rich widow who has long loved him — a decision that lands him in a marriage as combative as any in the play. His running commentary on Petruchio's methods and his own hasty betrothal make him both a foil and a comic mirror to the main plot.

Tranio

supporting

Also known as Lucentio Tranio, Enter Tranio, Tranio Softly, Tranio Ay, Tranio Faith, Tranio Gremio, Tranio Of all mad matches, Tranio Master, Tranio Sir, Tranio Patience, Tranio Mistress, Tranio Mi perdonato, Tranio Ay

Tranio is Lucentio's clever servant who agrees to swap identities so his master can woo Bianca in disguise, leaving Tranio to play the part of a rich young gentleman about town. He throws himself into the role with relish, negotiating with Baptista, fending off rival suitors, and even hiring a wandering pedant to impersonate Lucentio's father. His improvisations keep the courtship plot spinning, and his loyalty — however cheeky — makes him one of the play's most resourceful and entertaining schemers.

Gremio

supporting

Also known as Tranio Gremio, old Gremio, Signior Gremio, Enter Gremio, Old Signior Gremio, Gremio Good morrow, Gremio Hortensio, Gremio Tranio, Gremio Yea, Gremio Adieu, Gremio Youngling, Gremio Ay

Gremio is one of Bianca's rival suitors in Padua, a rich elderly man who competes with Hortensio for her hand by plying her with gifts, books, and hired schoolmasters. His courtship is transactional — he speaks of his 'bags' and largess more than his heart — and he is repeatedly mocked by sharper wits like Grumio and Tranio. His willingness to bankroll Petruchio's wooing of Katharina shows how badly he wants the younger sister, and his eventual defeat exposes the limits of wealth without wit.

Baptista Minola

supporting

Also known as Petruchio Signior Baptista, Baptista, old Baptista, Signior Baptista, Signior Baptista Minola, Minola, Enter Baptista, Baptista Gentlemen, Baptista Padua, Exit Baptista, Baptista Ay, Baptista Why, Baptista Sir, Baptista Faith, Baptista Talk, Baptista Good morrow, Baptista Lucentio, Reenter Baptista, Baptista Neighbours

Baptista Minola is a prosperous gentleman of Padua, father to Katharina and Bianca, and the gatekeeper of both daughters' futures. He is affectionate but calculating, refusing to let Bianca marry until her 'curst' sister is off his hands, and he weighs suitors by their pedigree and gifts. His decree drives the play's central schemes — Petruchio's wooing, Lucentio's disguise, and the parade of tutors — making him the pivot on which every courtship turns.

Grumio

supporting

Also known as Nathaniel, Grumio Nathaniel, Grumio Ay, Grumio Katharine the curst, sirrah Grumio, good Grumio, Grumio Villain, Enter Grumio, Petruchio Grumio, Grumio Biondello, Nicholas Fellow Grumio, Hortensio Grumio, Grumio Master, Sirrah Grumio

Grumio is Petruchio's long-suffering manservant, dragged from Verona to Padua and into the chaotic business of taming Katharina. He endures his master's blows and insults with grumbling wit, and his running commentary — 'O this woodcock, what an ass it is!' — punctures the pretensions of suitors and masters alike. His scenes at Petruchio's country house, where he is starved and abused alongside the servants, show the collateral damage of the taming game and supply some of the play's sharpest comedy.

Biondello

supporting

Also known as Hortensio Sirrah Biondello, Enter Biondello, Sirrah Biondello, Vincentio Seeing Biondello, Biondello Master, Biondello Who, Biondello Why, Biondello Aside, Grumio Biondello, Lucentio Biondello, Biondello Cambio, Biondello O

Biondello is Lucentio's younger servant, enlisted to help his master woo Bianca while Tranio impersonates the young heir in public. He is quick, cheeky, and utterly loyal to the plot, arranging the secret wedding and cheerfully denying Vincentio to his face when the disguise demands it. His willingness to lie and improvise keeps the elopement machinery running, and his beating at Vincentio's hands shows how the servants absorb the consequences of their masters' deceptions.

Vincentio

supporting

Also known as Vincentio Lucentio, old Vincentio, Vincentio, Vincentio Seeing Biondello, Pisa Vincentio, supposed Vincentio, Vincentio of Pisa, Sir Vincentio

Vincentio is a respected merchant of Pisa and Lucentio's father, whose journey to Padua to see his son's progress collides with the tangled disguises his son has left behind. Proud, hot-tempered, and bewildered, he is mistaken for a fraud by the Pedant and even denied by Biondello, prompting him to beat the servant in fury. His arrival forces the play's deceptions to unravel, and his outrage at being called a cozener makes him both a comic victim and the instrument of the plot's eventual clarification.

Widow

minor

Also known as Widow Right, Widow Lord

A wealthy widow who marries Hortensio and participates in the final wager.

Curtis

minor

Also known as fellow Curtis, Curtis Away

Petruchio's servant who helps prepare the household for Katharina's arrival.

Tailor

minor

A tailor who brings a gown for Katharina and is berated by Petruchio.

Pedant

minor

Also known as Pedant Ay, the Pedant

A schoolmaster from Mantua who is tricked into impersonating Vincentio.

Nathaniel

minor

Also known as Nathaniel Peter

A servant in Petruchio's household.

Cambio

minor

Also known as good Cambio, Biondello Cambio, Bianca Cambio

The name Lucentio uses while disguised as Bianca's tutor.

Licio

minor

Also known as amorous Licio

The name Hortensio uses while disguised as a music tutor to Bianca.

Christopher Sly

minor

Also known as Sly, Christophero Sly, Sly Ay, Sly Marry

A drunken tinker who is tricked into believing he is a lord in the Induction.

Lord

minor

Also known as Lord Huntsman

A nobleman who plays a trick on the drunken Sly in the Induction.

Haberdasher

minor

Also known as Exit Haberdasher

A tradesman who brings a cap for Katharina.

Priest

minor

Also known as the priest

The clergyman who marries Petruchio and Katharina.

Officer

minor

Also known as an officer, an Officer

A law officer who appears to arrest Vincentio.

Peter

minor

Also known as Nathaniel Peter, Peter Turph

A servant in Petruchio's household.

Philip

minor

A servant mentioned briefly in Petruchio's household.

Joseph

minor

A servant mentioned briefly in Petruchio's household.

Nicholas

minor

Also known as Nicholas Fellow Grumio

A servant in Petruchio's household.

Antonio

minor

A character briefly mentioned or appearing as a merchant.

Belman

minor

A servant or minor character mentioned in passing.